Arizona’s got a new roadside attraction to join the various trading posts, historic sites, and petting zoos that line many of America’s roads. And like many of them, it’s not what it seems.
Artist Jack Millard, who lives in Scottsdale, was on his way to Tucson, when he spotted an old cement mixer, rusting away in a field near the highway, a few miles out of Casa Grande, and decided to turn it into a space capsule.
“The cement mixer was abandoned there for 30 years just rusting in the field,” he told USA Today. “I just get these impulses to create. Its a glorified yard ornament.”
After getting permission from the landowner, Millard went to work with paint, imagination, and a surplus cargo parachute, which he used to make it look as if the ‘capsule’ had landed in the desert and been abandoned.
It didn’t take long for cars, includiing police, to start pulling over to check it out. More than a few thought it was real. “I don’t know what to expect,” he said. “If they enjoy it, that’s great. We live in such a cynical, jaded world. If it distracts them for a moment, that’s a wonderful thing.”
