A stretch of the Bolsón de Mapimí in Durango where radios are supposed to die, compasses spin and stranger things visit. The origin is traceable. In July 1970 an Athena test rocket launched from Utah toward White Sands lost control and came down here carrying two small containers of radioactive cobalt 57, and the recovery operation hauled away hundreds of tonnes of soil. A local hired to guard the debris helped the rumours along, and the rest, magnetic anomalies, mutated wildlife, visitors, grew from there and were then used locally to bring in tourism. The researcher Andrea Kaus, who worked in the reserve, reported no trouble at all with radios or compasses. What is really out here is the Mapimí Biosphere Reserve, which is a serious piece of Chihuahuan desert with a giant tortoise found nowhere else.
Bolsón de Mapimí, Durango, Mexico
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