View source for Integratron

{{Infobox NRHP
| name                     = Integratron
| nrhp_type                =
| designated_other1        =
| designated_other1_number =
| image                    = File:Integratron-3.jpg
| caption                  = The Integratron in October, 2017
| location                 = 2477 Belfield Boulevard, [[Landers, California]]
| coordinates              = {{coord|34|17|40|N|116|24|13|W|}}
| locmapin                 =
| area                     =
| built                    = 1960
| architect                = George Van Tassel, Howard P. Hess
| architecture             =
| added                    = April 23, 2018
| refnum                   = 100002317
}}

{{coord|34.2943|-116.4038|_dim:25_type:landmark|display=title|name=Integratron}}

[[File:Integratron overhead, about 1975.jpg|thumb|Overflight of The Integratron, June 1975]]

The '''Integratron''' is a {{convert|38|ft|m}} tall <!-- (Appears to be only 28 ft tall?{{Explain|date=March 2020}})--> [[cupola]] structure with a diameter of {{convert|55|ft|m}} designed by [[ufologist]] and [[contactee]] [[George Van Tassel]]. Van Tassel claimed the Integratron was capable of [[rejuvenation]], [[anti-gravity]] and [[time travel]]. He built the structure in [[Landers, California]] (near [[Joshua Tree, California|Joshua Tree]]), following instructions that Van Tassel vehemently claimed were provided directly to him by visitors from the planet [[Venus]]. The Integratron machine was started in 1957, the structure erected in 1959. It was financed predominantly by donations, including funds from [[Howard Hughes]].<ref name=Sun /><ref name="CUW">{{cite web |last1=Van Tassel |first1=G.W. |title=Proceedings of the College of Universal Wisdom. Volume 9, Number 1. December 1969. |url=https://www.scribd.com/document/177601516/Proceedings-Vol-09-No-01-Oct-Nov-Dec-1969-George-Van-Tassel |website=scribd.com |publisher=Ministry of Universal Wisdom, Inc. |accessdate=3 May 2018}}</ref>

After Van Tassel's death in 1978, the building had a series of owners (and was left in various states of disrepair) before sisters Joanne, Nancy, and Patty Karl bought it in the early 2000s. The sisters promote the Integratron as an "acoustically perfect structure", and offer "sound baths" they describe as "...meditation-like sessions accompanied by tones from 22 quartz crystal bowls, creating binaural beats for relaxation and rejuvenation".<ref name=Sun>{{cite news |url=http://www.thedesertsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050820/LIFESTYLES0801/508200310/1050 |title=Built for time travel, dome now enjoying renaissance: Visitors view dome as health and spirituality center |newspaper=[[The Desert Sun]] |first=Michelle |last=Theriault |date=August 20, 2005 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20051120125719/http://www.thedesertsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20050820%2FLIFESTYLES0801%2F508200310%2F1050 |archivedate=November 20, 2005 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The building is now a part of the National Historic Register, and continues to be stewarded by the Karl sisters and their adult children. 

==Construction==
[[File:IntegratronCeiling.jpeg|thumb|Ceiling of the Integratron, January 2012]]

[[File:Interior of ground floor.jpg|thumb|Support post and bare copper wire spiral on ground floor ceiling]]

[[File:Dome ceiling.jpg|thumb|Second floor ceiling with sky light]]

George Van Tassel was a former aircraft mechanic and flight inspector who moved to [[California]]'s [[Mojave Desert]] to operate an airport and inn. While there, he began meditating under [[Giant Rock]], which the [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] of the area held sacred. In August 1953, Van Tassel claimed he had been contacted both telepathically and later in person by people from space, who gave him a technique to rejuvenate human cell tissue. Acting on these instructions, Van Tassel began constructing the Integratron in 1954. Construction costs were partly paid for by an annual series of successful UFO conventions, the ''Giant Rock Spacecraft Conventions'', which continued for nearly 25 years. The main structure's construction was complete circa 1959, but Van Tassel continued to work on the device until his sudden death in 1978.<ref name=Sun />

==Claims==
According to Van Tassel, the Integratron's workings rely on the generation of strong "intermittent magnetic fields" resulting in the generation of [[plasma (physics)|plasma]] in the form of a [[coronal discharge]] and negative air ionization inside the building. The Integratron is based on the Multiple Wave Oscillator, invented by [[Georges Lakhovsky]], a combination of a [[high voltage]] [[Tesla coil]] and a [[split-ring resonator]] that generates [[ultra wideband]] electromagnetic frequencies (EMF). Van Tassel speculated that [[electromagnetism]] affects [[Cell (biology)|biological cells]], and believed that every biological cell has a unique [[Resonance|resonant]] EMF. According to van Tassel, the generation of strong ultra wideband EMF by the Integratron "resonates" with the cell's frequency and "recharges" the cellular structure as if it were an electrical battery. Van Tassel claimed that human cells "rejuvenated" while inside the structure. Van Tassel also claimed the Integratron is intentionally constructed atop a powerful [[geomagnetic]] anomaly and its construction is entirely of non-[[ferromagnetic]] materials, the equivalent to a modern [[radome]].<ref name="CUW" />

[[File:Integratron-2.jpg|thumb|250px|right|The Integratron in 2017]]

==Modern uses==
After Van Tassel died, there was a proposal to turn the Integratron into a [[Discotheque|disco]], but that plan was never realized. The Integratron's new owners operate it as a tourist attraction and offer "sound baths" where groups of people are "exposed to harmonic sound frequencies" produced by [[quartz]] bowls, claimed to have a deep calming effect. According to one of the structure's [[docent]]s, the Integratron is an "acoustically perfect sound chamber".<ref>{{cite web |last1=McManis |first1=Sam |title=Discoveries: Integratron near Joshua Tree has cool vibe |url=http://www.sacbee.com/entertainment/living/travel/sam-mcmanis/article2577098.html |website=Sacbee.com |publisher=[[The Sacramento Bee]] |accessdate=3 May 2018}}</ref><ref name=Sun />

The Integratron was added to the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in April 2018.<ref>[https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/database-research.htm#table NPS National Register search for item #100002317]<!--Use the item # to find the listing. A search for Integratron does not render a listing.  --></ref>

The English indie rock band [[Arctic Monkeys]] recorded part of their song "Secret Door" at the Integratron in 2008.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Fullerton |first1=Jamie |title=Arctic Monkeys recorded bit of 'Humbug' at 'mad desert structure |url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/arctic-monkeys-380-1308068 |website=NME |publisher=Time, Inc. |accessdate=3 May 2018}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Orgone]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* {{Official website|http://www.integratron.com/}}
* [https://www.scribd.com/doc/194307490/George-Van-Tassel-When-Stars-Look-Down-1976 George Van Tassel – When Stars Look Down (1976)]
* {{cite news|url=http://www.desertsun.com/article/20060714/NEWS0806/102160027/0/|title=UFO history packed up|newspaper=[[The Desert Sun]]|first=Michelle|last=Mitchell|date=July 13, 2006|access-date=March 29, 2015|archive-date=March 31, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150331005237/http://www.desertsun.com/article/20060714/NEWS0806/102160027/0|url-status=dead}}
* {{cite web|url=http://webspace.utexas.edu/cokerwr/www/index.html/sbrothers.shtml|title=We Have Contact!|website=University of Texas|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110709092250/https://webspace.utexas.edu/cokerwr/www/index.html/sbrothers.shtml|archivedate=July 9, 2011}} – on 1950s contactees, including Van Tassel
* {{Skeptoid | id=4833 | number=833 | date=24 May 2022 | title=The Secrets of the Integratron | access-date=24 May 2022}}

{{National Register of Historic Places}}

[[Category:Buildings and structures in San Bernardino County, California]]
[[Category:Mojave Desert]]
[[Category:UFO-related phenomena]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1959]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in San Bernardino County, California]]
[[Category:Round buildings]]
[[Category:Howard Hughes]]