George Van Tassel's Wonderful Machine
by
David Wysocki, Californiana Librarian 1996-2000
Located in Landers, California near Giant Rock Airport, the
Integratron is a monument to
one man's belief in extra terrestrials and his desire to share the
benefits of his esoteric knowledge with all mankind. While it may look
a little bereft at present, at one time the Integratron was at the center
of some of the largest flying saucer conventions held in the United States,
which brought together true believers in UFOs long before TV, movies,
tabloid newspapers, and the Internet made stories of abductions,
visitations, and invasive probes commonplace.
In 1953, George Van Tassel, retired from his jobs as a flight safety
inspector for Howard Hughes and later, Lockheed, was managing a small
airfield and living with his wife in a hut near Giant Rock, a 22,000 ton
boulder said to be the largest free standing rock in the world.
The previous tenant of Giant Rock had met a nasty end. A few years
before, a German-born hermit named Frank Kritzer had burrowed out a
small home underneath this rock. There he rigged up a shortwave radio
so that he could listen to German language radio broadcasts from the
Fatherland and set to work constructing an airstrip. During the Second
World War this kind of activity, even in a remote part of California,
made Kritzer the subject of rumors that he was a spy. In 1942, two
sheriff deputies went out to visit Kritzer and demanded that he come
with them for questioning. The plan was to keep Kritzer under wraps
for a while and stake out the airfield in order to see just who was
using it. Kritzer had vowed to never be taken away from his home
willingly, and so on hearing this ultimatum from the deputies, he asked
to get his hat, went back into his burrow and detonated all the dynamite
he'd stolen from local construction sites. Kritzer was killed immediately,
while the deputies were seriously injured. No one ever proved that the
man was anything more than an anonymous desert rat.
Van Tassel had enlarged Kritzer's onetime home and was using it as a place
where he and several spiritually minded friends would meditate and develop
their psychic abilities such as astral projection and channeling. In
August, 1953 his efforts led to a late night visitation by four small
strangers with perfect teeth. Their leader, Solgonda, did most of the
talking, giving Van Tassel a tour of the flying saucer they arrived in
and telling him that mankind's flirtation with the power of the atom had
brought Earth to the attention of the Council of Seven Lights, rulers of
the universe. Solgonda warned against destroying hydrogen in atomic
explosions, as hydrogen (as a component of water and fuel of the sun) was
a life giving element. He told Van Tassel to spread the word of their
visit and their message of peace as widely as possible.
Solgonda also gave Van Tassel plans for a wonderful device called an
Integratron. Van Tassel would spend the rest of his life spreading the
word of his visitation and raising funds for the construction of this
device, which when completed would certainly be a wonder of the world
and proof beyond doubt of extraterrestrial life. To help promote the
cause, he founded the Ministry of Universal Wisdom and held the first
Flying Saucer Convention at Giant Rock airport during the weekend of
April 4th, 1954. For the next 16 years the format of these conventions
would be pretty much the same; Van Tassel would address the crowd
(admission was free but donations were accepted and the Van Tassel family
did own a restaurant at the airfield) from a speaker's stand erected in
front of Giant Rock. Round table discussions would be held and experts
would speculate on the origin of flying saucers and extra terrestrials
and rail against cover ups perpetrated by the US Air Force (some things
never change, do they?). Ernest discussion would ensue over stories in
the National Enquirer and people could buy and sell books with titles
like "When Stars Look Down" and "I Rode a Flying Saucer" or jewelry such
as a lapel pin one could buy for $2.50, depicting a space ship with
"Interplanetary Brotherhood" written on it. Wearing a pin like this
would supposedly identify the wearers as flying saucer enthusiasts,
allowing strangers to meet and share a common interest.
It was an awkward time for people who'd seen a UFO, experienced a
visitation or were just interested in flying saucers. Nowadays one
can't avoid talk of space aliens, one of whom was even rumored to be
advising the Ross Perot Presidential campaign a few years ago. One
doesn't need to identify oneself with a little pin as a UFO believer,
you're in a country with over a hundred million believers. A poll taken
by Newsweek magazine in 1996 indicated that 48% of the US population
believe in UFOs and 29% believe that contact has already been made.
Showing the way for the rest of society, the festivals at places like
Big Rock drew tens of thousands of visitors during their height in the
late fifties and early sixties. These meetings were vital during these
early days; at the time they might have been the only place people could
get together and exchange information and recount their experiences
without being ridiculed.
Slowly, funds were raised to build the Integratron. In 1959 an anonymous
benefactor donated $40,000 to the cause and construction began. Pacific
Roof Structures of Montebello, California was contracted to build the 38
foot tall, 58 foot diameter wooden structure. It was of paramount
importance that wood be the sole construction material used, metal would
upset the electrostatic field that was vital to the functioning of the
Integratron. Sited on a "natural cone of receptivity" the device was
designed to focus three "ley lines" of force to rejuvenate the human body.
Upon completion, Van Tassel planned to usher 10,000 people a day through
the Integratron. Alas, he died in 1978, before the device was completed,
taking the plans with him to the next level of consciousness.
The Giant Rock conventions had ended a few years earlier, a victim of
dwindling attendance and rowdy bikers who crashed the festival in 1970 and
set a car on fire. Whether or not these bikers were under orders to disrupt
this gathering has never been determined. The only event residents of Giant
Rock have to look forward to now is World War III, which the psychic Criswell
predicted would begin there sometime in the future.
The Integratron is located on private property within a fenced compound.
It's visible from the road though. From Yucca Valley, drive north on
SH 247 10.5 miles and turn right on Reches Road. Drive 2.3 miles east,
turn left at Belfield and follow it to the end. The Device sits at
2477 Belfield.
Bibliography
Books-
Mysterious California by Mike Marinacci, 1988, Panpipes Press, Los
Angeles, CA, pp. 119-120.
The Encyclopedia of American Religions, Volume 2, J. Gordon Melton,
McGrath Publications, Wilmington, NC, pp 205-206.
The UFO Encyclopedia by Margaret Sachs, 1980, Perigee Books, New
York, NY, p.160.
The Psychic World of California by David St. Clair, 1972 Doubleday
& Co., Garden City, NY, pp. 308-310.
The Heritage of Yucca Valley California Including Giant Rock, by
John Wilson and Nancy Grubb,1984, Yucca Valley, CA, pp. 86-89.
Magazine and Newspaper Articles-
"People Parade: Spotlighting George Vantassel in Blueprint From Outer
Space", by Virginia Caldwell in The Brand Magazine, November, 1963
"A Bigger Cover up Than Watergate" by Jan Cleveland, The San Bernardino
Sun, October 16, 1977.
"Giant Rock Center For Spaceship Believers" by Lucille Weight, The
Desert Trail, July 17, 1980.
"Giant Rock Historic For Its Flying Saucers" by Lucille Weight, The
Desert Trail, July 17, 1980.
"How the Hermit of Giant Rock Sealed His Strange Secret", The American
Weekly, November 8, 1942.
"The Mystery of Giant Rock" by Helen Pratt, The Desert Spotlight,
September, 1947.
"Proceedings of the College of Universal Wisdom" April-May 1957 &
June-July 1959, Yucca Valley, CA
"Early Morning at Giant Rock", HI-Desert Star, October 10, 1968.
"17th Space Convention Said to be the Largest", by Kelly Shugart,
HI-Desert Star, October 15, 1970.
"The Legend of Giant Rock" by Pat Rimmington, HI Desert Magazine,
Summer, 1991, pp. 37-41.
