Long time lurker here! Interesting thread, I enjoyed reading through it and learning a little bit more about this wacky world we live in.
Unfortunately, I think you guys are getting pretty hyped up for what is essentially a tourist destination. I can't complain about that part, tourist
destinations can be pretty awesome and I've certainly been to a ton throughout my life and I'm sure I'll go to many more. The problem, though, is
that tourists to this Zone of Silence (the locals actually have names for these tourists, "silencios" and "zoneros") are causing quite a bit of
harm to this nature reserve. Outside of the littering and the destruction of the natural beauty of the environment, they have a habit of stressing
out the scant local help by running out of gas in the middle of nowhere, running out of water creating risk to themselves and in turn needing rescue
and messing with the cattle which is the livelihood of the local population.
Now, this may be something to look beyond if there certainly was something mysterious and unexplained going on. God knows mankind has thrown caution
to the wind in pursuit of scientific understanding and advancement in the past. The problem, though, is that there is no real evidence of anything
strange going on in the area. Anthropologist and ex-manager of the nature reserve that the Zone of Silence resides in had this to say:
Neither I nor anyone with whom I spoke (apart from the zoneros) had any trouble with either their radios or compasses while working in the Reserve.
www.mexconnect.com...
For someone who actually managed the area, I'm sure radio communication would be essential in a place where a flat tire could mean life or death.
Another thing that should tip people off that this "Zone of Silence" isn't all that it seems is that no one can really agree where the Zone of
Silence is actually located. It was originally around the area where the US missile crashed decades ago, but the Zone has shifted around quite a bit
since then. From my reading around, it seems that guides in the area trying to make a quick buck will pretty much take people anywhere within the
reserve and claim that it's the Zone of Silence (the signs marking the Zone of Silence as seen in the OP are few and far between and don't really
end at any particular place, so it's easy to say they lead to just about anywhere). In fact, if you ask one of the locals where the Zone is, you'll
often find out that the Zone is "just down the road" (hint: they're trying to get you to leave).
I certainly don't want to convince anyone not to go and check it out for themselves. I'm just willing to bet that upon arrival, you're going to
have trouble finding this Zone and in the meantime, you're not going to experience any sort of phenomena that's out of the ordinary, except maybe
not getting a signal on your cell phone due to being out in the middle of nowhere. You should go to take in a very unique geographical region and the
natural beauty that mother nature has to offer.
As for the locals...
The local residents do not believe in the Zone of Silence. When asked about strange phenomena, they invariably reply that they do not see
strange things in the desert, only strange people.
www.mexconnect.com...
Once again, thanks for the thread.
edit on 18-5-2011 by Watts because: (no reason given)
