| NEWS | Step In: The Water’s Weird Arizona’s the place for vortexes, aliens, lost gold, and conspiracists. BY KRISTEN MOSBRUCKER W hether far-right, far- left, or just plain far out of this world, Arizona seems to have a magnetic attraction to those on the fringes of society. True believers claim vortexes radiate special energy in Sedona, mysterious lights hover in Phoenix skies, and hidden gold is buried in the aptly named Superstition Mountains. Arizona is a hive of political conspiracy theories, such as “Stop the Steal” (Biden won Arizona) and QAnon, whose devotees believe Satan-worship- ping pedophiles, led by Democrats, the media, and celebrities, kidnap children, drink their blood for energy, and enslave them as sex workers. Clinging to such convictions landed Arizona near the top of the list of “top conspiracy destinations,” in one recent “study.” Authors claim 51 million Ameri- cans, one in five, believe some kind of conspiracy theory. You won’t have to travel far for a sam- pling. Around 100 miles north of Phoenix, twisted juniper trees are among the first signs visitors know they’re nearing what SEDONA IS RANKED NO. 3 IN THE NATION FOR THE BEST ROAD TRIP ALONG ROUTE 666, OR THE DEVIL’S HIGHWAY, ACCORDING TO ONE RECENT STUDY. believers call a vortex in Sedona. Believers they say a vortex, a kind of inter-dimen- sional portal, sits on Airport Mesa, perched on Table Top Mountain in the Coconino National Forest. New Age followers claim aliens wedged a giant crystal under Bell Rock. Psychic Page Bryant claimed several sites in Se- dona to be electromagnetically teeming with vortexes, which can be used for heal- ing. Visitors have reported seeing orbs and portals in the high desert. Sedona is ranked No. 3 in the nation for the best road trip along Route 666, or The Devil’s Highway, according to a study by a luggage shipping business My Baggage. “We set out to find the top conspiracy destinations around the U.S., creating a travel hit list for conspiracy lovers in the form of a ‘Route 666’ travel guide,” the group said. Rankings are based on, among other 12 Jocelyn Kelly/Creative Commons Above: Sedona is home to several vortexes, believers claim. Left: Jake Angeli, otherwise known as the QAnon Shaman, protested in Peoria in October 2020 several months before storming the U.S. Capitol. things, distance from the nearest city, ac- cessibility, number of hotels nearby the conspiracy, popularity of the conspiracy on Google, plus fun things to do while you’re checking out the nearest vortex. Phoenix and the Sedona Vortex lag in the My Baggage “rankings,” behind Sacramento with its proximity to Bigfoot’s stomping grounds and Los Angeles’s “haunted” Cecil Hotel. But Phoenix rates wackier than Athens, Georgia (the Georgia Guidestones), and the “hidden chambers” behind Abe Lincoln’s head on Mount Rushmore, in South Dakota. But the Sedona Vortex isn’t the only Ari- zona mystery to captivate storytelllers’ imaginations. While stargazing Arizona’s night sky on TheUnseen011101 March 13, 1997, hundreds of residents claim they saw a different kind of light show, which became known as Phoenix Lights. At the time, Comet Hale-Bopp was expected to become the brightest comet in roughly 20 years. That same night mysterious colored lights in a vee pattern were seen across the sky. Observers with a telescope claim that it was just aircraft in the sky but others sug- gest it was the work of aliens. Phoenix is surrounded by high and dry mountains some that draw gamblers look- ing to strike it rich. Despite searching for more than 100 years, none has been able to find the Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine, but that doesn’t stop people willing to die trying. The re- mains of Jesse Capen, a Denver man in his mid-30s was found three years after his disappearance in the mountains. German Jacob Waltz was said to have a gold mine around the Superstition Mountains. The next generation of folklore includes internet-born and grown groups like QA- non. It is heavily pro-Trump, is considered a domestic terrorism group by the FBI, and has tentacles into the Arizona GOP, >> p 17 DEC 9TH– DEC 15TH, 2021 PHOENIX NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | FEATURE | NEWS | OPINION | FEEDBACK | CONTENTS | phoenixnewtimes.com
