New Years: This Is How Southern Utah Should Celebrate

We all know about the ball drop in New York on New Years Eve and the big party leading up to midnight. You may not be aware of other items dropped around the country to celebrate. There is a giant peep dropped in Pennsylvania. This is a 400-pound glowing replica of the marshmallow treat and probably tastes about as good.  

In Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin they drop a live carp onto a throne. They drop a peach in Atlanta, a pinecone in Flagstaff and a pickle in Mt. Olive, North Carolina. One of the best would be to watch the drop of a giant watermelon in Vincennes, Indiana. It actually opens to release a bunch of watermelons that smash on the ground. That’s as good as fireworks. 

You are probably wondering why we don’t drop something here in Utah. Like maybe a beehive and watch people dance when the bees come out angry. But I’m thinking it is time we thought out of the box. It is all good to drop something that has to do with your area, but what if we launched it instead? I’m thinking specifically for Southern Utah. 

I would like to see a golf cart fly down the rails of the secret test site on top of the Hurricane mesa. It would launch the end to the distant highway below. If you don’t know about the test site, it has been used for decades to test military jet ejection seats. Early on, people said they saw monkeys and baby bears parachute down from the bluff as part of those tests. I will include information about it below. 

I think it would put Southern Utah on the map to have hundreds of people gathered below the massive bluff to watch different items rocket off the top hundreds of feet above their heads. Maybe at the end you could put stuffed teddy bears and monkeys that could parachute down to the onlookers waiting arms.  

It is time to upgrade our New Years celebration here in Southern Utah. Let's get this done. 

See It: Secret Test Site On Top Of This Mesa In Hurricane

If you have ever driven from Hurricane to Virgin, you may have heard of the test site facility on top of the Mesa. In 1954 the U.S. Military contracted with Coleman Engineering to test pilot ejection seats for aircraft. They built the Hurricane Mesa Test Facility with a 12,000 foot long test track on the top of the Mesa where they could shoot an aircraft cockpit at high speeds and test the ejection seat. 

The ejection seat usually was fired while the craft was hitting high speeds and water at the end of the track slowed the cockpit, but sometimes they wanted to see how the seat would survive with a parachute. These they would send down the track and off the end of the mesa.

They mostly used crash test dummies in the seats, but it is said at one point they used monkeys and young bears to see if they would survive. This is why some people refer to it as “Flying Monkey Mesa”. The story goes that locals would see these monkeys ejected off the end of the mesa in a parachute. That would be an unexpected thing to see when you’re casually driving down highway 9. 

You cannot go up to the mesa as it is still used for testing. I was able to visit there with a friend who was an engineer and did some contract work for the company that now owns the test site. The track is still maintained and had been used recently. There used to be a cafeteria that hung partway off the bluff giving you an amazing view as you ate. It has since been replaced with a building that sits back from the edge.

I was able to go in the current cafeteria where they have an old movie made by the military describing why the track was built and how it was used. There are also lots of pictures on the walls. I didn’t see any with monkeys or bears, however. 

I have never had a desire to joining the military, but if I could have been a part of shooting cockpits down a runway at supersonic speeds and launching monkeys into the air in parachutes, I may have considered it. The next time you drive by the mesa, slow down a bit and see if you see any flying animals.