Abandoned Cement Mixer Space Capsule, Winganon

If you find yourself driving down the quiet rural lane that connects the small towns of Talala and Winganon, in Oklahoma, keep an eye out for what appears to be an abandoned NASA space capsule lying by the side of the road. Adorned with the American flag and the agency’s logo, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the reentry vehicle had just fallen from space. It even dates back to the height of the Space Race. In reality, however, the discarded space capsule is nothing more than a cement mixer, albeit one that’s become an offbeat local tourist attraction and art installation. In or around 1959 (a year after America’s Project Mercury got underway, though completely unrelated), a cement truck bound for the Oologah Lake bridge, which was then under construction, rolled over here, depositing its heavy mixer by the side of the road. According to the story, the truck was later salvaged, but the cement mixer was abandoned where it lay.