Cities receive their unique nicknames for one reason or another. In northeastern Oklahoma, Tulsa is dubbed the "Center of the Universe" due to a mysterious phenomenon.
During the 1980s, the old Boston Street Bridge in Tulsa was badly damaged in a fire. Local officials rebuilt the site as a pedestrian walkway containing cement planters and concrete terrorist barriers. A swirly pattern of bricks was set into the pavement of a railroad overpass to hide an expansion joint.
Strange Acoustic Anomaly
To visit the Center of the Universe, tourists must walk up a set of stairs and stand in the small concrete circle in the Brady Arts District. The concrete circle mark is surrounded by planters and benches, which form a larger circle around it.
The small, well-worn disc of cement at the center of the swirl is usually mistaken for a manhole cover, yet it naturally attracts passers-by as a kind of bulls-eye. In this 30-foot paved circle, they can speak or make sounds and experience the odd acoustic experience.
If someone stands on the disc and speaks, their voice reflects to them in amplified and distorted form. A person can also talk quietly and be heard distinctly at the other end of the court, 500 feet away. Louder and outside noises are also warped. Meanwhile, the sound that echoed back is also several times more audible than it was made.
American archaeologist Silvanus Morley was the first to report a "whispering gallery" at the Great Ballcourt when excavated in the 1920s. Today, the experience is like having a private amplified echo chamber. The echo is so strong that it can be heard a few feet away. However, it is almost entirely silent a few steps outside the circle.
Finding the Cause of Sound Aberration
The exact reason for this phenomenon is still unknown, but many existing theories about its causes exist.
Some people believe that a natural underground echo chamber causes the anomaly, while others attribute the phenomenon to the unique design of the surrounding buildings. Some said it is just a "focusing anomaly," referring to the sound that bounces off the raised planters. Still, others believe it results from supernatural or paranormal forces, while some blame mysterious cosmic forces.
Some suspect that the expansion joint is the key to how the echoes sounded to the observer. When a person stands in the center of the swirl and speaks, their voice seeps through the crack, plummets down to the railroad tracks below, and then bounces back up to the observer's ears. This makes everything sound trippy and time-delayed.
Regardless of the cause, the Center of the Universe continues to become a famous attraction in Tulsa, drawing tourists from all over the world interested in experiencing strange and fascinating events.
There are similar strange phenomena worldwide, such as Lake George's Mystery Spot, where the little round stone building causes the sound anomaly. In London, the St. Paul Cathedral is famous for being a whispering gallery since the hushed tones are delivered across the huge domes by the reverberation of sound waves.
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