14 DAY TRIAL // A small crater in the middle of the desert in Arizona, houses a giant contraption built especially to gather and focus the light coming from the moon, and since it has been completed it started to attract a ever growing number of curious people who come and bask in the beam of blue-white light reflected by the world's first moonlight collector.
As all the highly polished mirrors of the five stories high device come into alignment, they create a reflected glow of light. The moonlight reflector, is a project of the inventor and businessman Richard Chapin form Tucson, and his wife Monica.
Most of the naturally occurring phenomena, such as the gravitational pull of the moon towards Earth, have been studied for years. However, the reflected light from the surface of the moon received minimum attention, so Chapin decided to build a unique device, thinking that it would serve for medicinal, or industrial applications.
The "Interstellar Light Collector" as it has been named, cost the Chapins about 2 million dollars, and they hope that it will be used to study the effect of the amplified light coming from the surface of the moon, on plants or animals, even though neither one of them is a scientist. The frame sustaining the structure sinks 14 meters into the ground of the private property situated in an area known for its dark skies, just a few kilometers from the Kitt Peak National Observatory. It weighs a total of 25 tons, stands five stories high, and consists of 84 mirror panels mounted on a hydraulic support, so that they can be aligned.
Though Chapin built the device with his own money, he does not charge for the use of the facility but he does receive donations from tourists, to cover part of the expenses. Since it became operational, the facility has been visited by more than 1,000 tourists from all over the world looking for some kind of medical benefit.
They usually stand in the beam of reflected light from three to fifteen minutes, to bask in the moon's glow while dressed in different kinds of robes or just in underwear. Some of the tourists say that the experience is somehow similar to that of swimming underwater, or like standing in a warm breeze.
Though some strongly believe that the exposure to the focused moonlight has medical curring properties, no study has ever been conducted in this area, or at least not on people, thus there is so far no scientific proof that it has any effect on any disease, or it is just placebo. However, one thing is certain; it seems to make people more positive in thinking.
They hope that experiments in determining the effect it has on plants and animals might reveal key processes that could be used in medical and industrial applications. Meanwhile the Chapins welcome skeptics and fans alike, coming to step into the moonlight while listening to ambiental music.