Mutation Response Vehicles Spotted in Florida-Truth! & Misleading!
Summary of eRumor:
A fleet of mutation response vehicles spotted near Longwood, Florida, has stirred speculation about sinister motives.
The Truth:
The mutation response vehicles spotted in Florida are real — but they’re not associated with a government agency or coordinated emergency response efforts.
Videos and photos of the vehicles quickly made their way around Facebook and YouTube after they were spotted in Florida, just outside of Orlando, on August 17th. Some speculated the vehicles were part of the government’s response to Zika — or worse, a sign of a pending zombie apocalypse. Luckily, that’s not the case.
Rather, the mutation response vehicles are owned and operated by Pathogen Trackers, a group that provides food, shelter and shade to people at the Burning Man festival outside Las Vegas.
Pathogen Trackers explains on its website that it serves the “inhabitants of Black Rock City” — which is the name of the group that organizes Burning Man each year:
Our Mutation Response Vehicles aid in our benevolent mission and serve as a base of operations so that we may help replenish the spirit and quelch the hunger of others. From the top of MRV-1, passersby are welcome aloft to gain a perspective on all that surrounds them. MRV-2 is a secure, sanitary facility committed to the preparation of healthy meals. MRV-3 is outfitted to provide decontamination of both camp members and winners of the daily Wheel of Decontamination contest. Collectively, the themed MRV and MSV units span over 160′ from end to end, and create a visually interesting and interactive street scape.
During the day our massive, customized MRV units serve as a needed landmark and a graphic art exhibition for the passers by. At night, they illuminate fully to again help weary travelers find their way home. Even our well-lit, Chilled Hydration Station and 50′ Pathogen Tacking Antenna serve as beacons on the corners our camp.
Photos of these mutation response vehicles posted at Pathogen Trackers’ website match those seen in the photos from Florida. However, the mutation response vehicles look much less sinister when they’re lit up with bright neon lights at Burning Man.
“Mutant vehicles” are an important part of the Burning Man culture. Black Rock City explains that a Mutant Vehicle (which must be licensed by Black Rock City’s Dept. of Mutant Vehicles to enter) is “a specific variety” of art car:
A Mutant Vehicle is an art car classification specifically created for use at Black Rock City. The classification was created because the term “art car” can have a broad definition, and, because of the limit on the number of vehicles the DMV can license, the DMV did not want to deem whether or not someone’s creation was “art”.
Mutant Vehicles are integral to the culture and community at Burning Man. They contribute to the surreal, visual quality that binds Black Rock City together.
That should put any concerns about the mutant response vehicles responding to a zombie apocalypse or mutated forms of Zika virus.