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Mystery Machine found in Mesa

Published  December 8, 2015 7:28pm MST
FOX 10 Phoenix

MESA, Ariz. (KSAZ) - UPDATE: The "Mystery Machine" mystery is solved!

Statement from the city of Mesa:

Thanks to the help of many interested super sleuths, the City of Mesa Transportation Department has solved the peculiar case of the "Mystery Machine". Not only has the piece of equipment, which was found along a Mesa city street in September, been identified, the owner has been determined as well.

As suggested by a majority of people who emailed or called to offer their help, the piece of equipment was determined to be part of a tablet press used to make pharmaceuticals. The owner lost the piece of equipment while transporting it along Higley Road and it was picked up by the Transportation Department before the owner returned to retrieve it.

"Thank you to everyone who emailed or called offering suggestions as to what the piece of equipment could be," said Kimberly Nelson, Public Information Officer for the City of Mesa Transportation Department. "I literally got hundreds of suggestions, most of them serious but a few that were pretty funny. The public's interest and response was amazing. It just goes to show that people love a good mystery."

ORIGINAL STORY IS BELOW:


A piece of machinery in Mesa is mystifying the local city workers. It was found near Falcon Field in North Mesa.

The more Bill McLeod looks at the mystery machine, the more puzzling it gets.

"I have been around heavy equipment all my life, this is a machinist type object, I just don't know much about it," said Bill McLeod.

"We went and picked it up with a crane and brought it back to the yard, it belongs to someone, we want to return it to the rightful owner," he said.

There are some clues, including two metal tags. One says "Upper punch penetration" and the other says "Set bottom of scale to top punch entry."

"It weighs over 1,000 pounds, every bit is solid steel," said McLeod.

So if the mystery machine belongs to you, you're encouraged to pick it up, you might want to bring a crane.

To pick it up, contact the City of Mesa at 480-644-6553.