This is why there are lots of giant concrete arrows all over the US

Have you ever wondered why there are giant concrete arrows all over the US?

They could very well be forgiven for signaling the presence of some sort of alien race.

These giant concrete arrows, however, are actually found across the US for a more practical reason.

And their origin story will both amaze and surprise you in equal measure.

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Giant concrete arrows serve as unique solution to problem

These giant concrete arrows actually exist across the US for a very practical reason.

They actually owe their existence to the US Post Office and the US Department of Commerce.

During the Fall of 1920, the US Post Office successfully completed its first transcontinental delivery.

It did so by completing a delivery from New York all across the US to San Francisco on the West Coast.

Despite being much faster than rail transport, airmail transport came with its own logistical nightmares.

This feat came just 17 years after the first-ever test flight by the Wright brothers in 1903.

As such, these planes didn’t have any technology safely navigate either at night or in bad weather.

These airmail aircraft were also of open cockpit design, primarily crafted of wood and required a lot of luck just to survive.

So, the US Department of Commerce came up with a very… large-scale solution to the issues it faced.

Officials arranged for acetylene gas beacons to be instaled every three miles along airmail routes.

Said beacons could be seen by pilots for up to 10 miles, and also identified emergency landing areas.

The US Department of Commerce would later install massive cement arrows as long as 70 feet at each beacon.

These first giant concrete arrows were installed by the Department of Commerce back in 1927.

Each gas beacon tower was numbered, and the arrows were designed to point in sequence to the next tower.

For a pilot flying the opposite direction, the numbers went down in the opposite numerical order.

Large-scale project doesn’t quite land

This massive project of concrete arrows actually continued all the way up to 1931.

By then, however, airmail pilots had taken to using different things to aid in navigation.

Bodies of water and landmarks were often used, as was the compass in order to help airmail pilots safely navigate from coast to coast.

Additionally, because of the yellow-colored flame, these beacons and giant concrete arrows could only be seen at certain times.

Airmail pilots also found themselves flying at very high altitudes, meaning that the infrastructure could not be seen from certain heights.

Many of these giant concrete arrows can still be found across various parts of the US.

Despite not being the most useful tool for navigation, they remain a point of cultural fascination.