r/mildyinteresting • u/Bohica72 • Feb 03 '26
engineering masterminds 👨🏽💻 Cell tower disguised as a tree
403
u/Advanced-Humor9786 Feb 03 '26
Hello fellow trees! Do you have any of that pollen?
35
12
2
u/blissfilledmoments Feb 04 '26
Came for this. Every time we go visits her parents, my wife always says “hello, fellow trees” when we pass this
1
u/Few-Cucumber-4186 Feb 05 '26
I don't think this would translate well into human spy interaction. Like: hey there fellas, do you have any of that nut everyone was talking about. Hilarious either way tho
125
u/TCRandom Feb 03 '26
I’ve been in the cell tower business for 20 years. They are disguised as pine trees, palm trees, cacti, street posts/light posts, hidden in church steeples, billboards, everywhere possible.
I worked on a site in New Jersey once that had one of these monopine towers in the middle of a neighborhood with a fake house at the base that looked like every other house on the street, except it was just paper thin, the windows were fake, and the inside housed all the ground equipment.
44
u/I_madeusay_underwear Feb 03 '26
We have a fake house like that in my town. It has the pump equipment for the water system in there. It does look better than an industrial building in the middle of a neighborhood, though.
4
5
u/THEMACGOD Feb 04 '26
How are these things connected to “the network”? Fibre lines?
5
u/TCRandom Feb 04 '26 edited Feb 04 '26
Yep. That’s called the backhaul, and you are dead-on: they connect via fibers in most places. If it’s too mountainous for fiber-laid ground lines, you may see huge satellite drums that utilize microwave signals to jump the connection from tower to tower until they do ultimately reach a tower that has a fiber line connected to the main network.
Edit: I said “satellite” drums, but meant antenna drums. Just to clarify so as not to confuse anyone. Microwave antennas hop the signal from tower to tower, not to a satellite.
→ More replies (1)4
2
2
2
u/Boring_Week_9884 Feb 06 '26
20 years in the cell tower business.. how sad. Imagine spending 20 years replacing rru models and doing 4th sector upgrades. That sounds horrible. I’d jump off a 400 guyed tower and smack every guyed wire on the way down if I had to do that
→ More replies (2)1
179
u/Awkward_Link2492 Feb 03 '26
These are all over Michigan. The bigger birds are actually nesting in them. I haven't seen it personally, but its rumored that there are bald eagles nesting in the U.P. on those things.
38
u/0dds-e Feb 03 '26
This is symbolic somehow
19
u/LumpyBuy8447 Feb 03 '26
The true meaning of freedom
10
2
u/Ooficus Feb 03 '26
They’re common in Florida too, though not as common as the new ones that are just a straight up pole into the sky (not the street level ones, no a literal pole into the sky with a white tip)
2
2
u/RiparianTreeLobster Feb 04 '26
They do. When I was studying ornithology in the UP we would go to nesting sites and quite a few were on these. They’re often one of, if not the, tallest around.
2
2
3
1
1
u/NeverCallMeFifi Feb 03 '26
Where did you hear of this? I'm in A2 and camp frequently. I'd love to keep an eye out for them!
1
u/mynameisrichard0 Feb 03 '26
They like towers. I got a pair of binos when I was doing amazon delivery because out near geneva id see multiple bald eagles nesting in tall towers. Got some good looks.
1
u/Icy_Amount_9872 Feb 03 '26
We have a Cpl of them here in Toledo as well and was so amazed when I first saw it
1
1
u/Ktulu204 Feb 03 '26
I see them in eastern PA and I'll tell you what, that pic looks more like a tree (not saying much!) than the ones I've seen IRL!
1
u/Altruistic-Willow265 Feb 04 '26
With all do respect I've lived here my entire life and have been to all counties in the lower peninsula and a few in the UP, never seen any in my life
→ More replies (3)
23
21
44
Feb 03 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
21
u/TheInterruptingCow94 Feb 03 '26
This has been around before 5g. I remember being a teenager in Arizona watching them make these, but as palm trees lmao
12
u/AdAgitated9341 Feb 03 '26
If I was a 5g conspirator, this would definitely break me seeing this and make me wanna destroy it more lol.
8
u/TWill42 Feb 03 '26
Bro right? 😂
“They are trying to hide them now! Don’t you see?!?! They must come down!!”
6
u/KameOtaku Feb 03 '26
- To blend in better with the environment
Unless you place the gigantic fake coniferous tree poking out high above a grove of shorter deciduous trees
2
u/Ok_Independent_7553 Feb 03 '26
They put them in the SoCal high desert. The only thing for hundreds of miles is sage brush, and then you see one of these monsters. It doesn't blend in at all. 😆
2
Feb 04 '26
To blend in better with the environment (aesthetics)
No it does not. Always the stupidest looking tree especially when next to real trees. Antennas do not hide because those are vertical.
8
u/Ok_Priority3511 Feb 03 '26
We see these a lot in the desert, they make them look like Palm Trees though
2
1
6
7
7
4
u/Lupus_Spiritus_42 Feb 03 '26
Found one of these in New Braunfels Texas. Never seen one before. Was so confused until I realized what it was. Thought it was just a big metal tree in an apartment complex
3
u/WaffleHouseGladiator Feb 03 '26
That's where government spy pigeons roost and recharge. Sneaky sky rats.
2
u/Antique_Brother_9563 Feb 03 '26
Totally natural looking. We have those around Atlanta. They always stick out like a sore thumb with no other trees around them.
5
1
u/AutoModerator Feb 03 '26
Reminder for OP: /u/Bohica72
- Is your post MildyInteresting?
- Be respectful at all times
Have a suggestion for us? Send us some mail!
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
u/allenge Feb 03 '26
Seeing these always reminds me of sledding as a child. No idea where it was, but wherever we used to sled had one of these in eyesight.
1
1
1
1
1
u/fitness-potato Feb 03 '26
Theres one in my home town by a church that was made to look like a giant cross
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/InevitableStruggle Feb 03 '26
They come in a few different species, too. I’ve seen palm tree cell towers in the desert.
1
1
Feb 03 '26
I live in Nevada and they try to make them look like palm trees here.
TBH I don’t even take a second glance at them. But I also don’t look twice and undisguised cell towers lol. So it kind of feels like a waste of time and money.
1
u/ur1nals0ap Feb 03 '26
you already know the homeless are freaking out over everyday. hell, trumpies, “THEYRE FRYING OUR BRAINS WITH 5G TREES”
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/Amaline4 Feb 03 '26
They put them in giant crosses as well. The part of Canada I live in isn't heavily Christian, but there are a few huge crosses that also house cell towers inside near where I live.
1
1
1
1
u/djthebear Feb 03 '26
It’s not to disguise. It’s just to make it look a little less like a giant metal tower.
1
1
1
u/I_madeusay_underwear Feb 03 '26
My brother worked at a factory that made these while he was in college. He said it was the most miserable place he’s ever worked and he only stayed as long as he did because it took them forever to fire him for calling in sick 3 out of 5 days every week.
1
u/DerWintersoldat21 Feb 03 '26
I remember it was somewhat of a thing when people were getting upset because there were cell towers disguised as church crosses
1
1
u/retirement_savings Feb 03 '26
"Hello fellow trees, let's all tell our favorite stories about growing up in the forest"
1
1
1
1
u/Warm-Branch Feb 03 '26
They got one of these out by disney animal kingdom in florida. We can see it's off but the animals can't tell the difference
1
u/goofygoober_4 Feb 03 '26
I’ve seen them before in some places! Great idea, but the one’s I’ve seen did a horrible ass job lol. It was really funny.
1
u/thegrandgardener Feb 03 '26
I’m in Telecom. They’re called Stealth Trees / Concealment. They’re different all around the country and they try to replicate indigenous species. The cactus are really cool!
1
1
u/bugeyetex Feb 04 '26
I've seen a couple of these in El Paso and that's awful funny if you have seen the amount of trees that grow in El Paso
1
1
u/mostlysittingdown Feb 04 '26
These have been around since the early 90’s. Not sure why this is interesting
1
u/Insert_Blank Feb 04 '26
We have these in co. They always make me laugh because they make things look weirder than just a tower.
1
u/Mindful_Rager Feb 04 '26
We have one in DFW. We don’t have those types of trees where it is placed so it almost looks even more obvious. At least they tried.
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/Only_Caterpillar3818 Feb 04 '26
We have one of these in our town. You don’t notice it as much when you’re close by. If you’re two miles away it’s the tallest object in that part of town by like 30 ft. Looks ridiculous.
1
1
1
u/scaredt2ask Feb 04 '26
If my choice is either a standard boring cell tower or a cell tower that looks like a tree. I’ll take the tree option.
1
1
1
1
1
u/dwehlen Feb 04 '26
It's better than most I've seen, though it'd probably stick out pretty bad here in coastal FL.
1
1
1
1
u/HaroerHaktak Feb 04 '26
It’s done to help keep the value of local area up.
Theres hidden infrastructure all over the place. Sometimes it’s obvious and silly but most of the time it’s very difficult to spot or tell at a glance and that’s the point.
1
1
1
1
u/Icy_Temperature_2635 Feb 04 '26
My mom lived in Egypt briefly, the ones there are disguised as palm trees!
1
1
u/littlenekoterra Feb 04 '26
Even more interesting is how this helps the environment!
These can support small birds nests in the lower and middle branches, allowing them to treat it like any other tree, meanwhile too a human being not paying too close attention/ not caring, its easy to ignore the odd looking tree so it doesnt make everything but ugly. Meanwhile the paint helps the metal not corrode and pollute the environment, and the maintenence cost is reduced so it saves on labor in the long term.
Only real problem is this isnt every tower, just the ones made by the concious groups
1
1
u/RackingUpTheMiles Feb 04 '26
I'm a truck driver and I see these all over the place. I noticed one in my area a few years ago and it looked out of place.
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/grokmac Feb 04 '26
For my own amusement (as a kinda Dad joke) every time I see one of these I always say, "The majestic pine!" to everyone in the car.
1
1
1
1
1
u/Objective-Ear2108 Feb 04 '26
Lmao they really said "nobody will notice" and then made it look like a tree that got struck by lightning. The branches are way too uniform, gives me uncanny valley vibes every time I see one of these irl
1
1
u/Substantial_Ask3665 Feb 05 '26
The people get notified of this coming. They don't want it. So they compromise. Power companies will do this if a major powerline is coming through a city.
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/BoostedFPV Feb 07 '26
I came across one of these while I was out flying my drones.
Here's the video of a "Tree" blowing out my long range drone.
1
1
1
1
u/LaDev Feb 07 '26
I worked in cell towers for a while. These are all over the place and are usually required by the city/township.
1
1
1
u/zer0jjc Feb 07 '26
I think its a tree pretending to be a cell tower. So no one cuts it down to make toilet paper.
1
1
1
u/AR_lover Feb 08 '26
We put one of these in our city. It looks cool, but when it's the only tree even close to 200 feet tall it sticks out like a sore thumb. So they replaced it with a normal one several years later.
1
1
1
•
u/image-sourcery Feb 03 '26
This is an automatic post that is used to detect image sources.
Reverse Image Search:
Google Images || SauceNAO || Google Lens || IQDB || Yandex || TinEye || Bing
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.