For decades, the parabolic whisper dishes outside Tūhura Otago Museum have remained steadfast and unmoveable.
But today’s severe gales ripped them out of the ground like weeds, for the first time since they were built there about 30 years ago.
The exhibit allows two people to whisper into one dish and be heard clearly by someone at the other dish about 20 metres away.
Museum marketing manager Charlie Buchan said when the wind hit, everyone in his office stood up and went to look out the window.
“The museum’s a pretty old building, and we thought the windows were going to cave in.
“We looked out and then a big tree fell, and then we saw one of the whisper dishes take flight like a flying saucer.
“Luckily it hit a tree so it couldn’t go any further. It’s made out of metal and it’s really heavy, but it flew like it was pretty light.
“It’s the first time they’ve ever been yanked out of the ground by wind.”
He said the second dish also got blown out of the ground, but because it was so close to a tree, it did not move far.
Mr Buchan said the museum had a large group of visitors about to leave when the wind gusts hit.
“We had to stop them from leaving.
“Some of them were Australian tourists and they were asking if this was what Dunedin’s weather was usually like, and we had to reassure them that it wasn’t.
“We also cleared people from the cafe window tables and brought all the furniture in.
“We kept them in for about 20 minutes, just to make sure everything was all good.
“It was actually quite scary because it just didn’t stop.”
Once the wind died down, staff went outside to secure the whisper dishes.
“We couldn’t really get out there and do much with them because they were too heavy to lift.
“So we’ve just fastened them to the ground and to the trees to make sure they don’t really go any further.”
Staff also cleared State Highway 1 (heading south) which was covered in some large branches from trees in the Museum Reserve.
Fortunately, no-one was injured, he said.