What is Capitol Hill’s mystery soda machine up to?

Update, September 6: The Mystery Machine Facebook page has posted another image of the Coke machine. It appears to be inserted into a sculpture of the Olympic Sculpture Park, in front of iconic installation “The Eagle” by Alexander Calder.

This one looks like more of a clear Photoshop job—and that 75-cent price tag makes it seem like it’s based on an older photo regardless—but we’re still keeping an eye on this developing story. At the very least, it’s fun seeing this Seattle icon popping up like a traveling gnome.

Update, September 5: Upon further inspection, it’s hard to verify the authenticity of the photograph of the mystery soda machine—the display advertises a price of 75 cents, which had been raised to a dollar before it was moved, for example. We’ll keep an eye on this developing story.

Original article September 5:

It’s been a tumultuous, changing time in Seattle—and nothing is immune. A rapidly shifting landscape has thrown a Capitol Hill staple, a mysterious and maybe haunted soda machine typically chained up outside Broadway Locksmith, for a loop.

For the uninitiated: This soda machine is the subject of legend, beloved for its scrappy, vintage, almost antique exterior and mysterious aura. The story goes that nobody knows who stocks and maintains the thing (occasional eyewitness photos trying to prove it’s “not haunted” aside). It’s even drawn national attention.

But lately, what used to be a constant of the Capitol Hill neighborhood has been going through some changes. It started earlier this year, when it began charging a whole dollar, up from 75 cents, for one of its sodas of unknown origin. Then, it up and disappeared back in June, leaving a sticker that read simply, “went for a walk.”

After a few months of hiding, the machine has made an appropriately mysterious reappearance. In a photo posted to the Mystery Machine Facebook page, the machine poses (“#selfie”) in front of the Space Needle—perhaps in Fisher Plaza—with the caption, “Hi, IT ME!!!!!”

Admins for the Mystery Machine Facebook page did not immediately return a request for comment—and we haven’t gained any insight yet from the metaphysical-happening mappers at Liminal Seattle.

• Mystery Machine [Facebook]