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Technology Spontaneously Combusts In Sicily
Zacronos writes "According to MSNBC, ever since mid-January, various electronic devices have been spontaneously combusting in the now evacuated town of Canneto di Caronia, Sicily; at this point, the fires are almost daily. The town has been disconnected from the larger electrical grid and was hooked to a generator, but that, too, caught fire. Even unplugged items have succumbed. Nothing seems to have burst into flame except where there is someone present to witness it, but the police no longer suspect a prankster -- after witnessing wires catch fire without cause. Scientists have yet to explain the phenomenon (although unproven theories abound), leading many people to look to supernatural causes."
Scientists have yet to explain the phenomenon ... leading many people to look to supernatural causes
It really makes me sad when, if people don't understand something they assume it's magic. Why is it that so many people refuse to take 'we don't know yet' as an acceptable answer?
Science: 0
Magic: 1
:/
-Colin
Believe or not, similar incidents have occurred before.
o 1945 - A village a short distance from Almera in Spain (New York Time 5th July 1945).
o 1983 - A small coal town in West Virginia, Wharncliffe (Housten Post 16th June 1983 and Columbus Dispatch 24th July 1983)
o 1990 - San Gottardo in the Berici Hills of Italy
(UK Sunday Express 11th March 1990 and The Guardian 22nd March 1990)
I've given you references so you can check them out for yourself.
(posted anonymously to avoid Slashdotters you refuse to think about things which don't fit inside their predefined universe).
2. America is one of the few nations in the world where the power going out or setting firest makes the news, in most of the world it happens daily.
3. About a decade ago Italy ruled their version of the FCC incompetent and disbanded them. Though there are EU rules to deal with, it is a wild west of wireless where you can send photon-torpedo strength EMI around with no-one to slap you until the mobs find you.
The common thread in the fires is objects connected to wires, whether powered wires or not. Wires are after all antennas though the matching frequency depends on length. It's well known in RF engineering that under the right circumstances, RF energy can cause high temperatures at impedance boundaries. Quite possibly some high power RF source is causing the phenomena. One of my guesses is energy bouncing off the ionosphere and coming from far away, maybe the US military's HAARP, or something the Russians have. The fact that all the occurrences are in one tiny village midway between some railroad lines and the ocean is odd since nothing industrial or military is nearby. I'd say it's accidental and the result of military testing elsewhere.
Doesn't need to be EMP. A continous Tesla-style resonant earth antenna can create "hot zones" where ground... isn't...
I think they were testing BPL in this region....Natural resonances of power systems are a phenomena which is very little known in this sort of region.
Another big hint: they said the'd disconnected the town from the power system. If they still had a connection somewhere to the grid that they didn't know about, that would set them up for more problems. (Mixing grounds from different phases is a NONO... I've experienced really bad RF just trying to use a radio that was running on gen power and a computer on shore at the same time.)
-=fshalor
I'm a Sicilian (I live in Catania) and I can confirm that the news is real. At first the police thought of fraudulent actions from unknown people but after some weeks 3-4 policemans saw some electric cables (old cables, unconnected and resting on floor) that started spontaneously to combust. After that many scientists and technicians have done many tests without results. Those events are happening only in a very little town near the city of Messina.
First of all, this is pretty old news in Italy.
Here is CICAP entry on this phenomenon (in Italian sorry).
CICAP is a group of scientists who routinely investigate (and debunk) any so-called supernatural phenomenon in Italy (they cover anything: ESP, religious miracles, even omeopathy). Sort of a James Randi fan club.
I suppose most of Slashdot's reader cannot read Italian: the gist of it is that they suspect a prank. According to similar phenomena they investigated in the past, the first accidents are caused by natural causes (short-circuits, overload).
But then people start talking, and making hypotesis, and someone starts causing this as a prank or a way to get attention, media coverage etc. Then CICAP arrives, and start looking aroud, and everything goes back to normal.
CICAP sums this as follows: 100% of phenomena happen when controls are at 0% 0% of phenomena happen when controls are at 100%
I would suggest they start with several teams with fied strength meters looking for the guy doing Tesla tests...
my EE professor back in college demonstrated Nicolai Tesla's theories and designs by powering a electronic device from across the room and with no wires. he also warned all of us to NOT bring any electronic equipment and everyone in the Engineering building was also warned as well were PC's removed from the building.
he was generating a field strength that pegged a standard meter 500 feet from the building.
Tesla was going to generate much HIGHER atmosphereic voltages with his tower...
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.