Magnetic Boys Debunked By Killjoy Science Book Author
Remember the Magnetic Boy from Serbia? He was joined by another magnetic child in Brazil, and a number of other magnetic kids in the Balkans, where children like this are apparently common.
According to the author of a book on solving unexplained mysteries, this is all a sham. Are you shocked? Brace yourselves:
The explanation is that kids are particularly good at attaching things to their bodies, because you have one smooth, sticky surface (hairless skin, with a slight sheen of sweat) adhering to another smooth surface."When you look at the things involved in these cases, they're all smooth," Radford said. "They're glass, they're plates, they're metal. You don't see rough surfaces. You don't see steel wool."
There's also evidence of a "backward lean" that could facilitate the "magnetism," but we're not convinced. Can you really get pots and pans to stick to your chest just because you're hairless and a kid and imperceptibly leaning backwards? Those are heavy. Unless they just put glue on the undersides of them and found a bunch of "doctors" to scratch their heads, which seems too obvious and not very fun. What to believe?
For nostalgia's sake, the original Magnetic Boy:
[MSNBC]
[rgray@villagevoice.com] [@_rosiegray]
Go to Runnin' Scared for more Voice news coverage.
Email to Friend
Write to Editor
Print Article
