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Ok, What Was It?

bruto said:
If they merely cracked they would still leak profusely, and depending on position, they could make a big mess. If a prankster shorted them enough to boil the electrolyte, they would not need either to crack or explode to exude electrolyte and make a mess. If a prankster took a hammer and whacked the side of a battery, it would look very bad, and make a big mess too. Battery cases are not very strong on the sides.

If, as you say, the vehicles were towed away to assess the damage, can one not presume the damage was assessed? Of course it's a bit late now, but it would be interesting to know what an actual mechanic thought of the situation.
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I think that with some battery designs you can lose fluid in one cell and the others remain full.

Vandalism seems far-fetched to me and really dangerous for the person doing it. Hammer to the case leaves you vulnerable for being splashed by the highly corrosive acid. A tool spanned across the terminals creates big sparking and dangers. The tool might weld itself to the terminals or at least become too hot to touch. Then if there is an explosion you have acid everywhere including your face.

Getting to the batteries can be a challenge if the cars have internal hood releases and the doors are locked. The vandal has to first break into the car in order to release the hood mechanism.
 
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Jodie said:
No, I'm positive that I didn't close the door due to the sag of the door frame. It has only been 4 years ago since this incident happened.
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And you didn't hear the according to you very noisy door close during the very few seconds your back was turned?
 
AdMan said:
Jodie said:
... here are some research articles that back up my opinion:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23397237

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22481051
...
Extroverts tend to be more objectively oriented and impulsive. An introvert is more analytical, methodical, but also relies more on intuition and tends to be fantasy prone.

I think it takes an introvert more effort and self awareness to apply a skeptical approach towards something than it would an extrovert. The extrovert would be more oriented towards and comfortable dealing with objective fact.
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Your cited studies don't support your claim. And your additional claims are unsupported.
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This ^
Not only do the cited studies not support (or even address) the claims, they mention and refer to a known association between supernatural and religious skepticism and a reflective, analytic cognitive style, which even Jodie suggests is more characteristic of introverts. So, if anything, they contradict her claim that "Extroverts are much more likely to be skeptical of extraordinary claims than introverted personalities".
 
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bruto said:
If they merely cracked they would still leak profusely, and depending on position, they could make a big mess. If a prankster shorted them enough to boil the electrolyte, they would not need either to crack or explode to exude electrolyte and make a mess. If a prankster took a hammer and whacked the side of a battery, it would look very bad, and make a big mess too. Battery cases are not very strong on the sides.

If, as you say, the vehicles were towed away to assess the damage, can one not presume the damage was assessed? Of course it's a bit late now, but it would be interesting to know what an actual mechanic thought of the situation.
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I think it was vandalism, at the time Dad didn't think so. I don't recall if that was based on what the mechanics told him about the batteries or if that was just his opinion at the time.
 
Modesty78 said:
And you didn't hear the according to you very noisy door close during the very few seconds your back was turned?
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No, I didn't. Someone else suggested that the door popped into place due to the change in weight distribution as I walked across the floor to the sink. Maybe, but I still think I would have heard it, I don't know.
 
dlorde said:
This ^
Not only do the cited studies not support (or even address) the claims, they mention and refer to a known association between supernatural and religious skepticism and a reflective, analytic cognitive style, which even Jodie suggests is more characteristic of introverts. So, if anything, they contradict her claim that "Extroverts are much more likely to be skeptical of extraordinary claims than introverted personalities".
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I still think my original statement is true. Extroverts can be analytical and/or reflective, but they don't usually question objective facts when initially dealing with a problem or issue.

Extroversion and Introversion fall on a continuum but research suggests that there is a fundamental difference in your neuro circuitry that makes the difference. That would indicate that a person with either trait would approach a problem or question in a different way initially, not that either would use one method exclusively to solve that problem.
 
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Everybody has a paint brush, whether you use it it or not will depend on the barn.
 
Jodie said:
I still think my original statement is true. Extroverts can be analytical and/or reflective, but they don't usually question objective facts when initially dealing with a problem or issue.

Extroversion and Introversion fall on a continuum but research suggests that there is a fundamental difference in your neuro circuitry that makes the difference. That would indicate that a person with either trait would approach a problem or question in a different way initially, not that either would use one method exclusively to solve that problem.
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Even if that's true, it says nothing about how skeptical the individuals would be. Stop pretending it's anything but your own opinion.
 
Wasn't the poltergeist/pig-faced ghost from Amityville Horror called Jodie?

Anyway, I do find this thread interesting and I thank Jodie for peppering the thread with new mysteries as we progress.

I find it useful to read good possible explanations for seemingly mysterious or paranormal occurrences. My brother (and some of my work colleagues) will often come to me and say, "right, 'splain this professor..." and then tell me about some floating white lady they saw crossing the road 20 years ago one misty night. (or another amazing story). Although I often tell them about the fallibility of human memory, and try to talk about paradolia, they're usually not interested unless I can actually explain how the occurrence physically happened in reality.

So keep on posting your strange occurrences please Jodie, and I look forward to reading about possible physical solutions.
 
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Pareidolia (/pærɨˈdoʊliə/ parr-i-doh-lee-ə) is a psychological phenomenon involving a vague and random stimulus (often an image or sound) being perceived as significant, a form of apophenia. Common examples include seeing images of animals or faces in clouds, the man in the moon or the Moon rabbit, and hearing hidden messages on records when played in reverse.

Apophenia /æpɵˈfiːniə/ is the experience of seeing patterns or connections in random or meaningless data.
 
Jodie said:
I think it was vandalism, at the time Dad didn't think so. I don't recall if that was based on what the mechanics told him about the batteries or if that was just his opinion at the time.
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Oh! If it was only 4 years ago, the shop where all the cars went might still have records! You could find out what they thought for sure. Or, if your Dad is like me, he probably kept a copy of all the repair and purchase records - they'd be in the glove compartments or in a file somewhere. You would only need the records from one car.
 
dlorde said:
Good points, both. I was thinking along the lines that perhaps some of us are more naturally story tellers than others; for the vast majority of our species history our cultural memory has been verbal. On the other hand, perhaps some of us are more in need of social attention than others, and take whatever chances they can to collect and tell stories for this purpose (to impress, to fit in, to be noticed) ;)
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These points are extremely relevant here.
 
Jodie said:
Dad said he couldn't get the batteries out and he wanted the mechanic to check the other parts to make sure they were OK.
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That makes sense but I am wondering if this all really happened the same night. 35 years down the road you may be lumping several unconnected events into one night because they were all similar events.
 
I tell you, it was battery fairies. my explanation is just as valid as any other paranormal explanation.
 
Tiktaalik said:
Oh! If it was only 4 years ago, the shop where all the cars went might still have records! You could find out what they thought for sure. Or, if your Dad is like me, he probably kept a copy of all the repair and purchase records - they'd be in the glove compartments or in a file somewhere. You would only need the records from one car.
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The battery incident wasn't four years ago--that was the door incident.
 
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