Psychic's crystal ball starts unforeseen fire

[RichardR]

From Times Online:

M Vandrot, 24, who is studying botanics at Edinburgh University, left the ball on his windowsill while he visited the city’s Royal Botanic Garden. By the time he returned, the ball had destroyed his own and two other flats, and had left several others uninhabitable.

(Snip)

M Vandrot, released from hospital after a night having his hand treated, denied that his crystal ball had been the cause of the blaze. “I don’t think it is capable of doing that. I think it was an electrical fault; the plug of my computer was melted.”

Edinburgh’s firefighters disagreed, and roundly blamed the ball. “Strong sunlight through glass, particularly if the glass is filled with liquid like a goldfish bowl, concentrates the sun’s rays and acts like a magnifying glass,” a spokesman said. The fire had been started by the ball concentrating a ray of sunshine on a pile of washing, he said.

I guess he won't be doing much business for a while.

 

[CFLarsen]

That's how a magnifying glass works, Herve.

What a way to learn.

 

[Beanbag]

Back in my early days in the Society for Creative Anachronism (the 70's), the rage among one particular group was to wear "palantir", which were crystal-clear cast resin globes about two inches in diameter. They'd wear them around their neck on a string. It was amazing how long it took for them to realize that the holes magically appearing in their tunics after a sunny day were coming from the palantirs. We demonstrated it to the doubters by using one to light a cigarette.

Beanbag

 

[Azrael 5]

He should have seen it coming!

 

[ShowMe]

This reads like a textbook case on how "psychics" think:

"M Vandrot, released from hospital after a night having his hand treated, denied that his crystal ball had been the cause of the blaze."

Ah yes, the person responsible for the blaze cannot believe the firemen, police investigators, fire investigators & common sense.

“I don’t think it is capable of doing that."

This guy doesn't think a CRYSTAL ball is capable of focusing hte suns rays, producing enough heat to start a fire? Crack a science book man!

"I think it was an electrical fault; the plug of my computer was" melted.”

That happens when your apartment burns down.

"One of M Vandrot’s friends, who was helping him to sift through the debris yesterday, said: “I don’t think it was the crystal ball. I have had crystal balls on my windowsills for years and nothing happened.”"

One anecdotal bit of evidence, which I'm certain will convince the entire community that it wasn't the crystal ball.

I wonder if this friend would be willing to put his crystal ball in direct sunlight, focusing on a pile of laundry on *his* floor?

Would he be willing to bet his apartment to prove his theory?

 

[Bronze Dog]

One month from now:

"I'm going to display my amazing pyrokinetic abilities. I can't generate the amount of psi necessary to do this on my own, so I'll use this spherical crystal as a focus, along with the positive, life-giving rays of the sun. Just a second... Need to get all of this aligned properly... See! The ant exploded! Ph33re my uber-1337 P5I Powerz!"

 

[Brown]

The possibility of a crystal ball causing a burn is well-known to some performers.

Some jugglers/manipulators use clear acrylic or polycarbonate spheres in their acts. Clear balls are not recommended for outside use, however, but solid-color spheres can be used instead.

The black beauty ball acrylic ball is made both for aesthetic reasons and for outdoor use. Clear balls can sting your hands outdoors because they act like a lens to concentrate sunlight.

Source.

 

[chillzero]

I saw this story and was amused. I think it is particularly funny, because many users of crystal will deliberately leave them in the sun - to absorb positive energy rays or some such.

I know I used to keep mine on the window ledge in the kitchen, but it was a solid ball of a gold and coppery crystal that did not filter light all the way through. If it was clear, I would never have been that stupid.