What happened to the fly?

[Nick Charles]

I want to preface this by saying that I am NOT a believer in time travel, nor am I a conspiracy theorist. However, I experienced a strange occurrence recently and I wanted to run it by some people who might have some explanations.

I am a tinkerer. During the event I am referencing, I had several devices operating at once so I don't know for sure what was affecting what, but here's what happened:

I was playing with a Wimshurst machine. It's nothing out of the ordinary, other than I modified it with larger Leyden jars so I get some pretty big sparks. I also had a pretty strong electromagnet. I had no idea what I was doing other than I wanted to see if a magnetic field had an effect on the spark. I should also mention that I had a Tesla coil and some other gadgets in the area, but they were a distance away so I doubt they were affecting anything (I don't think the magnet did squat, for that matter).

Anyway, the sparks were arcing across the discharge electrodes of the Wimshurst machine and a housefly flew right into their path. It vanished. I remember thinking, "Wow, that fly was just fried!" I figured it was acting like a bug zapper.

That is when the strange thing happened. A few sparks later the fly flew out of the arc, as if it were simply continuing its path.

My explanation is I experienced an optical illusion, and the fly actually landed on one of the electrodes, stayed there for a few seconds, and them flew off at the same time as another spark. But it really REALLY looked like it vanished and reappeared, so much so that I actually looked for the dead fly on the table before I saw it reappear.

Any guesses? I mean, it couldn't have been a momentary time travel ...

 

[Einstein]

I want to preface this by saying that I am NOT a believer in time travel, nor am I a conspiracy theorist. However, I experienced a strange occurrence recently and I wanted to run it by some people who might have some explanations.

I am a tinkerer. During the event I am referencing, I had several devices operating at once so I don't know for sure what was affecting what, but here's what happened:

I was playing with a Wimshurst machine. It's nothing out of the ordinary, other than I modified it with larger Leyden jars so I get some pretty big sparks. I also had a pretty strong electromagnet. I had no idea what I was doing other than I wanted to see if a magnetic field had an effect on the spark. I should also mention that I had a Tesla coil and some other gadgets in the area, but they were a distance away so I doubt they were affecting anything (I don't think the magnet did squat, for that matter).

Anyway, the sparks were arcing across the discharge electrodes of the Wimshurst machine and a housefly flew right into their path. It vanished. I remember thinking, "Wow, that fly was just fried!" I figured it was acting like a bug zapper.

That is when the strange thing happened. A few sparks later the fly flew out of the arc, as if it were simply continuing its path.

My explanation is I experienced an optical illusion, and the fly actually landed on one of the electrodes, stayed there for a few seconds, and them flew off at the same time as another spark. But it really REALLY looked like it vanished and reappeared, so much so that I actually looked for the dead fly on the table before I saw it reappear.

Any guesses? I mean, it couldn't have been a momentary time travel ...

Your story is very similar to Madman Marcum's story. He was using a Jacobs Ladder device. He threw a bolt into the arc. The bolt disappeared. It reappeared a few seconds later. He later built a much larger version of his device, and threw himself into the huge arc. He wound up two years into the future, and had lost his memory in the process.

 

[Nick Charles]

I suspect throwing one's self into a Jacob's Ladder would take you no place other than the hereafter!

Still, I admit that I started tossing and dangling items into the thing! LOL! So far, nothing has happened. I wouldn't expect it to, as it's just static electricity discharge. That is why the entire thing puzzles me.

BTW, if he lost his memory, how was he able to tell that story?

 

[Itheblaze]

Lay a piece of banana peel at the bottom of a large mason jar. Put it on window sill. When a fly lands on the peel, put lid on. Redo the same experiment using one fly at a time. Video tape it and after, look carefully to see if the fly really disappeared.

 

[Einstein]

I suspect throwing one's self into a Jacob's Ladder would take you no place other than the hereafter!

Still, I admit that I started tossing and dangling items into the thing! LOL! So far, nothing has happened. I wouldn't expect it to, as it's just static electricity discharge. That is why the entire thing puzzles me.

BTW, if he lost his memory, how was he able to tell that story?

He said it took him months. But his memory slowly returned. This happened in the late 90's.

Also he said that there is a fuzzy patch area just above the arc where he threw the bolt in.

 

[TimeFlipper]

I want to preface this by saying that I am NOT a believer in time travel, nor am I a conspiracy theorist. However, I experienced a strange occurrence recently and I wanted to run it by some people who might have some explanations.

I am a tinkerer. During the event I am referencing, I had several devices operating at once so I don't know for sure what was affecting what, but here's what happened:

I was playing with a Wimshurst machine. It's nothing out of the ordinary, other than I modified it with larger Leyden jars so I get some pretty big sparks. I also had a pretty strong electromagnet. I had no idea what I was doing other than I wanted to see if a magnetic field had an effect on the spark. I should also mention that I had a Tesla coil and some other gadgets in the area, but they were a distance away so I doubt they were affecting anything (I don't think the magnet did squat, for that matter).

Anyway, the sparks were arcing across the discharge electrodes of the Wimshurst machine and a housefly flew right into their path. It vanished. I remember thinking, "Wow, that fly was just fried!" I figured it was acting like a bug zapper.

That is when the strange thing happened. A few sparks later the fly flew out of the arc, as if it were simply continuing its path.

My explanation is I experienced an optical illusion, and the fly actually landed on one of the electrodes, stayed there for a few seconds, and them flew off at the same time as another spark. But it really REALLY looked like it vanished and reappeared, so much so that I actually looked for the dead fly on the table before I saw it reappear.

Any guesses? I mean, it couldn't have been a momentary time travel ...

Perhaps the fly you saw reappear was a friend of the first fly you zapped?

 

[Nick Charles]

IDK ... do flies have friends?

 

[TimeFlipper]

Of course they have friends...have you seen how many there are on a dogs poo lol

 

[Genius]

I want to preface this by saying that I am NOT a believer in time travel, nor am I a conspiracy theorist. However, I experienced a strange occurrence recently and I wanted to run it by some people who might have some explanations.

I am a tinkerer. During the event I am referencing, I had several devices operating at once so I don't know for sure what was affecting what, but here's what happened:

I was playing with a Wimshurst machine. It's nothing out of the ordinary, other than I modified it with larger Leyden jars so I get some pretty big sparks. I also had a pretty strong electromagnet. I had no idea what I was doing other than I wanted to see if a magnetic field had an effect on the spark. I should also mention that I had a Tesla coil and some other gadgets in the area, but they were a distance away so I doubt they were affecting anything (I don't think the magnet did squat, for that matter).

Anyway, the sparks were arcing across the discharge electrodes of the Wimshurst machine and a housefly flew right into their path. It vanished. I remember thinking, "Wow, that fly was just fried!" I figured it was acting like a bug zapper.

That is when the strange thing happened. A few sparks later the fly flew out of the arc, as if it were simply continuing its path.

My explanation is I experienced an optical illusion, and the fly actually landed on one of the electrodes, stayed there for a few seconds, and them flew off at the same time as another spark. But it really REALLY looked like it vanished and reappeared, so much so that I actually looked for the dead fly on the table before I saw it reappear.

Any guesses? I mean, it couldn't have been a momentary time travel ...

Your story is very similar to Madman Marcum's story. He was using a Jacobs Ladder device. He threw a bolt into the arc. The bolt disappeared. It reappeared a few seconds later. He later built a much larger version of his device, and threw himself into the huge arc. He wound up two years into the future, and had lost his memory in the process.

But I thought that after saying that he'll build a bigger version and throw himself he disappeared.

 

[Einstein]

I want to preface this by saying that I am NOT a believer in time travel, nor am I a conspiracy theorist. However, I experienced a strange occurrence recently and I wanted to run it by some people who might have some explanations.

I am a tinkerer. During the event I am referencing, I had several devices operating at once so I don't know for sure what was affecting what, but here's what happened:

I was playing with a Wimshurst machine. It's nothing out of the ordinary, other than I modified it with larger Leyden jars so I get some pretty big sparks. I also had a pretty strong electromagnet. I had no idea what I was doing other than I wanted to see if a magnetic field had an effect on the spark. I should also mention that I had a Tesla coil and some other gadgets in the area, but they were a distance away so I doubt they were affecting anything (I don't think the magnet did squat, for that matter).

Anyway, the sparks were arcing across the discharge electrodes of the Wimshurst machine and a housefly flew right into their path. It vanished. I remember thinking, "Wow, that fly was just fried!" I figured it was acting like a bug zapper.

That is when the strange thing happened. A few sparks later the fly flew out of the arc, as if it were simply continuing its path.

My explanation is I experienced an optical illusion, and the fly actually landed on one of the electrodes, stayed there for a few seconds, and them flew off at the same time as another spark. But it really REALLY looked like it vanished and reappeared, so much so that I actually looked for the dead fly on the table before I saw it reappear.

Any guesses? I mean, it couldn't have been a momentary time travel ...

Your story is very similar to Madman Marcum's story. He was using a Jacobs Ladder device. He threw a bolt into the arc. The bolt disappeared. It reappeared a few seconds later. He later built a much larger version of his device, and threw himself into the huge arc. He wound up two years into the future, and had lost his memory in the process.

But I thought that after saying that he'll build a bigger version and throw himself he disappeared.

The story was updated. He was later interviewed by Nexus magazine. The article is posted somewhere on this site. Do a search.