'Demonic' Mystery Fires In Sicilian Town

[matcom]

<snip>

ROME, Feb 11 (Reuters) - A Sicilian town is struggling to work out why dozens of household items from fridge-freezers to furniture keep mysteriously bursting into flame, terrifying locals and sparking theories of demonic intervention.

Since mid-January dozens of electrical goods and pieces of furniture have spontaneously gone up in flames, causing huge damage in Canneto di Caronia, a small town perched on the Mediterranean island's rocky coast.

"I've seen unplugged electrical cables burst into flames with my own eyes, but I just can't explain it," a local policeman who did not want to be named said on Wednesday. "I've never seen anything like it."

Some fires have spread to engulf homes and police temporarily evacuated some 40 residents.

http://www.boston.com/news/odd/articles/2004/02/11/sicilian_town_battles_demonic_mystery_blazes/

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. You have entered

the twilight zone.

That's pretty far out weird.

[cosmicdot]

2. "Satan and his followers have immense powers"

edited to add :tinfoilhat:

have they checked with the White House?
what new weaponry are they experimenting with?

The E-bomb, capable of wiping out electronic equipment with a huge burst of electrical energy into the atmosphere, is one of the newest weapons the United States has developed. The sudden explosion of the bomb results in an electromagnetic pulse or EMP, working like a lightening that knocks out TV or computer, only on a citywide scale.

The circuits and wiring in electrical devices act like antennas and pick up the invisible EMP wave as it moves through the air. The affected electronics will either become temporarily disabled or completely overloaded and destroyed by the excess energy.

"Virtually any solid state device is going to go, whether it's a cell phone or a 6 million US dollar computer," said Anthony Cordesman, a military analyst with ABC News, a major US TV networks.

http://english.people.com.cn/200303/29/eng20030329_114207.shtml

[Nihil]

3. High powered radar?

I seem to recall reading about a UK farmer (think it was in Wales?)
who suddenly started having weird electrical faults. These included
light bulbs burning out on a frequent basis, most mains equipment
failing or blowing fuses and at least two small fires that started
with electrical equipment overloads.

The cause was finally identified as linked to a high-power radar just
brought on-line at a nearby RAF base. Can't remember how (or even if)
it was resolved for them.

Nihil

On edit: Wonder if there is a fleet exercise in progress in that part
of the Med? What's the local USN carrier doing these days? :-)