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[Music]

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ufos and electromagnetism

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by charles lear a common element of ufo

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reports

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is that cars or other vehicles cease

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functioning during the sighting

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and often restart on their own after the

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ufo's departure

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many researchers have speculated that

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this is an effect of electromagnetism

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possibly related to an advanced system

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of propulsion

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this seems to be a reasonable hypothesis

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and one that could be tested

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all one would need would be a car and a

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source of electromagnetism

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so the question is have there been any

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experiments done in laboratories

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and have the results been published in a

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peer-reviewed format

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the case that first brought attention to

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this aspect of the phenomenon

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was the 1957 incident that involved a

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series of extraordinary encounters

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in and around the small farming

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community of levelin texas

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patrolman abraham john fowler was

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working the evening shift at the level

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and police department

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on the night of november 2nd when the

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first of what would be a series of

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unusual calls came in

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just before 11 pm a farmworker pedro

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salcero

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called to report a very strange

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encounter that left him and his

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co-worker

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joe solas shaken and mystified according

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to salcedo they were in his pickup truck

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on their way to a farm 10 miles

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northwest of loveland

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at 10 30 p.m they turned off route 116

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now route 114 four miles west of

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levelland

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onto a side road off to the right in a

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field

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they saw a bright blue flash which drew

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their attention

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the source of the light was a cigar or

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torpedo shaped object

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around 200 feet long as they watched the

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object

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growing blue green lifted up and came

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towards the truck

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as it did so its color changed to bright

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yellow white

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saucedo thinking there was going to be a

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collision jumped out and hit the dirt

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salaz remained inside and fortunately

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for him

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the object went over the truck as the

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object passed over

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the truck's engine stalled and the

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headlights went out the object gave off

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a roaring sound its color changed to red

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and air rushed in behind it as it flew

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off leaving the truck rocking

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saucedo described feeling an intense

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heat from the object

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and estimated that it traveled to the

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east at 600 to 800 miles per hour

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as the object moved off the truck engine

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started back up on its own

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and the lights came back on saucedo then

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drove to the town of whiteface 10 miles

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away

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which was the location of the nearest

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pay phone patrolman fowler assumed that

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salcedo

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was either drunk or making a prank call

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and dismissed his report

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then he received another report from

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james wheeler of nearby witheral texas

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wheeler reported that he was on route

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116 on the east side of levelin

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when he came upon an object sitting on

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the road in front of him

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he described it as being egg-shaped over

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200 feet long

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and that it gave off a neon glow as he

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got close

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his engine and headlights both shut off

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wheeler got out of his car and walked

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towards the object

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it lifted up suddenly to a height of 200

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feet its glow faded out and it moved off

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after it was gone wheeler was able to

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restart the car

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or it started up on its own and the

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headlights were again

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operational several more callers

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described similar encounters

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and fowler began to take what they were

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telling him seriously he contacted the

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texas state highway patrol

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informed them of the reports and

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suggested they be on the lookout

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he contacted sheriff weir sam clem and

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deputy pat ira mcculloch

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of the hockley county sheriff's

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department he also called the lubbock

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texas police department

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thinking that airplanes might have been

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involved fowler called reese air force

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base

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in lubbock and the civil aeronautics

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administration

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he was told by both that there were no

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planes in the area

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after the calls were made there were 14

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police cruisers from various police

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departments

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along with major daniel r kester from

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reese air force base

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all on the lookout for mysterious

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objects kester spoke with members of law

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enforcement

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collected details of the reports and

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visited the sites where the encounters

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occurred

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after gathering what he thought was

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enough information kester wrote up the

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original report

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that initiated the investigation by the

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air force's project blue book

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sheriff clem and deputy mcculloch both

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became witnesses

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when they happen upon an oval-shaped

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light sitting on the road

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clem said that it lit up the entire road

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in front of them

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other officers reported distant flashes

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of light and leveling fire chief ray

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jones

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saw lights as his car engine sputtered

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and his headlights flickered

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throughout the morning of november 3rd

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and into the night of november

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6th there were many more reports from

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the surrounding areas of texas and new

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mexico

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that involved lights egg-shaped objects

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and stalled cars

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reporters came into leveling on november

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3rd and several witnesses

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including sheriff clem spoke to them

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about their encounters

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the stories were written up for the

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local papers and sent out over the

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associated press and united press wire

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the news quickly went national because

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of all the news coverage

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the air force was compelled to send a

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project blue book investigator to level

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it

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on november 5th staff sergeant norman p

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barth arrived at the hockley county

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sheriff's office

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he talked to clem and interviewed three

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witnesses including saucedo and wheeler

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he then spent

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three hours in levelland and three hours

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in lubbock he gathered some weather

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information

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and then left to write up his report in

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the case file mentions of missed rain

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and drizzle

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are circled and noted after exploring

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various

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possibilities including burning gas

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fires from nearby

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oil fields and st elmo's fire the

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conclusion is that ball lightning was

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the cause of all the fuss

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it's an odd conclusion to have settled

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on because at that time

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most scientists believed in ball

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lightning about as much as they believed

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in spaceships

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in spite of the air force conclusion the

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case remained significant in the minds

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of many researchers

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they soon came across other instances

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where ufos seem to have caused

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electrical failures

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not only in vehicles but also in power

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grids

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these cases caught the attention of the

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scientists at the university of colorado

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who were part of the air force funded

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ufo study

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headed by dr edward yu condon in the

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midst of what was primarily

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anecdotal evidence this aspect of the

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ufo mystery

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was something that could be tested an

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experiment was arranged to see if it was

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possible for electromagnetism

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to shut down an electromechanical system

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and if it was

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how much it would take chapter four of

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the published report

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encompassing the entire study is titled

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indirect physical evidence

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the results of an experiment involving

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an electromagnet

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and components of an automobile ignition

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system can be seen in

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section 4 titled automobile engine

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malfunction

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and headlight failure the experiment was

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done at an unnamed

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national laboratory and the experimenter

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requested anonymity

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the electromagnet was placed coaxial to

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the arc of a spark plug

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and there was a slightly brighter spark

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when it was placed perpendicular to the

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arc

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there was a movement of the spark to the

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side of the electrodes

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there was no interruption throughout the

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range of the electromagnet

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up to 20 kilograms to give the reader a

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sense of perspective

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a junkyard magnet capable of lifting a

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car has a magnetic field of 10 kilograms

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a lead acid battery showed a voltage

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drop from 12.3 to 12

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and a light showed no effect at 20

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kilogas but

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there were effects on coils which

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differed according to whether they were

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housed in steel

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or aluminum the coil and steel showed a

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spark interruption at 20 kilogauss

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and the one in aluminum began to miss at

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four kilograms

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and stopped at 20 kilograms the

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conclusion is

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that a car with a steel encased coil

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would continue to operate in fields less

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than 20 kilograms

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but because most ignition systems reside

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inside a steel car body

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the researcher concludes that very

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intense magnetic fields

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would be required to stop a car

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according to a 2007 article

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in the online mit technology review

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u.s army researchers not concerned with

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ufos

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but interested in stopping vehicles

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began experimenting with microwaves

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in 1997 at the time of the article

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a private company eureka aerospace was

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developing a system for police use

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their system a 200-pound unit attached

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to the top of a police car

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would generate 640 kilovolts that would

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be converted into microwave pulses

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it would only be effective however if

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directed through a window

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the grill or any other non-metallic part

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of the car

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it also only works on cars with

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electronic control modules which were

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not used in cars prior to 1972.

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an update on military progress

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experimenting with similar systems

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can be found in a 2018 article on the

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online site the war zone

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titled the pentagon wants to stop

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marauding vehicles

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with high-powered microwave beams this

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system also targets

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electronic control modules so it seems

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that it hasn't been sufficiently

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demonstrated

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that electromagnetism could have stopped

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the cars at leveling

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perhaps someone can come up with an