The television set that shattered things

Back in 1960, Brian Eppley of Gaffney, South Carolina became convinced that "frequency waves emitting from his television receiver" were causing objects around his house to shatter.

The broken objects included: a vase, serving tray, ash tray, sea shell, and a glass of milk held by his wife.

Eppley also complained that watching the TV would cause him to get a headache because of the "pressure, beyond the area of hearing, from these waves."

Could the Eppley's TV set be an example of resistentialism? (See Paul give a talk about resistentialism in this post from 2013).

The Greenville News - May 15, 1960

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Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over forty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. Contact Us

Posted By: Alex - Tue Nov 13, 2018
Category: Technology | 1960s

Comments

The Samurai Appliance Repair Man says that broken appliances mock and dishonor him. He is the founder of the School of Appliantology. That was after he was released from the Vermont Home for the Criminally Insane.

Posted by Virtual on 11/13/18 at 04:53 PM

Sound can shatter glass, if the volume is high enough and the frequency is right, but a liquid-filled glass held in the hand stains credulity -- there's too much to dampen the vibrations.

I don't find resistentialism as anything to laugh at. There's an ATM in town that is definitely out to get me, and I had a computer that was so disdainful of my personal habits, it always messed up my work and made a lot of mistakes when I tried to do anything after having a couple of drinks.

Posted by Phideaux on 11/13/18 at 05:05 PM

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