The Hutchinson Effect
In the 1970’s a self-proclaimed ‘Tesla expert’ claimed to discover an amazing phenomenon labelled The Hutchinson Effect.
What is the Hutchinson Effect?
As a fan of Nikola Tesla John Hutchison was attempting to recreate experiments made famous by Tesla. In the 1970‘s he came forward claiming that he had discovered a new phenomenon. The effects of his experiment included things like metal objects floating to the ceiling, fusing with other materials, fracturing or shattering and other strange things.
The person who claimed to discover this phenomenon named it after himself which I guess in a way sort of raises a little flag. His name is John Hutchinson who is described as an eccentric Canadian who was a big fan of Nikola Tesla. I mean who isn’t really? In 1979 he was working with high-voltage equipment and felt something hit his shoulder. It was a piece of metal. He threw it back in the direction it came from and it flew up and hit him again. This he claims was his discovery that fundamental frequencies can shield gravity. He then used Tesla coils, electrostatic generators and other equipment which created a ‘complex electromagnetic field’. He said heavy pieces of metal levitated and shot towards the ceiling. Some of them shattered. He believes the effect is caused by the opposing electromagnetic fields cancelling each other out and then creating a powerful flow of space energy. I don’t quite get it either so here is a video.
Is it a hoax?
Skeptics have long argued that it is all a hoax. Interestingly, it is only Hutchinson who seems to be able to recreate his claims. They suggest that perhaps Hutchinson has placed some sort of electromagnet on the roof and had pieces of metal hidden inside the materials he experimented with. If he held the camera upside and then turned the magnet off, the object which was stuck to the roof would fall to the floor. By having the camera upside down, it means that he could give the effect that the items were floating. He has been unable to convince the scientific community either. With no academic background and the fact his experiments were conducted from his garage, he has little to no credibility with the scientific community. He has also claimed to recreate the Philadelphia Experiment and a Death Ray.
Hutchinson himself says he can no longer recreate the phenomena and has admitted that some of the videos were faked, but not all of them. He claims that his work was destroyed by the government who then used his technology to perform the attacks on 9/11. It is a pretty out there conspiracy theory so we will leave that one alone.
If it was possible, could it be an explanation for poltergeist type phenomenon?
Let's put aside a lot of the red flags and the hoax part aside for a moment and look at the concept itself when it comes to creating a type of electromagnetic field that could cause objects to move or even levitate. Could this concept be responsible for what we consider to be poltergeist type hauntings? As investigators, we often speculate about the electromagnetic field and it's association with paranormal phenomena. With this in mind, is the idea itself such a stretch? If this energy could in fact be replicated and can cause items to move, it opens up a whole area of possibility. If you were investigating an old building, one of the first things that you would do would be to search for high levels of EMF. In a lot of places with old wiring, the levels can be quite high. It is then with these readings that a person's experiences are often written off as hallucination based on EMF exposure where high levels of EMF cause a person to feel something and can even see things that aren't actually happening. If this electromagnetic field had the right components, could it actually cause this Hutchinson Effect to occur? Would this explain why in some hauntings people do see items levitate or thrown across a room? On an investigation, you have people who really don't necessarily know a lot about EMF using EM Pumps and even Tesla Coils as way to charge the environment in the hope that it could give a spirit the energy it needs to manifest. Could this again be the right mix for the Hutchinson effect to occur? While some things may seem out there, they can often make a lot more sense once you research into the possibilities. Just a little food for thought!
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Comments
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Joseph Kapusta 5 years ago
Being familiar with the concepts of Nikola Tesla's work with electricity, it is incumbent upon my personal opinion that poltergeist phenomena is NOT related to the intensity of EMF fields. I feel EMF can affect an individual but not to that extent. I will say this concerning electricity and electromagnetic fields. I have not found one historical statement by Tesla himself that he ever witnessed poltergeist-like activity and considering he surrounded himself with innumerable electrical fluctuation fields and his experiments with electromagnetism as well, one would think he would be a prime candidate for side effects from his experiments, especially his unshielded ones. Yes, Tesla did claim in his misguided enthusiasm & perhaps even desperation that his radio experiments were a communication with the planet Mars, however he wasn't referring to ghosts. In summation, theories are testable and positive results are repeatable. Hutchinson accomplished neither.