Have you heard the intriguing story of the “Betz Ball”?
Who doesn't enjoy a good mystery story, those involving elements such as strange accidents, conspiracy theories, and artifacts of supposed alien origin? For the Betz Sphere case encompasses all these aspects and if you have never heard of this enigmatic object, come with us and find out!
Mysterious Discovery
It all started in 1974, after naval engineer Antoine Betz, his wife Gerri, and their son Mathew Betz - a 21-year-old medical student - were assessing the damage caused by a fire that struck the family property on Fort George Island, near Jacksonville, Florida.
During the inspection, the trio came across a perfectly spherical polished metal object just over 20 centimeters in diameter and close to 10 pounds in weight which, despite being in an area that had been completely consumed by the flames, had no evidence of contact with fire.
At first, the Betz even suspected that the object might be part of a Soviet Union spy satellite, since at that time the world was in the midst of the Cold War. The family further considered that the sphere could be part of some military test or experiment conducted by NASA - and until the artifact had been the cause of the fire.
Own life
Not knowing what to do with the find, the Betz took the object home - and it was Mathew who decided to house the mysterious artifact in his room. And there was the quiet sphere until, two weeks later, while Mathew was making some improvisations with his guitar, the boy realized that she seemed to react to the music.
More specifically, Mathew noted that certain chords caused the sphere to begin to vibrate and make a pulsing noise. As the days went by, family members discovered that the artifact was capable of doing other weird things, such as diverting its trajectory when rolled across the ground and returning to its starting point on its own.
In addition, the Betz observed that the sphere seemed to respond most intensely on sunny days - suggesting that its functioning was affected by solar radiation - and also that it seemed to emit a low frequency vibration at certain times of the day, as if it harbored some kind of engine inside.
Another discovery made by the Betz was that the object vibrated and sounded like a bell when struck hard, and that the artifact had a small triangular mark on its surface that apparently corresponded to a magnetic area.
Revelation
After conducting a series of tests and unable to find out anything about the origin and function of the sphere, the family decided to make its history public. To this end, the Betz contacted a Jacksonville newspaper and, after the case was publicized, it was not long before it made headlines around the world and attracted huge interest.
But it was not just the press that showed curiosity about the sphere. A few days after the Betz story was published, members of the scientific community, ufologists, NASA representatives, and even the US Army contacted the family to request permission to examine the sphere.
During the height of the whole thing, a US Navy representative even admitted in an interview to a television show that could not explain the origin of the artifact, and the government even went public to secure it by way of an official note. that the sphere was not his property.
Superficial examination indicated that, at least apparently, the object did not appear to have been manufactured or manipulated by the Betz. However, even with such fanfare, the family refused to send the sphere for proper scrutiny by scientists or the military.
More phenomena
Interest in the sphere seemed never to die - and was rekindled after the Betz declared that the artifact appeared to be causing paranormal incidents in the family's residence. According to the Betz, the doors of the house began to open and close on their own, and residents were awakened in the middle of the night by the sound of music played by an organ.
It was only after being terrified by these inexplicable events that the Betz agreed to have the sphere examined. The object was taken to Jacksonville Naval Air Station, and analysis revealed that the artifact was made of a ferrous and magnetic stainless material, that it had four magnetic poles - two positive and two negative - and that its outer layer had a 1 cm thick.
In addition, x-ray examinations revealed that the object contained two round pieces inside, and that it did not appear to be radioactive or explosive. Tests also revealed that the magnetic field detected around the sphere emitted radio waves. However, despite all these discoveries, as no one could determine the origin of the artifact, rumors began to circulate that it could be extraterrestrial.
End of the mystery
The end of the mystery related to the enigmatic artifact came to an end entirely by chance, after a Coca-Cola delivery man came across a curious New Mexico sculpture containing similar spheres. After investigating the case, they discovered that the work was authored by an artist named James Durling-Jones - and that this guy had created several pieces made with metal balls, including a kinetics that had a pendulum sphere.
But if the sphere was one of Durling-James's pieces, how did it come out of New Mexico and end up in Florida? The artist said that years before he had traveled to various cities in search of metal scraps to build his sculptures, and had obtained several ball valves from which a friend of his - who owned a factory - was falling apart.
Then, in 1971, while Durling-James drove through Jacksonville, some of the metal balls - which were trapped in the roof rack of the artist's car - eventually came loose and rolled off the road, and he couldn't catch them all. So what happened is that the mysterious artifact lay there, lost, for three years until it was discovered by the Betz.
With respect to the strange noise and the fact that the object rolls strangely, the artist explained that companies often pierce the valves and weld them again before they are reused, and some of the material resulting from the holes and weld ends up. trapped within the sphere, which may result in the production of noise and alteration of the object's center of gravity. As for the other "phenomena" witnessed by the Betz, they are probably just the result of pieces played by their minds - eager to find an explanation for the origin of the mysterious artifact. It will be?
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