The Automotive Bermuda Triangle: Is the Empire State Building Zapping Cars?



Conspiracy theorists rejoice! There’s a new "automotive Bermuda Triangle," a five-block radius around the Empire State Building, where cars mysteriously die:

No one is sure what’s causing it, but all roads appear to lead to the looming giant in our midst - specifically, its Art Deco mast and 203-foot-long, antenna-laden spire.

“We get about 10 to 15 cars stuck near there every day,” said Isaac Leviev, manager of Citywide Towing, the AAA’s exclusive roadside assistance provider from 42nd St. to the Battery. “You pull the car four or five blocks to the west or east and the car starts right up.” [...]

Since the 9/11 attacks destroyed the twin towers, the building has regained its status as the leading transmission site for commercial broadcast outfits, with 13 TV and 19 FM stations mounting antennas on its spire.

The Empire State Building Co., which refused to provide the Daily News a list of its antennas, denied it has created any “adverse impact” on automobiles.

“If the claim were indeed true, the streets in the vicinity of the building would be constantly littered with disabled vehicles,” the building’s owner said.

According to many doormen in the area, they often are.

Link - via Fortean Times


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Posted on January 30, 2008 at 4:07 am by Alex
Category: Car & Vehicle, Paranormal, Travel & Places



7 Comments to "The Automotive Bermuda Triangle: Is the Empire State Building Zapping Cars?"

  • Levi
    January 30th, 2008 at 8:54 am

    STYVERSON!!! it’s those z-rays… much worse than x-rays…

  • MJG
    January 30th, 2008 at 9:26 am

    My dad worked in the auto industry for a number of years, and told me of when computers first started running cars that they would get in cars for service that would be reported shutting down for no reason.

    It was soon discovered that this would happen near the same place - on or around I-75 between Middletown and Cin-Day Road. (A bit more than half way between Dayton and Cincinnati, Ohio.)

    After more cars reported this issue, it was discovered that it happened at the same times every day.

    My dad drove a Ford LTD with a computerized body controller down in that area and, sure enough, it quit.

    It was then discovered that the Voice of America shortwave radio station (now gone) was transmitting on a frequency near to the clock frequency of the computer module in the affected cars!

  • Alex
    January 30th, 2008 at 11:48 am

    Ford = Found on Road Dead? Incidentally, I found a brand new Mustang, still with those dealer ad plate, dead on the road near a dealership with its hood up.

    I’m thinking that test drive didn’t result in a sale.

  • Drew
    January 30th, 2008 at 12:08 pm

    I’ve heard of the shortwave thing, but I doubt radio interference is what’s going on at the Empire State. The frequencies that FM and TV operate on are much higher than shortwave and the antenna patterns are also very different. An FM or TV broadcaster wants to send his signal as far and wide as possible, so the antenna pattern emits very little power downwards.

  • PT
    January 30th, 2008 at 4:34 pm

    More likely this only affects cars with an RFID key. I’ve got one. Even if a key turns in the ignition, the car won’t start unless it recognizes the RFID chip, and a modest amount of RF field can jam this. The engine isn’t affected if it’s already running.

  • LuAllen
    January 30th, 2008 at 5:47 pm

    Yeah Levi maybe the author was onto something in Caveman’s Valentine….!

  • Christophe
    January 30th, 2008 at 10:30 pm

    Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters!

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