Conspiracy theorists rejoice! There's a new "automotive Bermuda Triangle," a five-block radius around the Empire State Building, where cars mysteriously die:
Link - via Fortean TimesNo 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.
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!
I'm thinking that test drive didn't result in a sale.