Fun article, but then...

[Orrex]

Scientists possibly heard aliens calling us last Saturday

Not much meat on the bone here, but always fun to think about. Until you reach the part of the article where this bastion of critical thinking drops this bit into the text:

The town of Green Bank is one of the only places in America where cell phones and Wi-Fi is banned. People who are electrosensitive – meaning they get headaches when they're surrounded by microwaves, cell towers and the like – travel to Green Bank to get respite.

Electrosensitive. Got it. I guess that's suddenly a thing, and not an imaginary condition.


Maybe we should put a bunch of electrosensitives in a field somewhere and let them detect extraterrestrial signals with their mysterious magical malady?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Like Chuck McGill on Better Call Saul?

More woo. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_hypersensitivity

[Orrex]

2. He was my first thought, in fact (nt)

[zipplewrath]

3. Unaccepted

Whether it is imaginary or not is debatable at best. It is not particularly accepted as a diagnosis, and there are some humorous examples of people who cannot demonstrate their sensitivity. i.e. they can be isolated from exposure and they don't know it. In one case, a town complained about the effects from a nearby cell tower, even though it had been turned off for 6 weeks.

[Orrex]

4. Oh, I'm happy to declare it absolute bullshit

There may be other conditions yielding the professed symptoms, but "electromagnetic sensitivity" is utter garbage.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

6. Here in Santa Fe we have several nutcases

who have done things like sue their neighbors because of neighbors' cell phones. They keep on getting far too much consideration from the courts.

I read something recently that named famous people with electrosensitivity, and Ben Franklin was one names. Really? In an era before we had all these electrical things in the air?

This is right up there with Mogollon's disease. People who are nutty try to convince others they have some real-world disease.