So have you heard about the 4,000-year-old, Egyptian statuette of Neb-Senu moving 180-degrees all by itself?
It’s happening at the Manchester Museum in England where it has been housed since 1933.
That’s 80 years of sitting on the same glass shelf, in the same spot and never moving on its own until a couple months ago.
When I first heard about it, without knowing any of the above details, I immediately thought it was caused by some sort of vibration.
But then I found out that it has been in the same spot for 80 years and has never moved on its own previously.
And when it does move, it spins perfectly around in one spot — on a dime, so to speak — to face the back of its display case.
Not to mention, it turns 180 degrees to face the rear and then stops spinning.
Why?
I’m a debunker. It’s what we paranormal investigators do.
However, this is a very strange occurrence.
Museum curator Campbell Price was the first to see the statuette facing the wrong way. He found it odd, since he holds the only key to the case where Neb-Senu is kept.
After seeing what had happened, he unlocked the display, turned the object back around to its original position and locked it up again.
The next two mornings he came in to see the statuette again facing the wrong way.
Campbell was befuddled, so he set up a time-lapse camera to record the movement and captured the spinning statuette in action.
As soon as word of the phenomenon got out, people everywhere started trying to determine why the figure spins.
The 10-inch tall statuette is made of Steatite — also known as soapstone, which is soft — and then fired. (details to take into consideration when trying to debunk this as paranormal)
A couple of scientists have given their opinions on why the object is moving.
One explanation is differential friction. This occurs when two surfaces cause a subtle vibration which could make the statue turn.
The other is vibrational stick-slip friction or stick-slip vibration, which means if the glass where the statue rests vibrates even slightly, the vibrating glass moves the statue in the same direction, causing it to turn around.
Other possible explanations are that vibrations from daily foot traffic by visitors in the museum or tremors from a passing trolley could cause it to move.
But again, this statuette has been sitting in the same place, on the same surface, near the same foot traffic and trolley, for 80 years.
Some say Neb-Senu is simply turning around to show off the inscription on its back.
The inscription asks for sacrificial offerings of “bread, beer, oxen and fowl.”
According to the history books, Neb-Senu was originally an offering to the god Osiris.
Ancient Egyptian lore says if a mummy is destroyed, a statuette can act as an alternate vessel for the spirit of the person or god who is deceased.
So why is this statuette spinning?
It’s hard to say.
In my opinion, it probably does have something to do with a vibration of some sort, even though it doesn’t make sense that it just started happening after 80 years.
But wouldn’t it be cooler if it was Osiris’ spirit inhabiting the ancient figure, showing the world that he is back and living at the Manchester Museum?
Spinning Statuette in Manchester Museum: http://youtu.be/S0fbWm9tdHE
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