'Haunted' swing just keeps on rocking

www.metro.co.uk...

Evidence of witchcraft - or merely a brisk wind?

Whatever may be the explanation, an out-of-control playground swing has got families and police in Argentina spooked.

The swing apparently rocks back and forwards without being touched - and anxious parents have decided the playground must be haunted.

Watch the video:

www.news.com.au...

www.metro.co.uk...

Looks like a pretty freky place to let kids play!


[edit on 30-10-2007 by theutahbigfoothunter]

Haha, hear the amount of wind blowing past the video camera microphone. Then wait until the woman passes in front of the camera. Her hair is blowing all over the place!

My conclusion? The wind is making the swings move.

The wind is fairly out of control! I agree, it does seem wind derived. However, why are the police so freaked? And, why have they brought in physics professor who contend it is not the wind. Weird. The wind is super-gusty

In an attempt to explain the swing's mysterious movement, police called in physics professors. But even they have been unable to explain the why the swing keeps moving.

Residents claim the middle swing in a playground in the north-eastern town of Firmat can keep moving continuously for ten days before suddenly coming to a halt.

Teacher Maria de Silva Agustina said one child had nicknamed the area the "Blair Witch Playground".

"We believe it is haunted," she said.

[edit on 30-10-2007 by theutahbigfoothunter]

Originally posted by Arawn
Haha, hear the amount of wind blowing past the video camera microphone. Then wait until the woman passes in front of the camera. Her hair is blowing all over the place!

My conclusion? The wind is making the swings move.

If the wind is making the swings move, why not all 3 of the swings. As you've seen on the video, the middle swings rock like crazy.

[edit on 30-10-2007 by damefool]

after watching this the only thing that scares me is people believe that there is a haunted swing, i mean those seats are perfect to catch the wind im embarresed for them all, they rock a bit due to wind and them being swings eventually start to swing, jeez

what about the swing thats NOT swinging?
Huh?
If it was wind, then it would have to be highly selective wind to make certain things blow and not others

Geek 101.....You are so right! If it was in fact just wind, the likelihood is thata all would be swinging. I can't believe I don't notice the obvious sometimes. Good eye!

reply to post by theutahbigfoothunter


although the other two DO move with the wind, they move nowhere NEAR as much as the middle swing. Good video. Thanks OP

If you will notice where the swings connect to the mounts the middle swing has a wider span than the other two. That may be the reasoning right there as well as the fact that it's the middle swing. The air flow thru the swings could have a definite effect as well.

Think about it, is it really swinging in a pattern that would be conducive to someone sitting in it? Also we can all see that it starts out slowly (all three in fact) and takes almost the entire time of the video to get up to the wild looping motion.

I'd say it's a combination of factors the least of which is a ghost.

There's a kite somewhere in the backround and it's out of control, by the wind's doing. It was very windy. Thats all....

While I agree that it's most likely the wind, if you search youtube, there are many, many videos there of these swings, and the behavior of the swings vary. Sometimes it's one, sometimes all three, sometimes two. Sometimes the middle, sometimes the end ones. There's not a distinct behavior.

It is the wind. I have seen two pieces of paper lying on the street, one gets picked straight up and the other blows the opposite direction. There are too many factors involved to calculate exactly how the wind will effect these swings. Go to a park on a windy day (20-30 mph gusts) and I think you will most likely find "haunted" swings in every park in the world.

Originally posted by geek101
what about the swing thats NOT swinging?
Huh?
If it was wind, then it would have to be highly selective wind to make certain things blow and not others

The angle of the seats for starters. A slightly higher angle by a few degrees = more air resistance, making the seat move more.

Come on guys, do you expect all three seats to be moving at exactly the same rate of motion like symmetry?

Believe what you will, but I don't for one second thing the swings are haunted. There's so other logical explanations that it was painful to watch. I cringed looking at the amount of people surrounding the swings on a windy day, watching them rock back and forth.

reply to post by Arawn



It's all cultural.

In Argentina, some people believe in haunted swings.

In the US, some people believe that the government fired hologram shielded missiles into the WTC towers and used strategically placed explosives to complete the deed.

Haunted swings sound more realistic to me.


[edit on 2007/10/30 by GradyPhilpott]

When I was a kid, there were good swings that moved easily and freely and there were bad swings whose chains were rusted, painted, old or really dirty. The center swing just needs to have lighter chains or newer chains to account for the difference... perhaps a lighter seat... maybe the connections to the top are brand spanking new... too many possibilities to ignore the gusting winds. Maybe some kid loved that center swing and used it everyday - he broke the thing in so it swings really well. The center swing would be the best for solo swinging. That kid graduates and suddenly people see the well used swing blowing in the wind... a ghost! oh noes! ...

Why not film that seat on a calm day? Forget that... move the swing INDOORS - a large gym perhaps?

This is just silly! Haunted swings!

People will believe pretty much anything as proven by some of our shape shifting reptilian threads but to assume a bloody swing is haunted because it moves more than another is just plain ludicrous.