Compasses going crazy...Theories and Research

I'm in California and on my droid compass app seems to put North as North East, I always remembered that North was much more to the East that it read. The moutains around here give a good sense of direction and when you looked straight at them from my position north was at the left from me and now it seems to be to the right?? I'm an Eagle Scout so I have used compasses many times and this seems off from what I have known.

this is the beginning of the pole shift
imo
2012 get ready

Originally posted by earthinhabitant
Just thought would post this article for reference here, pardon if it is done so redundantly, as noted lot of talk about the speed at which the pole shift is occurring and 40 mph now, and 5 mph a decade ago, being the attention grabber, of facts!

You mean 40 mile a year, not an hour, quite a difference.

Originally posted by yzzyUK
OK I was going to come on here and say you're all mad but grabbed my HTC Desire with its compass app and sure enough where N should be it's NE... so I went ALL the way upstairs and grabbed my torch that has a compass on it... that too shows NE...

I am in Essex UK

Do you have your compass app set to true north or magnetic north? This could quite easily explain the difference, also I would be suspect any compass designed into a flashlight as electrical current creates a magnetic field (see electro-magnetism 101).

Originally posted by tim3lord
cant someone just take a picture of the rising sun and the compass pointing at it and end this hoax debate once and for all. once we establish that peoples compasses are actually pointing NE or E then we can discuss why its happening.

The sun only rises directly east twice a year, those days have special names, we call them eqinoxes, since it is not either of the equinoxes this experiment would only propagate mis-information more.

Originally posted by VeniVidi
Very strange. I have lived on my property for over 20 years. I bought my truck new 4 years ago. My truck has a compass that, as far as I know, works correctly. My compass has always read "N" as I come up my driveway to my house. After reading this thread I drove to the end of my long driveway, turned around, tuned on my compass/temp
gadget, and it read "NE". It read this all the way to my house.
What is even more strange is that there are members on here calling this thread a hoax. I have not counted how many members on here are experiencing this anomaly, but to call us hoaxers are mighty powerful words.

I'm not calling anyone a liar, and what your results prove simply is confirmation of the normal shift of the magnetic pole and the accuracy of digital compass readings. Depending upon where you live and your magnetic deviation (which also changes over time) the pole would simply have to move one degree relative to your position to change from N to NE. Why? because vehicle digital compasses display their reading as discrete "blocks" of the compass rose, so a reading of 14 degrees would display North, where as a reading of 15 degrees would display NE.

Interpretive conclusions: People are not aware of the magnetic declination in their areas though they have lived there for many years, and how these affect compass readings. The magnetic field of the earth is just that a "field" a field is a fluid mathematical object, I don't see how changes would only affect a few finite areas and not the entire field itself, this leads me to believe people simply have buggered up their compass readings. XtraL pointed out pages ago the link to the USGS magneto survey project, all measuring sites show exactly nothing out of the ordinary across the US and the Pacific. We can choose to believe science, experience and logic, or mass mis-information. I choose the light. That being said if this pans out I will gladly eat my own compass, which yes, is behaving exactly as I have always noted it to do.

Peace Out.

I don't own a quality compass, but I do have an iPad 2 and a Prius both with build in compasses. I've relied on the Prius GPS for years. Last night it was odd. North was East. Just like this thread. This morning, it lined up perfectly, with North being North. The iPad 2 when I checked last night popped up a message, "Compass Interference. Move away from any interference." So I walked outside, and got the odd thing were my street on the pad was turned almost 90 degrees from North. This morning, it's reading fine.

I have trouble believing this thread, but I saw it with my own eyes. Wouldn't this be impacting air travel in a serious manner right now?

I watched a show about pole shift on NatGeo some time ago. In it they said North Pole is moving at about 20km (or is it miles!?) a year. And that in near future it might move from Canada to Russia. That means that pole is moving to the west, not east.
My theory is following:
USA goverment doesn't want the North Pole to fall into Russian hands. They have built a giant electromagnet beneath US and switched it on. But the electromagnet is too strong, and has affected all compasses to point to it, instead only a bit so no one notices that the pole moved. If we get enough volunteers we might be able to triangulate the magnet's position.
Any other thing that comes to my mind is electricity and Fe3O4 deposits.

Edit: I think that planes rely on GPS more than on compasses. And it could be magnetite deposits as I said earlier. North has always been a relative term.

It does seem odd that this amount of people have came up with feasible claims, I have investigated true north, which might explain partial reasons of some of these compass readings.

BUT on the otherhand..

It could occur in a rapid plate tectonic rotation during depositional hiatus or magnetic excursions in a nongeocentric axial-dipole field which also might be occurring at a much faster rate then a true polar wander.

I'll be watching this form hoping someone will upload some REAL video of there compass changing..

Keep up the good work, definitely worth keeping in eye on especially during sunrise and sunset as some user have suggested a change during those periods. We cant assume all readings are false because of true north, more data will help..

reply to post by tim3lord
First, where the Sun comes up or where the North Star is has absolutely nothing to do with the "Magnetic Pole Flipping" It does not mean that the physical Earth has moved, it means the Magnetic Poles are moving and mulitpule poles popping up in different places. I think that is why you and others keep yelling 'Hoax"
There are 2 poles one Physical one Magnetic.

Originally posted by Romanian
Still.. are you sure guys, you actually have the correct readings? Electric wires can influence a lot a correct reading , so I was wondering if people having bad readings, could go outside or move a bit and test if the readings are consistent?

You where right.
My readings where wrong.

On the first location, there was too much electric wires.
There I read 33 degrees, but moving away only shows 7 degrees.

On the second location, there was a nail in the drawer.
Moving the compass a little bit from there, it changed from 20 degrees to 15 degrees.

Although, at my location it should only be 5 degree deviation from 0 degrees.
So, the 7 and 15 degree readings are slightly off anyway.
I don't know if there is something in the area I live that causes the small change though.
It is possible.

Originally posted by felonius
reply to post by tomten

 

wasnt there an airport in Fla. that had to realign its run way approaches because of compass reading?

Yes, our airport had to shut down for one day.
To mark the runway with the new coordinates.

avstop.com...

reply to post by tim3lord
The real problem with what you are saying , has Nothing to do with video taping you still would not understand. When this thread started there were people that knew there was a diffence in True North and Magnetic North. Now a bunch of people jump on the thread that don't even know the subject saying hoax and things like take a video on the North Star and the Compass. All compasses would be "OFF" because the North Star has nothing to do with the Magnectic Pole. If people would read the thread they would have at least "Learned that by now". Please read this: Learn something about the subject !!



www.ehow.com...

Originally posted by THEDUDE86
I am still amazed people have not figured this out....It is the chandler circle.....its been doing this forever


its so sad many of you jump to conclusions without any basic understanding of geography and science....This thread should of died at page 2 when I said this but mod blocked it.....True north and magnetic north change, CASE CLOSED....If your like me and you live in Illinois around the zero declination you will see that true north and magnetic north are the same

True north doesn't change. It's based upon the Earth's spin axis, so unless the Earth suddenly decides to spin on a different axis, true north won't change. If the Earth DOES decide to suddenly spin on a different axis, we'll have much more to worry about than whether our compasses are working right...

... for a few seconds, until our worries about anything at all are no more...

reply to post by Liberterius
"A Compass will Not Set to "True North" because it is not Magnetised.

READ"

Quote
"True North is determined in relation to the sun or stars. The Earth's north pole lies in a direct line with the current North Star, which is Polaris. As the Earth and solar system move through the heavens, the specific star that is the North Star changes every 26,000 years. Magnetic North, on the other hand, is based on the direction a compass needle points. The Earth's crust is composed of vast amounts of iron. A magnetic pole runs through the earth. The magnetic north pole is located in a slightly different spot from the actual north pole."



Read more: How Does Magnetic North Differ from True North? | eHow.com www.ehow.com...


Take a compass and hold it in your hand. The needle of a compass points to the northernmost point on the Earth's magnetic pole. The North Magnetic Pole is a point near Ellesmere Island, off Canada. At this spot, the Earth's magnetic field is exactly vertical. From here, it descends straight through the planet to the South Magnetic Pole. The needle on your compass is drawn to this position because it represents the strongest northward pull of magnetic force.



Read more: How Does Magnetic North Differ from True North? | eHow.com www.ehow.com...

If I am not mistaken Columbus was the first one to notice the difference between Magnetic and Geographic North Pole during his travel to the New World. 500 years after people are still freaked out by this

I've decided that no matter what we say or do (like post pics and videos) they will continue to find fault with what we are saying. We have had experienced hunters, soldiers, professionals that use compasses for their job, as well as your average citizen come post their "abnormal" readings and yet they still come back at us with "your compass is broke or you don't know how to use a compass". So providing more proof to appease them will not prove to them one way or the other. I don't have a video camera and a pretty shoddy camera at the moment but even if my camera was working properly it would be REALLY REALLY hard for any of us to get a picture of the sunrise, give you an EXACT location while trying to maintain our privacy, have a map laid out for you, as well as the compass or compasses in question and the direction we are facing ALL IN THE SAME PICTURE! Especially considering you would have to go off of our word for which direction we are facing since our compasses are giving us a false sense of true and magnetic north. Oh and by the way, according to all the websites like NOAA and NASA and my pulling out a map and pushpins and labeling it with where true north and magnetic north are suppose to be according to THOSE sites (not my own perception) and using the sunrise as my reference point (because it's the only thing I have right now) and taking into consideration my declination, magnetic north is still off to the east of where it should be this morning according to my compass. But believe me I tried to figure out how to provide this "much needed proof" last night while going to sleep and thought about it for hours. So I say, either believe me and accept it or don't. But I am tired of trying to figure out a way to provide "proof" that you have already made up your mind to find fault with. Oh and this is not directed at ALL those asking for proof, just two or three people specifically and they KNOW who they are.

reply to post by MadDogtheHunter


Not a compass expert here, but I dug mine out, compared it to a current online mapquest to see where North should be, and all looks pretty consistent. Looks like whatever anomaly is being discussed isn't showing up in my area! (Northern Virginia).

At the least is makes me want to learn more about using a compass, and work with family members, so thanks for the post!

Regards!

Here in the Netherlands the compass is slightly off to the east.

It might have to do with the strong pulsating magnetic fields the Large Hadron Collider in Geneve is producing.

I quote from public.web.cern.ch...

Data taking has begun for the 2011 run after stable beams at an energy of 3.5 TeV were announced shortly after 6pm on 13th March. Physicists from the LHC experiments will now begin acquiring and analysing data from proton collisions, slowly building evidence for current models and seeking tantalizing clues of new physics.

Data from over 3000 billion collisions was recorded in 2010 by the CMS and ATLAS experiments.

Please note the date when stable beams where achieved: 13th March: The same day as the big eathquake in Japan. Notice also that last year when the LHC was activated also large earthquakes were triggered.

reply to post by HighOverlord


Haven't seen too many freak outs in this thread, people are just reporting what they see. Isn't that kind of the point of this site, sharing information on current events on a more personal level. Not sure why people have to attack people with "Freaking Out" and "Not knowing how to use your compass" Just sharing info. "We can't move forward unless we know where we are."

reply to post by watchdog
Don't give up there are many people that do not know there are 2 different Poles. One True North (physical place of the earth and its axis) Compass will not show True North at all. The pole Star does.

A Compass only shows Magnetic North, which is about 15 degrees different than True North.

Pole Shift 1 : True North: the earth itself moves, this will usually only happened if a comet or several Big Asteroids hit the earth.

Pole Shift 2: The Magnectic Field goes Haywire. And can completely reverse, or have many magnectic poles forming in different locations. The earth itself does Not move, But no one knows exactly how this will effect humans, it will effect animals and birds greatly. Like the Government Preparness TV Commercial, we could lose gravity in some areas, maybe not a lot but no one really knows.

Originally posted by ThinkingCap
How was this thread awarded so many stars and flags?

What exactly do you all think is going on here?

Many flags, because it is interesting, and anyone can participate.

It can be several causes this is happening..

It could be a disturbance in the Earth magnetic field.
As you see what happens in between the polar shifts.
You get multiple magnetic north and south poles.
We may witness the creation of one of those.

Or.. it may even be a large magnetic rock, that is floating around in the magma.
And currently might be located at a shallow part of the crust, as in Arkansas?

What do you think might have happened?

reply to post by watchdog


I'm taking you at your word - if you say your compass is off, it's off. I find it interesting that mine, just a few miles north of you (around Greensboro), is right where it ought to be, and wonder what could be causing that discrepancy. I'm an experienced hunter, soldier, and satellite dish setter. I'm using a military issue lensatic compass primarily to shoot these azimuths.

I've got to pull a 12 hour shift tonight, with not much to do, and will be playing around with it in the great outdoors, along with my hand-held GPS unit to see if there's any discrepancy out there between those two, and between what each of them says and what the sky itself tells me - assuming this overcast we have right now clears out some time overnight.