Calif. burning rocks victim tells of strange horror

Calif. burning rocks victim tells of strange horror

www.msnbc.msn.com

At first, Lyn Hiner thought it was a bug bite when she felt a sudden sting on her right thigh. She gave her thigh a swat and the next thing she knew flames shot from her shorts where she stood in her San Clemente kitchen...The rocks, described as a smooth orange colored one and a smaller green one, have been sent to a state lab for testing. Initial tests at the county health department revealed phosphate.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Burning rocks? She'd had them in her pocket for hours, how could they just spontaneously ignite?

The rocks were collected from tide pools on a beach that sits between the San Onofre nuclear power plant and the Marine Corps' Camp Pendleton. Officials from both the plant and the base deny the rocks could have anything to do with their activities.

Maybe that explains it.

www.msnbc.msn.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

You just know that high strangeness in the area of two classified facilities means that whatever the actual truth is, we won't know about it.
The moment those "Rocks" were removed from her possession, the truth was lost.

I have been following this story since it first came out.

Here is a picture of the rocks she had.


After discussing this with my co-workers and studying the image. I believe the rocks had White Phosphorus on them. The orange residue on the rocks is very likely WP.

I think once the authorities release their results, it will confirm this.

How the rocks got the WP on them in the first place is anyone's guess.

shouldn't the title be. Tales of strange horror


Probably some chemical reaction between two rocks, maybe

reply to post by watchitburn


Are the rocks remnants of military flares I wonder?
Is there a base nearby?

reply to post by watchitburn


Sounds plausible.

Here's a quote from the inital report:

The rocks her daughters collected at the beach that day appeared smooth, slightly white and granite-like but nothing odd.

. It seems that once they dried off and they came in full contact with the air, things began to change with the rocks. That would be something that WP would do. Would WP be inert in saltwater?

Originally posted by watchitburn


How the rocks got the WP on them in the first place is anyone's guess.

Maybe from flares or rockets, that didnt fully combust, possibly from Camp Pendleton? Just MY guess.

Edit:Somebody above beat me to it, but I agree.

reply to post by watchitburn


Hi there.
I used to work as a blacksmith for 15 years.
When i did candelabers and such, i always stroke lineseed oil on the stuff i made, and heated the objects just enough for them to get black by the burned oil.
If i sometimes heated it to much thats the way it looked.
Lineseed oil also has the ability to selfcombust in to flames.

So if there was lineseed oil on those rocks they very well could have started to burn

/Jimmy

I wonder how many more of those rocks are in that water. Some one needs to get some samples from the area. Keep them under water until they can get them to a lab. They may have to end up digging up and hauling off tons of rocks to some safe area so they can dry our and burn off the "what ever it is" that may be on them. What other areas are they around the country that may be just like this.

Originally posted by Silcone Synapse
reply to post by watchitburn

 

Are the rocks remnants of military flares I wonder?
Is there a base nearby?

Yes it was on the beach close to Camp Pendleton. WP is my guess.

Just plain weird!
But I believe a flare falling into the water, coating these rocks in phosphorus, and then burning once dried off is the most likely reason. It’s either that or the area has phosphorus in it naturally, and although this stuff (like most metals) has normally reacted with the earth’s atmosphere over the millions of years since the Earth’s formation, the phosphorus in these rocks was (until recently) wear too heaveily encased for this to occur.

but,
did she also have a ni-cad battery and coins in her pocket?

I'm so glad you posted this thread!

really hope someone here can shed some light on this. I am so intrigued but the recounting - though of course I feel rotten for this poor lady - but that being said - WHAT HAPPENED!

I want a couple a those thing!


peace

If this is the same story that was posted here a few days ago then the rocks ignited because they contain a natural form of phosphorus. Its the same stuff in red matches.

reply to post by PhoenixOD


I didn't know the story had been posted previously. I did a search on the lady's name and "burning rocks", and nothing came up.

The story doesn't say she had anything else in her pocket besides the rocks. Could the rocks have reacted with coins or a battery?

My dad told me once they used to have phosphorus matches when he was a kid. They were kept in water and ignited when taken out and exposed to air.

Interesting, could be a form of power source if harness correctly...

"Frantically the couple tried to bat the flames out. Then Rob yelled for Lyn to open her pants and he pulled as hard as he could to get them off. "

I LOL'd at this.

More mature response- I like how quick the Govt was to deny any role.

They need to find out where those rocks came from.

I was wondering if teens were possibly playing with the chemicals. I remember when I was young making homemade firecrackers, but not with phosphate. More like using caps and match heads. Maybe the spilled some of those chemicals on those rocks? Just wondering how it could have possibly gotten on the stones.

When I read the story I immediatly thought of a toy I had when I was younger. They were colorful round balls coated with a powder and when you throw one up in the air and catch it and allow it to hit the other one it make a loud crack like a cap gun. I wonder if someone either left a pair of those on the beach, or if thats what she had in her pocket.

The only thing I could find to describe the toy is an old ended listing on ebay.
cgi.ebay.com... YqI%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc#ht_499wt_922