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An electrician working at a Radar station here in Iceland (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hofn_Air_Station https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hofn_Air_Station) was st

by hugi 6y ago

An electrician working at a Radar station here in Iceland (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hofn_Air_Station https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hofn_Air_Station) was stuck there overnight during a snow storm. For some reason he decided to stay in the radar room, probably since it "felt warmer". He was found properly cooked the next day. Not really an interesting story, but since I was probably 6 years old when I heard it it's stuck with me ever since and caused an everlasting fear of high powered radar.

biofunsf 6y ago
This actually sounds a lot like an urban legend. Especially given that it’s a story you heard in your youth. I wasn’t able to find a report of that happening at the Hofn station, but the same story of this happening to an anonymous microwave technician does appear in other locales. Snopes did a debunking on these and they say it’s false: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/nuke-of-earl/ https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/nuke-of-earl/
- hugi 6y ago
  Yeah, most probably an urban legend. But sure stuck in my young mind :).
- tyingq 6y ago
  Here's a credible source for some "far short of death", but real incidents: https://academic.oup.com/occmed/article-pdf/50/1/49/4284302/50-1-49.pdf https://academic.oup.com/occmed/article-pdf/50/1/49/4284302/... Note: They are ~900Mhz, so short of "microwave", but pretty close.
- ajsnigrutin 6y ago
  Yep... considering the skin effect, any microwave radiation would start heating the outside skin layer first, and it would hurt long before anything inside you was "cooked". If you got locked in there.. then sure... maybe.... but staying in there and not feeling it (or just feeling "warmer", until you die...) nope.
nickt 6y ago
Ha, stories similar to that were going around in the 90's in the RAF. Particularly if you found yourself out in the cold at an RRH up north somewhere...

by hugi 6y ago

biofunsf 6y ago

This actually sounds a lot like an urban legend. Especially given that it’s a story you heard in your youth. I wasn’t able to find a report of that happening at the Hofn station, but the same story of this happening to an anonymous microwave technician does appear in other locales. Snopes did a debunking on these and they say it’s false: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/nuke-of-earl/ https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/nuke-of-earl/

hugi 6y ago
Yeah, most probably an urban legend. But sure stuck in my young mind :).
tyingq 6y ago
Here's a credible source for some "far short of death", but real incidents: https://academic.oup.com/occmed/article-pdf/50/1/49/4284302/50-1-49.pdf https://academic.oup.com/occmed/article-pdf/50/1/49/4284302/... Note: They are ~900Mhz, so short of "microwave", but pretty close.
ajsnigrutin 6y ago
Yep... considering the skin effect, any microwave radiation would start heating the outside skin layer first, and it would hurt long before anything inside you was "cooked". If you got locked in there.. then sure... maybe.... but staying in there and not feeling it (or just feeling "warmer", until you die...) nope.

nickt 6y ago

Ha, stories similar to that were going around in the 90's in the RAF. Particularly if you found yourself out in the cold at an RRH up north somewhere...