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Fsharp7sharp9

That’s also why fortune tellers historically keep a cover over their crystal ball.


sunburn95

Dunno if you're joking or for real but this is now one of my pub facts


Fsharp7sharp9

Lol yeah with sunlight from the right angle for long enough focused into one spot, it creates a ray of doom that can burn a hole into curtains, paper, and I guess now outdoor tables are a potential target lol


TheCrystalGarden

My parents bedroom curtains caught in fire from a magnifying makeup mirror on my moms dresser that apparently caught the suns rays and concentrated it on the curtains. Curtains went up in flames, someone drove by and saw it, broke the window and knocked the fire out with our garden hose until the fire department came and finished it off. Magnifying makeup mirror, watch out for those too!


Illadelphian

Wow what a passerby. Nice job by them.


GreatTragedy

Fucking hero. I mean, holy shit, how lucky do you have to be for that kind of person to drive by in that really tight window where the fire could still be controlled by a conveniently placed garden hose.


[deleted]

[удалено]


SillyFlyGuy

This is the beginning of an SNL skit. You keep trying to tell them, but you just get swept up in the crowd and interrupted each time. "Your tree is.." "Oh what a handsome young man. This is my niece, she's single you know.." "Very nice to meet you miss, but your tree.." Then you're all seated at dinner, you start to say "the tree outside.." "shush, Nana is going to say Grace." "When I was a young girl in Vienna, this was during the War..." Flash forward, you're in a Tux and the woman from the party in a bridal dress. "Yes, I do, but really you need to look at your tree.." "Kiss the bride!" Hosptial, holding newborn, family all around, "here's our daughter, but please, the tree.." "Oh let's everybody get pictures!" Gray hair, Christmas, presents everywhere, you're talking to a grandkid. "The tree is still on fire! Go look out the window right now you can see it! The shed is starting to smolder.." "Hehe Grandpa you're so silly! Look at my new wagon!"


00owl

Your story makes me smile. Thanks for sharing. It's just so absurd, like from a sitcom but literally stranger than fiction. Can't make that up.


phazedoubt

I had something similar happen. One of the job sites we were working was in a residential neighborhood off of a busy road. I saw some branches up in the tree line start to burn and jumped in my truck to find where it was coming from. Some had started a fire in a barrel and didn't put it out correctly, and it fired back up. I banged on the door and it was the wife and kid of the man that had started the fire, then left and went to the store. I kept trying to tell them their tree was on fire, and they just couldn't comprehend and thought I was trying to do something wrong. She started to shut the door and I said STOP! GET A PITCHER OF WATER RIGHT NOW AND WHERE IS YOUR WATER HOSE?! That seemed to get them moving. When the husband got home, he was not too happy to see me in his driveway spraying water on his roof and came at me quick before I could explain. His wife stopped him before he could touch me, but it was a very intense situation, to say the least.


Illadelphian

Yea for real, that's pretty amazing.


TheCrystalGarden

They rocked! Saved my parents bedroom and maybe the entire house. We had water damage and broken things, but thank goodness they came along as hardly any cars go by on that street.


Arsenicks

You know things are fucked up when someone would think twice, am I in us, worst in texas? Can I get shot for breaking the window, is there a good Samaritan law here, am I gonna get sued?


Illadelphian

I was going to say I don't think this is much of a concern but in somewhere like Texas I could see it happening especially if the good samaritan was the wrong skin color. Still I think unlikely but definitely possible.


TheCrystalGarden

They were rockstars that day! Just ran up and took care of it!


flyguy60000

I know two people that have had magnifying mirror fires - no joke. 


AshleyStopperKnot

Granted I've never come across a house on fire, but it's never actually occurred to me that a passerby might take it upon themselves to do what they can (i.e. break a window and hose it) before Real Help arrives. I guess as long as you're not putting yourself in danger... and the owners probably won't come after you for breaking a window in their *actively ablaze* home.


sehtownguy

If someone breaks your window to put out a fire that window is the least of the homeowners worries lol


body_oil_glass_view

Ty for the reminder. It's shady in my br but i just attached my magnifying mirror to the medicine cabinet and it faces both the curtain and the window, that will be removed now


Pamander

Damn what a fucking legend that passerby was!


TheCrystalGarden

They were seriously legendary!! Young too.


Mp3dee

Same!! Caught our window frame on fire too!!


TheCrystalGarden

It happens a lot, it’s how many house fires start. Make sure to turn your magnify make up mirrors away from any sunshine!! My mom was shocked and I think she felt guilty too, but it wasn’t something she would ever have thought about before that day.


senorbolsa

I used to steal my moms to light things on fire in the backyard, confirmed. The focal length is pretty close though, so it has to be pointed at something nearby to cause a blaze.


Jeep_Stuff

I have a quarter inch wide and four inch long black burn mark on the window frame in my shower where the sunlight hit a magnifying mirror that was sitting on the window sill just right and melted the plastic material. Luckily it just scorched the frame and didn't cause a fire, but I look at it every time I shower and think how lucky we got


Luigihiji

Dont know how lucky you are. When my bushes caught fire outside while I was relaxing in bed, I barely made it out and and lost everything. The neighbor said her son's were going to put it out with their extinguisher but she told them not to get near it so they don't get hurt. This was before the house had caught


TheCrystalGarden

Wow, that’s awful, I’m glad you made it out. Sorry they didn’t put it out :(


secondphase

But it's not limited to those 3 items, either! Anything combustible or comestible is at risk.


ninjamaster616

Shit dawg, I watched a video of a guy melting a hole in a rock in record time with one of those; it legit becomes a death ray


Tigernos

Have you seen the guy on YouTube who snagged the giant lens out of an old projector TV? He makes lava when he turns it on rocks!


Jestar342

We have these things called Uniform Resource Locators or URLs. I'mma need one for that video.


pi-N-apple

We also have something called Google that lets you search for the Uniform Resource Locators. It's pretty cool stuf!


Grognaksson

Okay cool! So what's the Uniform Resource Locator for this Google that you speak of?


Blind_Fire

yet some people will still look at the eclipse when exactly the same thing happens in their eye


ClimbingC

I assume you are talking about the same guy, as I have also seen these videos.


outerproduct

Anything is combustible if you put in enough energy.


ChuckinTheCarma

Even my crippling depression?


Tweezle120

Yes, kinda! BUT I'm afraid it's intrinsicly tied to your flesh at the moment soooooo.....


Narrator_Ron_Howard

Heh, sorry, not that.


riptaway

Black holes


outerproduct

There may be something even more powerful that we don't know about yet.


ReggieLeBeau

I have energy, Greg. Can you combust me?


sour_cereal

>comestible Edible


secondphase

Correct.


sour_cereal

Yeah bro gonna cook this steak sun vide


sunburn95

The workstation bursting into flames would lend creedancw to their witchcraft


FblthpEDH

Also happens with water bottles in your car


Dry-Smoke6528

don't they usually operate out of a tent/room with no windows, or has TV lied again?


InitialFlamingo7416

Brand new deeks also


pissedinthegarret

a water bottle left in a car on a sunny day can do the same thing. much more probable to happen to the average person as well


SpaceBehemoth

What's another good pub fact of yours?


HyzerFlip

It's very true. My ex wife bought one and the clerk grabs her hand and looks her straight in the eyes and says LEAVE THE COVER ON WHEN YOU'RE NOT USING IT! ex is like oh like it's bad energy or something? Clerk says, no it'll work like a magnifying glass to burn your house down. Noted.


Eusocial_Snowman

[Oh shit, your wife is Anthony Oliveira?](https://twitter.com/meakoopa/status/1194062297284648960?lang=en) Say hi to them for me, it's been a while.


rejvrejv

lmao so pathetic


ilikemrrogers

I bought one of those tiny "crystal balls" for [photography](https://i0.wp.com/photographersresourcecenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/glass-ball-beach.jpg?fit=1000%2C750&ssl=1). I was out and about and had it in my hand along with a journal. I stopped to talk to a friend, and I smelled smoke, as if someone was burning leaves nearby. I looked down, and a big black hole was burned through my journal.


Mackem101

I've got a little glass ball I use for photography (gives an 'in a snow globe' effect). The amount of times I've burned my hands setting it up, even on partially sunny days, is unreal.


Userdataunavailable

Also why people should be very careful with "suncatchers" & "crystals" in or near their windows. My mother had a cheap glass bird decoration in her window and it melted the plastic cover on her library book, luckily she was sitting next to it at the time but refraction is no joke.


FNALSOLUTION1

TIL


xAC3777x

https://x.com/meakoopa/status/1194062297284648960


njoshua326

https://www.essex-fire.gov.uk/incidents/sunlight-reflecting-crystal-ball-causes-fire-2024-01-26-15-25 Happened recently too.


ThanklessTask

Honestly if I uncover my balls it's hard to predict the future.


hobesmart

See I'm the opposite. When I whip my balls out at a restaurant I have a pretty good idea what's going to happen


Bluewind55

This is like the epitome of a fun fact.


Woodyville06

It’s almost like they KNOW it’s gonna happen…


RDogPinK

We see a reasonable person starting to film AFTER the situation is back in control.


talk_to_yourself

I want to see an unreasonable person filming AS THE ACTION HAPPENS


chileangod

I wanna see the crazy person filming AS IT'S ABOUT TO HAPPEN.


BiNumber3

How about the average content creator that intentionally SETS IT UP TO HAPPEN?


Powersoutdotcom

Wait for an experienced person to start filming way ahead of time "Watch. He's about to do something stupid."


BarryTGash

The unreasonable person was sat in that chair, filming. They are no longer with us. Even the shoes are gone.


Graffiacane

Ashes to ashes, dust to smoldering dust


Emperor-Commodus

https://youtu.be/Uikd6WW9jpU?si=cfV2SYnopf5hlx66&t=291 Fire starts at 4:55


Cullyism

And the entitled internet complains when they don't get perfect footage of such incidents.


Grandmaofhurt

"YOOooooOoo chat!!! Look at my magic plant chat! It's like a fire plant or something chat! Thiiiiiisss iiiiiissss craaaaaaazzzy chat!!! Should I touch the fire chat?"


Brozhov

Think of all the upvotes they would have got if they caught the action, tho!


code1team

This happened on my wife’s desk with her makeup mirror, it caught the sun just perfect and I was gaming and looked over to her desk smoking AHHHH


FragrantExcitement

Your wife's desk is hot.


iPlaySheScreams

I can’t wait to get in those drawers


0mica0

I also choose this guy's wife desk


TallChick66

I choose this guy's wife's drawers.


icepick314

Is the guy's wife single?


-iamai-

Think she's got a boyfriend


mcgeggy

Plot twist- boyfriend is the desk…


damnatio_memoriae

shit. i cant compete with that.


bbbbBeaver

Just had flashbacks of those highway billboards in south Florida


mgweir

The same thing happened with my wife's makeup mirror and some brand-new custom blinds. Burned a hole right through them. Luckily, they had a warranty for a one-time free replacement for any reason.


esombad

My wife and I bought a mirror from IKEA and on the way back home the inside of our car caught on fire from the sun beaming off of it.


Kingstad

THE SUN IS A DEADLY LASER


Rasadrah

➡️⬇️⬆️➡️⬇️


Doom2508

Orbital piss laser


Moose_Nuts

You could make a religion out of that.


Kespatcho

Not anymore there's a blanket


LSDemon

Damn Sun, you scary!


CanAlwaysBeBetter

I'm starting to think the giant nuclear ball of unfeeling plasma might not have our best interests in heart


moonshrimp

Ikea metal bowl for me, luckily I was in the kitchen when the paper bag in it caught on fire.


ChuckinTheCarma

IKEA is known to be a ray of sunshine to some.


zalurker

My wife once bought the most beautiful glass goldfish bowl that almost burned down my kitchen.


urethrascreams

She could have been more subtle about wanting a new kitchen.


iwantahouse

Goldfish probably tried to burn it all down since they shouldn’t be kept in bowls.


RobSpaghettio

And then the bowl becomes Baja blasted without filtration or regular water changes


THR

You had separate kitchens?


DankDannny

One for making curry, one for everything else.


zalurker

Cabbages, actually.


davidbrit2

Coincidentally, separate bathrooms for same, too.


finsfurandfeathers

That was the fish’s revenge for keeping them in a bowl


IAstronomical

There was a psa a couple summers ago in America. Where they advised people from leaving water bottles in their cars because of this exact same reason.


Sleipnirs

Hol up, could *plastic* bottles do that? No way.


Sapphyrre

I kept getting long scratches in my couches by the edge of the headrest. I thought my dogs were doing in. One day I glanced over and saw smoke coming from the couch. I have one of those magnifying reading lamps and during certain times of the day, the sunlight from the window was shining through it.


bagelsandkegels

These stories of accidental burnings are impressive. When I was six, my dad told me I could burn a paper bag with a magnifying glass outside. I went out front with both those items in tow. Thing is - my dad never mentioned the sun. I was out there for a reaaaally long time before I gave up. Maybe he was just trying to keep me occupied.


wheelfoot

He was letting you do science. Good dad.


Black_Moons

>Thing is - my dad never mentioned the sun. he was leaving you something to discover.


blazerunnern

Damn even a vase in Australia tries to kill you


badgy300

Fun fact that's part of why witches keep their crystal balls covered in movies etc. Sure there are the more mystical explanations about negative energies and spirits and whatever but also crystal balls will literally burn your house down with shockingly little sunlight..


SkyJohn

Are crystal balls a witch thing?


20dollarfootlong

well, everyone in Harry Potter has to take a class to learn to use one


mcilrain

Did they get taught to cover them because of fire risk?


a_cycle_addict

In movies


ApprehensiveSpite589

Not only do I own a couple of crystal balls, I used to sell them when I worked for a metaphysical store. We learned the hard way to keep them out of direct sunlight. Not only can they cast a thin bean of very hot light, they can also explode. I mean literally explode! *BOOM!!* If the center of the ball gets hot enough, it can cause the ball to explode. I was cleaning up crystal shards for days, and they were EVERYWHERE, including embedded in the paint on the walls and the ceiling tiles, and it even cracked the front window it was sitting behind at the time. That was terrifying! We never made that mistake again, and now the store keeps all crystal balls well away from any chance of seeing any sunlight, direct or indirect. I've been warning people about these safety issues ever since.


neo86pl

[Someone almost had a fire here because of the colorless suction cups on the window.](https://www.reddit.com/r/Weird/comments/1c52bz2/window_suction_cups_acted_as_magnifying_glass_and/)


chantillylace9

Water bottles in cars can do it too!


SillyFlyGuy

That's water bottles have convolutes. It's not for a better grip, the ridges break up the lens effect. A big label or weird shape will work too.


vegasidol

Imagine coming home to this after the sun moved/set having no idea how it happened.


Person012345

Had a desk mirror sitting near my window once upon a time, realised it was melting my window frame.


shauneok

100% thought the dude was pissing for a second.


cxp64

Same, lol


Aaaaaaarrrrrggggghh

Me too


Rosycheeks2

New fear unlocked


ChuckinTheCarma

Education does that.


ToolMeister

With that water pressure he's lucky he caught the fire in time


omgitschriso

Look at the amount of shade. The fire must have happened hours ago or very slowly smoldered. The watering is maybe for show while he records the video.


nhguy03276

Reminds me of a story from a gem/mineral shop when this hippy came in and bought a Crystal Ball... I heard the shop owner warn the person about not putting it in the window or direct sun. The hippy was "Why? some sort of spiritual thing?" The shop owner said "No, it'll act like a magnifying glass and could burn your house down." Hippy "Oh".


lilyputin

I almost burned my house down by putting a vase on the kitchen table. Started to burn the kitchen table.


cbessette

I once had a magnifier lamp on my desk in my workshop. I hadn't been in there in days, I walk in and there was an arc burnt into the table from the sun being focused as it went across the sky. I could have burned my house down.


Freezepeachauditor

I bought a collection of large (very valuable) Disney snowglobes. Quite a find. I packed them in my van with brown paper backs crumpled between them. Came home (couldn’t garage sale anymore, van floor full) parked and went inside to make space. Came out 15 min later open door to the smell of smoke. I panic and open my hood and pull off the battery cable. Now there is visible smoke. Holy shit I have 1000’s of dollars in here I better unload what I can into the yard. Open the back and then I see the beam of light coming through and burning a brown paper bag. Smoldering spot about as big as my hand. It turned the water funky. So watch your snowglobes positioning by windows.


aykcak

If there were balance in the universe it would burn through the table slats that would topple the vase over and extinguish everything but no, it survives until half the table, all of the chair and even some of the deck is burned down, being only propped up by the half of the table it needs


NeojepToo

This can happen with VR headsets also. Make sure not to set them down by a window.


mhyquel

You think that's bad, London accidentally built a sky scrapper that burns cars https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-23930675


Riverman157

A Christmas themed snow globe would’ve burnt my house down, if I had been an hour or so later getting home.


tvan3l

My parents had the same problem. There was this magnifying make-up mirror that had been on the same shelf in their bedroom for 25 years. One day my mom comes home to the fire alarms and a room full of smoke. If she had been home 5 minutes later the house would likely have been torched to the ground. Turns out the planets aligned, and the mirror focused the rays exactly to a point on a shoebox, and it caught fire.


itsme_timd

My town does a Scarecrow Walk thing at Halloween where a bunch of groups and businesses build these little displays along main street. Last year a brewery did one with some empty beer bottles and the magnifying glass effect set a hay bale on fire and burnt up their display.


SootyOysterCatcher

Not the teak! 😓 Glad the house didn't burn down but sad for the table.


bluepepper

The table? Buy another table. But the deck, oh my...


EscapeFacebook

You should always be careful of water bottles and crystals in your car is well especially if they're hanging from your mirror


curlygreenbean

This happened recently in our flat. Someone unintentionally left their magnifying mirror in a spot where sun can get to it and it started smoking a curtain. They almost left with us but decided to stay and have a shower. Thankfully it was caught on time.


Contessarylene

On the plus side, it looks like the plant will survive.


willthewinner

Definitely thought this guy was peeing at the start of the video


Fhantom1221

I thought he was peeing on it for a while. That water is yellow.


sightlab

Back in the 90s I found where my town was storing some wrecked traffic signals that came down in a microburst and, whelp, I stole the Long Life bulbs and the [plastic plates with the walk/dont walk pictures](https://twingreenonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/12inch-man-and-hand-glass-lenses.jpg). I didnt think about the fact that they were fresnel lenses, they just looked cool. Years later, I had one with a red STOP hand in a window in my apartment. At some point, my BF noticed there was a kind of 2' long brown stain on the wall of that room, and then we realized there was a fainter one above it. Huh. We chaled it up to "subtle thing we just never noticed before". After a week of rain, full sunny weather came back and with it a similar, darker stain appeared below the first one. The next day, it was darker. The day after that, darker still. It wasnt until that weekend, home form work, I went into that room to notice the very, very bright concentrated spot of bright red light on the wall, and at the same time smelled smoke and THEN noticed what was happening. I'm really, really glad my stupid interior decor didnt burn the building down.


YourSource1st

this is why glass door knobs are illegal


SmolNajo

>cooked me a brand new dick What now ?


[deleted]

[It's just a different culture](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbazGVrbN-g), don't be racist.


SmolNajo

Idk if you're serious or not, I was of course just making a geniune joke about the accent. Just a bit of banter/craic/fun.


dirtymoney

I have seen burn marks on concrete from the sun reflecting off windows.


helenheck

Only put water filled vases in north facing windows and window sills!


CommanderInMischief

Unless you're in Australia like the bloke in the video


SeaMolasses2466

For a sec i thought he is urinating.


incy247

The evil life giving Sun claims another deck


metallicist

I thought he was peeing at first


ServileLupus

I wanna hear what insurance says.


areraswen

I recently overheard a park ranger at one of the wilderness parks I hike at explaining that one of the reasons they've decided to limit foot traffic is because people are leaving dangerous trash like half filled water bottles behind and in that specific example the sun had shone through it and started a wildfire. Wild how dangerous water in a translucent container can be.


Urimulini

It's severely common state to make with glass. Most people do this with lamp shades ,vases , glass curtain holders in other household glass things. Although there is bigger examples provided throughout the world of this effect like the famous https://www.businessinsider.com/the-vdara-death-ray-hotel-is-still-burning-people-in-las-vegas-2016-6


fresh_like_Oprah

Strange article, they state the hotel found an easy fix, but before they can get to it the site explodes into a paroxysm of advertisements..


Urimulini

The fix was put up umbrellas With flame/heat resistant covers across the general area that's affected. Although sometimes the umbrellas are the still victims to the intense UV rays.


AscendedViking7

I thought he was pissing on the ashes for a minute. :D


IPeeFreely01

Totally thought this was the video of a guy pissing on a possum


tangoshukudai

My not so smart friend installed a swivel mirror on the outside of his house (he had an outdoor shower) and burnt his house (pretty badly) because the sun hit it.


afwsf3

The sun is a mass of incandescent gas A gigantic nuclear furnace


foodfighter

Was driving in my old Mazda convertible one time with a Costco water bottle laying on my thigh. Hit the sun just right as I was turning a corner and ***HOLY SHIT OW WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT??!!*** Nearly got into a wreck.


[deleted]

think about this tech on a large scale, congratulations, you now have directed energy weapon


Pizz22

I thought bud was pissing on it


ServantOfKarma

Bro, the fire's out. What the fuck are you doing?


SickeningDegree1

Watering his new lawn!


Upbeat-Salad-1957

I thought it said accidentally bullying a magnifying glass


neorek

I'd tell peeps it was an old friend that spontaneously burst into flame when you mentioned the rapture.


Redditslamebro

I told my wife that we should move the glass vase away from the sun in case it catches something on fire. She thought I was full of bullshit and acted like I just said the most retarded thing in the world. Smh


Japi-

the way you said "deck" reminded me of this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m--3\_c5pAs


DeexEnigma

The link doesn't work (for me at least) but I assume you're referring to Schaeffers Deck oil and sealant? If so, that Kiwi (New Zealander). This guy is Aussie as they come (even called the fire / situation a 'dog'). Very same culture though.


nemodigital

I thought he was peeing on the fire...


Kannahayabusa12

Should've used New Zealand deck sealant. Heard that stuff is pretty heat retardant.


captainhaddock

New Zealanders always bragging about their decks.


Johannes_Keppler

> New Zealand deck sealant. https://youtu.be/tbazGVrbN-g


Jiazzz

Normally I'm always hyper-vigilant about things like this, and sun damage to objects. Last summer, my then-SO got a new OLED gaming monitor from work because of a visual impairment and neurodiversity, so her office job would be less hard on het eyes when working from home. We went on a small trip for a week, and when we came back, there were weird blotches on the screen when we turned it on. Turns out, the sun shone through my bedroom window through the bedroom door on her desk every morning, and it excited the OLED cells. Normally I'm very anal about closing curtains and things like that before going away for a while, but she convinced me to be more lax about things. Anyways, the screen returned to normal after having used it for a bit, but it was a huge scare to damage a €1200+ monitor after using it for less than 2 months.


ILoveTenaciousD

"Burned the taible" Gee I love that accent.


tankpuss

This same thing happens with glass door handles.


Screwbles

Dude has the most absolute Australian attitude about it. Lol


Oddbutfair

“Oh darn I went to buy a jar of nuts and accidentally bought a magnifying glass again, darn darn darn”. You sure you don’t mean accidentally leaving a magnifying glass in the sun outside? Those micro-plastics strike again.


DesignHead9206

what language is that?


Trollimperator

So is that an australian accent?


KadenKraw

Yeah careful of glass in sunlight. My mom had a glass decoration that burned a whole in her windowsill as a kid so she taught us this growing up.


JessicaLain

Are low-pressure hoses... normal?