The mystery of the spinning statuette (II)

Several months ago, we noticed that one of our Middle Kingdom statuettes was spinning around imperceptibly slowly in its new case in our Egyptian Worlds gallery. We set up a time lapse camera to take one image every minute for a week. This is the result.

The cause may be subtle vibrations from footfall or traffic outside, but the statuette has been on a glass shelf in about the same place in the gallery for decades and has never moved before – and none of the other objects in the case move in any way. A mystery? See for yourself.

Video by Luke Lovelock, Media Technician, Manchester Museum.

133 Comments

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133 responses to “The mystery of the spinning statuette (II)

  1. Very cool – found this via twitter. It almost certainly has something to do with footfall vibrations since it does not move at night (in these images). Maybe that position of the shelf is loose compared to the other end? Have you tried placing it on the opposite end? Great piece of viral marketing either way 😉

    • tetisheri13

      Yes, and put another statue in its place to see if the same thing happens.

      Do you have any building work being done nearby? That could explain why it’s only just started to happen …

    • Rika

      Nah, you can still see it spinning slighty at night, as well as before people begin entering the museum. It does seem to spin faster when people are around though.

  2. Alistair

    What is it that is supposed to be spinning? the tripod thing in the case? I can’t see any movement at all!

  3. It only seems to spin during opening hours (it’s still at night). Suggests to me that footfall nearby is causing minute vibrations and the surface of the statue is asymmetrically rough in a way that causes it to turn fractionally when disturbed. My doormat at home slides sideways over time for a similar reason because the warp/weft touches the floor asymmetrically. I’d examine the base of the statue to confirm this.

    • Adam

      I agree, probably some kind of small protrusion on the bottom creating an axis for it to spin on. But why only start now?

  4. As well as not spinning at night, it doesnt seem to spin much from around 6th to 7th April – weekend. Is it still happening?? Construction work nearby??

  5. Vorn

    Could it be made of a material that’s reacts to sunlight?

  6. jan summers

    How about a ground fault under that area of the building which affects only this item.

  7. Could the glass over the years develop subtle imperfections, that have now reached the point where footfalls cause the statue to move on what is a now unstable surface (I know NOTHING about glass, just guessing here!)

  8. I can’t believe no one has pointed out the obvious explanation: the statue is cursed. I would guess, by Bes.

    Beware!

  9. Great to see a follow up on this story! I’m sure the other readers reached the correct conclusion in saying that the movement is likely caused by vibrations due to the constant walking during museum hours. Fascinating story. 🙂

  10. Soretha Smithers

    Agree with other observors ——-vibrations from people passing [wooden floor?]–and glass shelf could be slightly off balance —-weight of statue allows it to move in same direction -very interesting —————
    Soretha

  11. Pingback: The mystery of the spinning statuette (II) | Mim Sanders

  12. Differential friction (not only because it only moves during opening hours, but it stops when it reaches a certain point). But why did it start now? What about relative humidity? Or change in temperature? I’ve seen something similar with pots on the stove, that start to move when heated; but don’t when it’s cold. That could also contribute to why it only moves when the lights are on. Is there a new lighting system? (New light added, switched from incandescent to fluorescent) Or has there been a change in the setting of the air conditioning? Or has something gotten in the way of the air conditioning, such as the temperature in the room changed? Ultimately, has some cleaned it recently; for example, passed a washcloth under the statuette and possibly removed grime that helped keep it in place, or added some detergent to make it more slippery.

  13. ADA

    The name on the statuette means Lord or Lady of Senu. Senu is the cult centre of goddess Nephthys, wife of the evil god Set. This may be a dedication to the divinity not a name.
    It probably means Lady of Senu since she ruled there.
    We need a decipher of the whole inscription. Where is the tomb ? Are there any other objects from this tomb ?

  14. shem

    Wasn’t the Ancient Worlds exhibit recently renovated? As in, up until october of last year? I saw some photos of it being finished.

    I’ll be honest, “it started rotating 4 months after it was moved into that specific position at that time on that shelf” is significantly less impressive than “it started moving after 80 years in the exact same place on the same shelf” so I can understand this is a more compelling narrative. I get that. It’s still very fascinating on its own, no need to fudge the truth.

  15. Ioannis Marathakis

    In all probability, the statue contains a magnet. It spins only when the lights are on and always stops at a certain angle. You must replace whatever new machinery creates an electromagnetic field near it, and the curse is over.

  16. bev

    I would be more curious to see if it did this if moved to a different position on the shelf.

  17. I did an experiment to try to replicate vibration causing rotation, and got some reasonable results that indicate that’s all it is. See: http://metabunk.org/threads/1838-Debunked-Ancient-Egyptian-Statue-Rotating-by-Itself-in-Manchester-Museum

  18. Pingback: Misterul statuii egiptene care se roteste 360 de grade. Specialistii nu au o explicatie. VIDEO | Radio Orhei online live

  19. cli

    I would guess the recent earthquake was a catalyst.or the people walking by day as well as the earthquake caused enough vibrations/right combination of vibrations for the case to resonate.while the uneven base meant it turned round rather than buzzing forward like a phone(agree with above people)

  20. RichWildUK

    Hi Campbell,

    Have you tried gently applying a vibrating instrument directly to the shelf to see if this causes it to move faster? This would prove or disprove the vibration theory. (Say an electric toothbrush or an adult toy?)

    Rich.

  21. Pingback: Spinning Egyptian statuette brings talk of curses, end times | God Discussion

  22. CK

    Have you tried asking it?

  23. John

    I suspect resonance may possibly explain why only that particular statue is moving.

  24. Why don’t you try putting a rubber mat under it and observing the difference?

    I would think that the size of the statue, its density and relation to the material under it (the glass case) might be reacting to the energy transmitted from the footfall from passers by and the main road outside via harmonic resonance allowing the statue to ‘wobble itself’ around incrementally. I think Prof. Cox is right.

    Suggesting that it’s ‘cursed’ or has supernatural properties does Manchester Museums’ scientific credibility a disservice.

  25. Jason

    The spinning actually seems to correspond more with sunlight instead of the foot traffic. It seem to start before the foot traffic begins and keep spinning after the foot traffic ends. Watch Closely

  26. Hello!

    I have two questions:
    1.- What material is made the statue?
    2.- What deity belongs to the personification of it?

    Thanks in advance!

  27. questionableintentions

    It rotates using the power of Ra to face Egypt. That explains why it stops moving at night.

  28. Linda Sue

    I’m wondering if it may be a combination of things that could be causing the statue to spin. It may be that the base of the statue is not level but does have a high point from which to create a circular turn…and it may be that differential friction is playing a part in its turning. But if that alone were at work, it would probably have started spinning before now. My understanding is that our earth’s magnetic poles are approaching the time where they will flip…actually I believe it is overdue by several hundred thousand years, but time is relative with such things. As the statue is made of serpentine and this substance has a strong response to magnetic forces, then perhaps that is the missing piece of this puzzle. If you couple all of those factors together – a fulcrum point; differential friction; the increase in seismic activity reflecting the shift in the magnetic poles and the properties of serpentine…you might have an answer.

  29. Bobby

    Edit out all the dark parts where you can see anything, then play it all at once.

  30. Yes, it doesn’t move at night, and I’d agree that it APPEARS to be foot-falls causing the vibrations.

    But this is a museum, and not some backyard shonk-fest. Lets be scientific, and move the order of the statuettes on the glass to see if the large statuette moves at the OTHER end of the glass, or even some other place in the order. Does the new resident of “Spot X” spin?

  31. Noah

    Intriguing,

    I would like some student/staff to answer a few questions and a request-

    1. Approx when was this first noticed?

    2. When it stops orienting – where is the statue facing towards in degrees?

    3. If the statue was faced “past” where it stops turning what happens?

    I am requesting a streaming webcam until this mystery is solved.

    Thank you!

  32. Our Egyptian civilization is still filled with lots of secrets that are not detected yet the statue refers to a man named “Neb – Sano”, with a length of 10 inches and dates back to 1800 BC, was found in one of the tombs .

    The ancient Egyptians used to put a statue next to the body in order to ensure the spirit of the deceased in case of any damage to or destruction of, in this case the statue serve as an alternative to ship the Spirit.
    The statue was located in the museum many years ago, why did not move before??!!, And why is moving in a circular motion full and not in a random way if the reason behind it just friction?

  33. Samantha

    DON’T BLINK

  34. willi

    There is only one explanation,Weeping angels… run for your life

  35. Howard Saunders

    I agree that it is most likely vibration that powers the movement: the question is why this item moves and not the others.

    One suggestion was differential friction between the bottom of the statue and the shelf, much as a ratchet permits motion in one direction but not the reverse, so a piece might walk across a surface, or, depending on the surfaces, spin rather than travel in a straight line. Differences in the texture of the bottom of the various statues would explain why some move and others do not.

    There is a second possibility, if any sort of fluid or mounting gel was applied beneath the statue. We had a small glass vase that sat quietly on a glass shelf for years without moving, but after one small change, “walked” off the shelf and plunged to the floor. To “protect” the pieces, we had purchased some mounting gel which ostensibly would prevent an item from vibrating or being knocked off a surface, but still allow the item to be carefully lifted. Unfortunately the vase had a polished base and sat on a smooth glass shelf. Insensible vibrations caused the gel to liquify and lubricate the movement of the vase… it “floated” off the shelf, leaving behind a trail like that left by a slug or snail traveling across a smooth sidewalk. Slug slime by the way is a gel that turns solid when pressed against, but is a lubricant below a certain pressure threshold. Vibration probably caused the vase to float off the shelf by the same mechanism that a slug employs to glide across a surface. If this statue had a polished bottom and a mounting gel was used, then it could easily explain the movement. Statues that do not have smooth bottoms might not float on the gel — it requires enough smooth surface to “float” the object given the weight of the object and the pressure dynamics of the gel.

  36. Pingback: Creeptastic. Ancient Egyptian Statue Mysteriously Rotates in Locked Case | Morning Donuts

  37. Diane King

    Serpentine contains Iron and Silica which under the right conditions could exhibit mild electromagnetism, which could vary with a change in the local electro magnetic field or with temperature change. The air conditioning is probably turned back at night, and lights would change temperature too. I wonder if the statue would still move at night if the air conditioning and lights were left on, (if it still did, that would rule out vibration as the cause of the movement).

  38. KBunny

    Don’t blink. Blink and you’re dead. They are fast. Faster than you can believe. Don’t turn your back. Don’t look away. And don’t blink. Good Luck.

  39. elfeneule

    As some others already pointed out: the statue seems to stop at a certain point. Does it still turn? Did it always stop at this point? In which direction does it point when it stops?

  40. Menroting

    As a phenomenon not previously occurred on the exhibition hall floor is examined as if due to a crack or vibrate during a descent more visitors than ever before and this is of course also affect the vitrine.

  41. Consider telestike as an explanation. Magicians and artists have been known to animate statues. I’m serious

  42. Frank Cavazos

    The burden of Egypt. Behold, the Lord rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it. (Isaiah 19:1 KJV)

    Have you all not read The Word of God. Egypt is in turmoil they are in the midst of an election and The Nile is being dried up. We are in The Last Days and Jesus Christ is returning so soon. Wake up. Egypt is about to go through more heart breaking issues.

  43. It’s entirely possible the spinning has commenced because the entire building has settled just enough in a certain direction to produce a tilt. The vibrations have polished the surfaces over the years.

  44. Sebastien Blouin

    Because it is related to daytime activity, could it be a pranky visitor (or a team of visitors)? How about the staff? Some would go to great lengths for social media attention.

  45. Artist

    Re: The Mystery of the Spinning Statue.
    Dear Curator:
    Now you know how it feels to be GASLIGHTED.
    Someone is purposely moving it to make you doubt your own knowledge and perceptions.
    It is a human being doing the “spinning”.
    Someone is having a great time at your expense.
    Someone is tampering with the statue.
    Again, it is called being GASLIGHTED.
    Check Wikipedia.
    You are not insane. You are under the spell of a Gaslighter.
    🙂 Artist

    • Artist

      BTW, it is bad for one’s soul to Gaslight another, just as is lying. It is not funny to Gaslight someone. I pity the fool that is Gaslighting you.
      🙂

  46. Hellinton

    if you realize, it only rotates during the day. I believe it is because of the vibration of people, cars, etc.. Polish the base would solve this problem.

  47. luis

    eso no se el por que sera pero en mi casa ocurre tambien con un plato de recuerdo de alcala de henares que por mas que se pone bien tambien se da la vuelta

  48. Did someone checked and documented what was the final alignment of the statue and the day it stops moving?

  49. J. Sanderson

    It would be interesting to see if the figure still moves when placed in a different location. I also noticed that it did not move once its back was turned to passerby. Somewhat creepy.

  50. Me

    I think its pretty interesting that it took 3 days to turn 180 degrees.

  51. deanna181

    Could I ask which direction is the statue pointing AFTER it’s finished moving (N,S,E or W) – only much is being made of Biblical Prophecy concerning this statue – it could be important. Thanks

  52. mgf

    “…in its NEW case at the Egyptian Worlds gallery.” Emphasis mine. If the statue has in fact been placed in a new case, then it’s due to the mechanical forces of gravity and vibration causing the statue to rock slightly and rotate as it does so. But, very cool!

  53. fatal

    Moves during daylight…God of Sun.. Ra is angry ofcourse!

  54. Rob Walker

    It does actually appear to move during the night, although much less than during the day: if you watch the base of the statue from 00:08 – 00:10 it appears to rotate about 10° during that time frame.
    I’m leaning towards something related to interior temperature combined with vibrations from visitors. I wonder if there was any sort of change to lighting or heating in the last year or so.
    Also, why is there a ladder in the very first frame of the video? Some change to configuration of the display?

  55. Ricardo

    It is worth noting that the statuette reached an equilibrium in 04/06. So it would not spin anymore; but as soon as someone brings the statuette back to the “normal” position, it will spin again.

  56. Marx

    Has anyone researched where it was “looking” on the end of the video? Is there any area of the museum on that direction? Or anything specific in that direction in the city?

  57. Cass

    Had anything around it been moved close to the time the phenomenon started? If its not about the foot traffic, could it be magnetized stone reacting to another piece in the exhibit or nearby?

  58. Rob

    The statuette is at an angle, and looking at the map,the museum isn’t aligned north-south, which tends to suggest it’s magnetic, go put a compass by it.

    • Victoria

      The statuette ends the turn facing at a north east direction. I have been today to see the statue and it’s orientation.

  59. Pingback: La estatua egipcia que se mueve sola | Recortes de Oriente Medio

  60. Sergey

    …ну она же никому не мешает.

  61. Pingback: Ancient Egyptian statuette baffles experts after spinning around in place | Pack 6 – Palo Alto

  62. A big buzz around the spinning statuette today!
    Thank you to all who participated in my survey.
    Team Joe

  63. Pingback: The Haunted Egyptian Statue–Good Vibrations? | Fleeing Nergal, Seeking Stars

  64. David Abramoff

    The statue is NOT moving at all !!!!!!!
    It is the museum (and everything else in the building) that slowly turns around the Egyptian statue.

  65. The artifact only moves during the daylight hours when their is activity in the building. This suggests that the minor vibrations of the traffic are causing the object to move. The movement may also be enhanced by the object being unbalanced in its weight distribution from within its structure or due to groves on the bottom because it rests on a hard smooth surface.
    By Jerry J

  66. Klappstuhl

    Who ya gonna call? :3

  67. an Egyptian time piece, rotation occurs only when hit with direct sunlight. And at night it stops…

  68. OMG, don’t BLINK!!! If you get this, you are automatically awesome!! 😀

  69. Nico

    The previous explanations (vibrations) must be the right ones, but it would be interesting to test the magnetic sensibility of the stone, although it’s apparently note made of serpentine, unlike French radios said. Do visitors take pictures of this statue in particular with their Ipad? ^_^

  70. Pingback: Outlandish News - WATCH: Manchester Museum baffled by spinning Egyptian statue - Outlandish News

  71. Here is something to test.
    If it is in fact vibrations, just place a small pc speaker on the glass shelf and use a signal generator (most computer geeks will manage to get or make one out of software). Play with the frequency until you see movement.

    Even better, superglue a normal pc microphone to the glass, and record the audio during the day. Checking the audio file, you’ll see when it spike at it’s resonance frequency. Any audio editing software will identify the exact frequency, and then, you’ll be able to input that into the signal generator above. If the statue spins, there you got it. Non intrusive testing.

  72. Although a plausible scientific explanation is certainly expected, the problem with some of the rationales is they don’t take into account the rotation stopping when it appears to be facing 180° from its starting point. If vibration (harmonics) is the cause, then wouldn’t the statute continue to rotate? Considering the statute has not moved in years and then to suddenly do so over the last few months, in the same manner each time, forces other options to be considered. An interesting, if unsupported thought, is that the statute is behaving not unlike a magnetic compass. Thus I wonder, what nearby electrical/magnetic devices/equipment went into use at the time the phenomena began?

  73. Bob

    Carefull examination, for over one year, it moves.
    It moves in the direction of Niburu.

  74. Greg

    To whoever thinks its a prank…my friend has 2 Egyptian statuettes in her living room and they rotate every day !!! We have never shared this with anyone because we know the reason why they rotate…and if you do some research about ancient Egypt you would understand why the motion of these statuettes and their connection to their Homeland…

  75. Simon English

    Tried to post reply last night. Basically the statue moves like a ‘Rattleback’ stone. Natural stone rattlebacks have been found in Egyptian and Celtic tombs, so why not a man made one?
    The statue has an off set centre of gravity and a slightly convex base. The rocking is caused by weekday vibration. The mathematics was once a mystery but I think that it was worked out in the 1980s. I am sure that the mathematics dept of the University will explain it.
    Good marketing ‘though. Get copies made, they should sell well in the museum shop.

  76. It could be possibly be a ‘Rattleback’ stone, however, how does that explain the previous decades when it didn’t move? I suppose recent changes in several factors could account for it, which would be a sweet sequence of coincidences.

  77. Chaz B

    What direction(North, South, East, West) is it facing or wanting to face?

  78. Oscar

    I’m not an expert nor a native speaker of English and so I probably am not using the right words here, but here we go. It’s not really spinning or rotating, it’s moving and there is a big difference between the two. I wonder how much further the statue will spin/move after this video or whether it stopped moving when the video compilation stopped.

    Of course, if it continues moving, so beyond 360 degrees and maintaining its exact position, then its indeed spinning or rotating, and in that case it probably isn’t caused by external vibrations. It may be caused by the pulling and pushing forces of intense light on white and black surfaces. If so, then it must have been the intention of the designer who built it and indeed it may, as Ergamis suggested, serve as a compass.

    However, if it stopped spinning at the video, or if the position of the object changed then it’s a combination of external vibrations and the object not being balanced. My guess is that the movie stopped because the statue stopped moving and that the object stopped moving because it had found its balance. This would then also show that the designer was able to create a perfectly balanced object which, although heavy, still tends to reach a balanced position.

    I wonder how the designer knew how to build objects into such a state of perfection! Magnificent. I also want to thank Frank Cavacos from pointing out some biblical verses that reveal the thoughts of the Creator God on the Egyptian idols.

  79. Tony

    It could be a trick, what if it is nothing more than stop motion animation filmed prior to alerting everyone. A camera is placed in position to every ones knowledge, after filming film it is swapped with the first one, ta daa more visitors.
    Don’t show stop motion capture , show a video of it that is speed-ed up, we don’t know what happens between the takes.

  80. I’ve just been to look at the rotating statue. The base is clearly convex. If you look closely from the side it is clearly resting only on points a couple of centimetres apart. Any vibration will therefore cause a slight natural rocking motion. I immediately thought of the rattleback toy (I have only just seen last night’s comment by Simon English). Here’s one shown in my ‘Spinning Top Circus’ movie. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDXAhwhsZ9k&feature=youtu.be&t=1m47s
    Notice how rocking motion always causes it to rotate anticlockwise. This is due to the axis of the curved base being non-aligned with the long axis of the object’s mass distribution. A rattleback toy with the opposite symmetry would always begin to rotate clockwise when it wobbles or rocks.
    The statue has a similarly elongated shape and its irregularly convex base is likely to be resting on three ‘high points’. The axis about which the statue naturally rocks is unlikely to be exactly aligned with its geometrical axis.
    Therefore, any slight rocking movement caused by vibration, however small, is likely to cause the statue to rotate, and always in the same direction.
    A museum volunteer was doing a great job of telling a group of visitors about the contents of the display case. While describing the ‘rattleback’ exp;lanation to her, I mentioned that another name for it is the ‘celt’. I recalled reading a theory that the toy originated from polish stone axe-heads that behave in just the same way.
    So I immediately stepped across to a nearby table where the ‘handling objects’ on show included a beautifully polish Neolithic axe-head. I put it on the smooth, flat tabletop and wobbled it with my finger. Each time I did this, it began to rotate anticlockwise. I turned it over to test the other side. The symmetry was different and it tended to rotate clockwise, but worked less well. The three volunteers to whom I showed this demonstration seemed quite impressed!
    Vibration during museum opening hours must surely be the energy-source for the rocking movement. In addition to floor vibrations, the large area of glass in front of the case will also be vibrating due to visitor-noise.

  81. Sorry, a slight typing error: for ‘polish’ please read ‘polished’!

  82. I am a designer and producer of hands-on science exhibits. I would dearly love to create one for Manchester Museum visitors: a little display-cased model of an Egyptian statuette that spins round when its glass base is mechanically vibrated.
    Let me know if you’d like me to show you a simple working protype.

  83. Interesting how no one has mentioned the most probable cause: A successful publicity stunt.

  84. Pingback: Weird News: The Spinning Statuette

  85. Pingback: Suggestion Saturday: June 29, 2013 | On The Other Hand

  86. Governmeant

    Could someone please mention what the inscription on the back is word for word? Or is it like it was mentioned above, just the name? I’m not sure if you seemed to notice that after it makes a perfect 180 it stops… the time lapse continues but the statue stops so that everyone can read the inscription on the back. Watch it a bunch of times and be open minded. What does it say?

  87. Brandon

    Someone is moving it….

  88. alina12

    I’m very intrested to this amazing mystery i can understand how Brian cox got his theory from but as it says this statue has been in the same place for decades is it spirits or is it in today’s time something happening in this pacific spot or gravity forces or some kind of force in this spot pushing this object but why in day time is it light generating some force to push sorry for any spelling mistakes as i am 12

  89. Victoria

    The statuette ends the turn facing at a north east direction. I have been today to see the statue and it’s orientation.

  90. Can you tell me what direction it is facing when it stopped. Is it north or towards sunrise/sunset or towards Egypt. And have you ever done any kind of x-ray on it?? Thankyou…please reply

  91. For all those people who seem determined to ignore perfectly rational explanations for the ‘spinning statuette’: it DOESN’T stop permanently pointing in ANY position. it is very slowly and intermittently ‘spinning’, taking something like two weeks (I think) for a complete turn. As the video shows, it only stops moving when there are no people walking about nearby. Its base is the same shape as the ‘rattleback’ toy descibed by Simon English and myself on 27th and 28th June. After demonstrating the principle to nearby museum staff with a polished Neolithic axehead, I went home and experimented with a ‘rattleback’. I put it at one end of a table and repeatedly banged the other end of the table with my hand. As if by magic, the ‘rattleback’ very slowly began to turn, always in the same direction. When the vibration stopped, the turning stopped.

  92. I just made a YouTube movie to counteract the widespread eagerness for weird, irrational explanations. Let’s make it go viral. PLEASE SHARE AND RETWEET THIS LINK: http://t.co/ts1FvolKlG

  93. Diane King

    Hi, The rattleback theory sounds great, however, if you look carefully, you can see the statue keeps spinning sometimes at night, despite the fact there are no crowds. This matter really should be examined scientifically, because people are calling the statue the Egyptian god of death, and using the spinning of the statue as a biblical portent of an impending Apocalypse. Although it is great publicity for the museum, and ancient Egyptian culture, it is a bit sad really that it is being used to scare vulnerable people.
    Diane.

  94. One of the museum volunteers told me that seismographic data has been recorded. That’s great, because there could be other causes of vibration such as vehicle traffic outside on Oxford Road, even at night. However, the most critical vibration data would be from the statue itself and from its glass shelf. Surely this could be measured from outside the case, using laser interferometry.
    Why is nobody from the Manchester Museum responding to comments on this blog?

  95. Pingback: How to Achieve An Active Afterlife – Keep Spinning | Acquiescence

  96. Here’s another movie showing a slightly different demonstration of the same ‘rattleback’ principle: http://youtu.be/9noU9M5rr-w
    Also, here’s a close-up photo I took of the statuette’s base, showing how very wobbly it is. Viewed from this angle, less than 3cm appears to be touching the glass shelf. http://www.flickr.com/photos/interactives/9193714537/in/set-72157634453892558
    Having examined it again, and having seen similar curvature in the bases of some similar, smaller statuettes, I now suspect that the rotation is a deliberate feature of the ‘s design. Placed on a flat table or stone slab, normal, tiny seismic tremors would cause such statuettes to rotate. Presumably the ancient Egyptians were just as impressed by this as we have been…

  97. Probably already been said but it looked like it was spinning at a steady rate night and day for a while, ruling out traffic and footfall.

  98. This spinning has also been associated with an early crop circle from this season. Just look over the bad English in the most related article (end of articles page) if you can.
    http://www.cropcircleconnector.com/2013/Stantonstbernard2/comments.html
    http://www.cropcircleconnector.com/2013/Stantonstbernard2/articles.html
    Just fyi. Use Occam’s Razor but don’t rule out the paranormal. It’s all around us.

  99. My bad… I see it is not spinning as much at night.

  100. Simon English

    Ian Russell. I tried to send this to you flickr pictures ;
    Thank you for that very clear close up. If I were to have had the time to go to Manchester I would have done the same thing. The profile exactly conforms to a rattleback and with the ancient egyptians skill at carving stone and knowlege of mathematics I wager that it was carved like this deliberatly.
    I also wager that soon we shall hear that other museums have rattleback statues that, for years, have been stabalized with cork wedges because of their annoying wobble.
    Great demonstration on the Celtic axes too . One would have thought that they would have known.
    If the museum has any marketing sense they will put this statue in a case with a vibrating shelf. I know that were I boy again I would go to the museum again and again to see this mystery.
    And it is still magic even when the mathematics is explained.

  101. Corky

    What would be really awesome is if someone films it again. And if during the hours of darkness, the statue moves right up to stare right into the camera. That would freak everyone out and be awesome. I saw the statue the other day, he was facing away from the statues next to him.

  102. Pingback: Spinning Manchester Museum Egyptian Statue Debunked | Postcards, Photos, and Passports

  103. Joe

    It has recently been moved to a different place but there are a number of points contradicting the reasonable explanations. Firstly, many people say it is due to vibrations but one thing is, on the opening night of the gallery many people were attending so there was a lot of footfall, why didn’t it move then? And when people say it is due to a rise in temperature well the other statuettes aren’t moving. The statuette will never be moved without high protection and it will certainly never be cleaned with anything that could make it slipppery or damage it. There are a type of Ancient Egyptian statue that is meant to be able to turn but if so why are there not any other cases and why chose now to turn? If it was a spirit it would not turn during dark hours as in Ancient Egyptian mythology they would travel in the day to get to the afterlife. So there could always be a chance that a spirit has possessed.

  104. Atanu Nath

    Does it sin anti-clockwise always ? Does it change the sense of rotation ? If not then vibration is not a cause… I am not sure but check the magnetic profile of the statue.. or any other electromagnetic property of the material of the statue… just check it and let us know if there is any anomaly.

  105. Alessandro carvalho.

    Dear dr.campbell; I recently read about the curious case of one Egyptian statue that would be moving alone in one of manchester museum there. I read too, an hypothesis which argues that the movement of the statue would be caused by the vibration of walking people. This is the hypothesis of dr. brian cox, and I read that you do not believe in his hypothesis. But despite that, I would ask you and the museum of manchester to test the hypothesis. That put the hypothesis to test. Well, I want to ask you to do the following tests:

    First you leave the room where the statue stands, empty of people for one hour. And being filmed. After this hour, you measure how much the statue moved. [she should move one bit because the vibrations of cars on the street around the museum]

    After you put 40 people in the room and asks them to stay wandering around the room for 1 hour. And again measures how the statue moved.

    Finally, you put 100 people in the room and asks them to stay wandering again for more 1 hour. after going there to see how the statue moved. If the movement is greater when you have more people than when you have a few people, then it will show that the hypothesis is correct.

    Finally, it would be good as definitive test, take one outfit to put near the statue and use it to measure the vibrations. A device to see if the statue actually receives these vibrations or not. And of course, would be cool if we made a replica of the statue, with the same material, shape and weight and see if put in the same place. put in effect the same vibrations, it moves.

    I would ask you to try to do these tests. We need to solve the mystery of this statue. I suggest you ask for help for the bbc. You could do one documentary about it. Would be very nice to see the tests being made, the mystery is unraveled and the public can see it. What do you think? Accept do the tests I have proposed? Accept do tests to try to unravel the mystery? I await your response.

    sign: alessandro cordeiro, your friend of brazil

    • Atanu Nath

      This mystery is drawing so much of attention and hence lots of lots tourists… I don’t think anyone will be willing to disclose the results of your tests my friend !!!

      By the way, the tests you have suggested will certainly verify the vibration theory. I thought in the line of magnetic properties of the material and its activation somehow related to day light… or may be the noise is providing some energy that is getting absorbed by it and giving it the activation energy. But seriously, I don’t know if its always one way rotation or not… If we can’t go there and stay there and check for myself, I won’t be so sure in any theory.

  106. mirandagate

    The first thing I thought of was the SUN. The sun rises in the East and sets in the West. I think that it is moving because it is the wrong way around and should be facing East? Or whatever the direction when it is at rest. I would very interested to know what direction it is facing when it has turned.
    When it was constructed it could have been loaded with an element that would also be attracted to the power of the SUN. Therefore we are looking at some form of electromagnetism field, which the sun is sending out to the statue and the statue is following the path of the sun during the day as the Earth spins on its axis.
    There is a way to prove my theory. As Prof. Cox will be able to confer and carry out. First, check what electromagnetic fields there are around the glass cover. Do not forget, the sun’s electromagnetic fields will travel through thick clouds and even stone during daylight hours, even if we cannot see the sun.
    Then, put a shield of lead around the glass case and over the top and bottom. Put a camera inside and film it in Infra-red. You could also check that the electromagnetic fields do not get through the led shielding, if they do, increase the thickness of the shielding.
    The only item that could make the object move in the day is the sun. If it stops moving at night, I would have thought Prof. Cox would have thought of this. The object must have something in the stone or inside it that is attracted to the power of the sun and that is what is moving it. Terence Henley Bristol.

  107. mirandagate

    Can you tell us what way it is facing when it starts and where on the compass it faces when it stops?

  108. C Copley

    I’m not sure if it’s my browser but there appears to be TWO lists (mysteriously) to this issue. So in case of getting our wires crossed I am repeating my reply to the other list here, since there are others who favor the EM theory. But I am not repeating my whole Michael Jackson MoonWalker post from 27th on list 1, except to give you the pendulum link.
    “Correlated anamalous effects observed during a solar eclipse” by is an Eastern European study that follows up nearly 50 years of similar observations.

    Click to access pugarticle.pdf

    Anyhow this is my second comment again below on what appears to be a first list. Do staff in that museum just do things without informing others??

    Yes, Manisha, but if you saw my tongue-in-cheek post explanation about Michael Jackson and moon-walking, and the pendulum effect, you might consider that during times of solar eclipses unusual things happen i.e. pendulums move when the Sun is blocked, and then re-establish themselves, which I guess is an EM effect of some sort we are yet to understand. Therefore the recent unusual “supermoon” may have resulted in above average light, or unusual EM properties, which is why the phenomena is only recent and not long-term. I actually might have expected it moved at night. I agree with you the Egyptians knew what they were doing, and it is important to realise the Priests had to convince the masses- just like these days. Why not a moon walker? Why just the Sun?
    Also some people have pointed out that it may be a property of the material that it was made of, however the idea of magnetic material placed inside that you mentioned as part of Egyptian culture is interesting.
    Certainly the rattleback thingy mentioned in the posts seems also to be very convincing.
    It is not hard to set up tests for these things and a bit of basic equipment may establish the truth, including anything suspect. However the time is running out for the effects of the Supermoon, and hence any EM effect by that mechanism would cease in a while.
    We look forward to the museum getting some proper scientific tests to establish the veracity of Moonwalker, EM effects due to magnet inside and sunlight, or rattleback and other vibrational effects.
    Like the pendulum effect,which has a good deal of scientific veracity, this one may also remain unanswered due to lack of additional equipment on site. I am not surprised we can’t find dark energy if we can’t establish these on Earth things. Looking on Earth for answers to dark energy via pendulum effects etc may be more productive!

  109. C Copley

    Sorry if what I wrote above was a repeat for some of you on list 1. Anyhow seeing as there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of experimentation going on I guess we can form our own speculative conclusions. Not satisfactory really, but mine are-
    – it is either Michael Jackson returned
    – it really is a SuperMoon Walker
    – it is an example of Dark Energy.

    I look forward to receiving ANY evidence from museum experimentation to disprove this. I particularly think the vibrational experiment using audio gear as posted above would be a good place to start.

  110. Tony

    Publicity stunt ?

    No set camera constantly recording in real time, none of the vibrational tests conducted as previously suggested, the “phenomena” of the statue rotating and “resting” at the said positions, all suggest that it is a trick, i.e., someone or some people are responsible for deliberately moving the statue between camera takes. PLEASE disprove this Manchester Museum, you will regain your scientific and investigative credulity at the price of lowering your tourist numbers though, “especially as this time marks your 100 anniversary of the Egyptian collection”. Please show all where your priorities lie.
    Conclusion, in the spirit of governmental funded archeology I conclude that NONE of the tests that I or anyone else has suggested will honestly be conducted thus showing that you are all manipulated in the same way as the said statue is, “by invisible forces”. Please prove this wrong.

  111. Tony

    P.S. What is the time lapse between takes? Maybe it only moves at night hence needing a few “days” to move to its final position.

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    simplest thing to be aware of. I say to you, I certainly get irked while people think about worries that they just don’t know about. You managed to hit the nail upon the top as well as defined out the whole thing without having side effect , people could take a signal. Will probably be back to get more. Thanks

  113. RogerW

    Over the last few weeks I, along with a few associates, have attempted to replicate the same event with a similar object. We’ve tried various methods. Nothing we’ve tried to date has matched the spin cycle while maintaining the same axis. If it is a stunt -as in time lapse video- then it;s possible to achieve these type of results time after time. But, to use such a stunt would certainly call into the question the credibility and integrity of Dr. Campbell and those others directly involved with this mystery. Although I do not know Dr. Campbell, I don’t think this is a stunt or hoax. More data and more diversified data is required from the area of the statuette in order to add other factors toward solving this most interesting of mysteries. If it can be solved.

    • Like I said previously,think about it, it moves in the day, my question is, does the figure follow the same revolution as the sun? Is it moving east to west? What position is it when the figure comes to rest? You need to answer these questions first then you you may understand why the fiugure is turning. But please tell us, which way does the figure move and what position is it in when it stops?
      Terry Henley Bristol

  114. Tony

    How can we be so sure it “appears” to move by its self during the day ?
    We have only been presented with time lapse video over a two week period. Besides, it could also be moved during the day between time lapses, or when ever unwanted parties are not present.
    Constant video is needed, not such a problem these days due to digital cameras and large inexpensive storage mediums. A video feed could also be put online. Surly this would be one of the first appropriate measures one would conduct to preserve one’s “integrity” whilst attempting to eliminate foul play. At what “Price” are we truly expected to believe that the key to the cabinet, a copy of the key or another method of opening the cabinet is not being used, i.e cabinet opened between camera takes and statue moved by an unknown party.
    If my integrity was challenged by such an event, I would surely like to prove otherwise, even at the cost of loosing a few tourists.
    By the way, is the statue shown in the video the original or just a replica (perhaps one containing a neodymium magnet) , could it have been swapped before the “investigations”.
    Lets first establish the elimination of the obvious and most feasible before we all start discussing hyperb@#@cks.
    So magic shows are no longer performed in the temples of old but in museums, how lovely, just change the packaging and most still bye it.
    Thank you Manchester Museum.
    P.S. When is your next show ?

  115. I agree it is probably vibration from footfall. Fascinating though.

  116. Tony

    Ha, ha, is there foul play in the game ?

  117. does it spin in complete circles? even vibration wouldn’t always cause it to do that, it would move in different directions all over the place. May be if it was moved and did the same thing just to rule out vibration

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