MYSTERY OBJECTS

[PanBiker]

Microwave "Death Ray"

[Tizer]

You're on the right lines with death ray!

[PanBiker]

X-Ray death ray?

[Tizer]

I think it was claimed to use ultra-violet light. A British inventor came up with the idea and tried to sell it to the military in the 1920s. He claimed it could stop the engines of cars, tanks, aeroplanes etc but every time they asked for a demo he came up with an excuse and refused. He got a lot of attention from the newspapers and tried to get the US military interested too. It was a big news story in the 1920s but, as often happens, you never hear much about it now. I won't mention his name - but you'll probably be able to track him down. It's an interesting story!

[PanBiker]

Found him, interesting but probably crazy as a box of frogs.

[Stanley]

There was still talk about 'death rays' during the war..... I was reminded of it when Reagan introduced 'Star Wars', some ideas persist.....

[Tizer]

Nobody else seems interested in following up Panbiker's lead so here's the answer: Harry Grindell Matthews, 1880-1941, British inventor, alias Dr Death Ray. I came upon him by chance while looking up information on the Zalinski gun. A web page of the Flat Holm Society advertised a lecture on the gun but had an extra bit of text mentioning the `death ray' and the photo I posted above, which apparently was taken on the island of Flat Holm (in the Bristol Channel). I've linked two informative pages below which can tell you all you would want to know about Harry Grindell Matthews.
Dr Death Ray - BBC
Harry Grindell Matthews - Wikipedia

[Stanley]

In my old Boy's Own bound volume of a year's worth of the paper (Dated about 1900) there was a story about aliens who had the then equivalent of the Star Trek phaser..... It's a very old idea.....

[Stanley]

Try this one.....

[David Whipp]

Strop?

[Tizer]

That's what happens if you play around with Star Trek phasers and death ray guns in your kitchen!

[Stanley]

Sorry, nowhere near yet! Look at it very carefully, particularly the handles......

[David Whipp]

Are we looking at the bottom Stanley? Is the material shown an anti-slip surface?

[Tizer]

An accordion?

[chinatyke]

I think I've identified it. It is a printing block, and it looks like the type used for printing textiles.

I saw hand/manual printing blocks 50+ years ago at CPA Loveclough Printworks.

[Marilyn]

Is it an old cake you cooked forty years ago and have just found hidden in one of your time-capsule kitchen cupboards?

[Stanley]

China has it spot on. Here's the other side of it....



Beautifully made and the divisions are fine copper sheet. Next one?

[Tizer]

That was interesting - Maz is right about Stanley having time capsule cupboards!
Now what's this...

[Marilyn]

No idea, but he is rather pretty, and very small, I think.
I am thinking a logo on something like a pair of sunglasses.
Or...could it be a "turtle wax" logo?

[Tizer]

Definitely pretty and very small, but not a logo and not on sunglasses.

[David Whipp]

Does it float about in a magnetic field?

[Tizer]

A clever idea David, but no, it's not floating in a magnetic field (at least no more than any other tortoise does!). But you're getting close.

[PanBiker]

It looks more like a Terrapin to me. Is it a compass?

[Tizer]

No, not a compass and the little fellow may be meant to represent a terrapin, or a turtle, or a tortoise - but you've worked out that he's not a living animal! You haven't worked out yet though what's so special about him.

[LizG]

Is he a hologram using a 3D Mirascope? I saw something similar when we visited the Parkes radio telescope recently. These were for sale in the gift shop. The little turtle would be placed inside the mirascope and he then appears as a hologram on top.

Description;
"The 3D Mirascope uses parabolic mirrors to capture the light of an object and then project it as a three-dimensional image. These mirrors have a special shape called parabola, and this allows the mirrors to reflect light in a very special way. The 3D Mirascope utilises the properties of the parabolic mirrors to create the hologram. "