May 23rd, 2005
Are “Foil Heads” Crazy or Really Warding Off Dangerous Radiation?
By Alice Hill
RealTechNews.com
When I lived in New York, I noticed an odd trend among the homeless - wearing a giant ski cap packed with aluminum foil. I called the phenomenon “foil heads” and always wondered why some of the population felt the need to line their heads with layer after layer of aluminum foil. Some of the hats were so huge, they made the wearers look like they had giant alien heads.
Diagnosing mental illness is certainly not my specialty, but what I was able to piece together is this: extreme sensitivity to radiation and radio waves can cause someone to hear voices (from a radio station like Marcia Brady experienced), feel like they are being burned alive, and eventually turn to foil which interestingly enough does act as a barrier to radiation. So my question was: were the poor foil heads in NY “crazy” or did they have some sort of extreme sensitivity to the waves of radiation, cellular, microwave, radio and so on that fills our lives, and also found a clever way to exist?
I mention this because today, there is a family in Sacramento that has lined their home with foil, claiming that microwave radiation is burning them alive and they need sheet metal to ward off the danger:
“A home in Sacramento’s south Natomas neighborhood is surrounded by sheet metal, and neighbors are calling it an eyesore. The D’Souza family lives in the home on Timberwood Court, and claims the aluminium pieces are necessary to protect them from unknown neighbors who have been bombarding them with radio waves and making them sick. “(It’s) a shield to protect against radiation, because microwave radiation is reflected off of aluminium, so it’s a protective measure,” resident Sarah D’Souza said.
“The D’Souzas said the bombardment began after the first anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and that the radio waves have caused them health problems ranging from headaches to lupus. Sacramento Code Enforcement officials have gotten involved and ordered the family to remove the metal by Monday or face a misdemeanor citation. “Eleven years in Sacramento and few other years in Southern California and this is the first time I’ve ever seen (anything like this). The inside of the house is also covered with foil and the beds are covered with a foil-like material as well,” Sacramento Code Enforcement spokesman Josh Pino said. The D’Souzas said they will comply with the order and remove the sheet metal, but they also plan to gather evidence to show city officials what they believe is a problem with radiation.” Source: The KCRA Channel
So what do you think? Crazy? Or is something really there?
David says:
I’d say let them be. They may be crazy, or they may have some sort of problem which makes the susceptible to the radio and other waves floating around in the air, I sure don’t know. I think it’d actually be pretty amusing to see a house wrapped in aluminum foil.
May 23rd, 2005 at 10:50 am
Cheese Toast says:
The family also claimed that fire-proof blankets and other items they had would start to get burned spots or ignite by them selves also. If you had seen the newscast when they interviewed one of the family members, you would know they are just crazy (or have taken to much crank). KCRA loves to interview the nut cases.
May 23rd, 2005 at 11:22 am
Bob says:
The family sounds crazy.
Some of the homeless people may be more smart than they are crazy:
http://www.respectrfid.com/Ref/alertmetalguard.htm
May 23rd, 2005 at 11:32 am
jfb3 says:
Maybe they need to move here.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7234314?GT1=6305
May 23rd, 2005 at 12:42 pm
Alice says:
The beer can house is hilarious!
I think the family sounds nuts because they are linking it to September 11th, which sounds like major paranoia. It woud lbe easier to buy a radiation monitoring device than usaing all the tin foil and so on.
May 23rd, 2005 at 2:17 pm
Keith says:
Yeah, these guys are certifiably nuts. Any sane person could tell you that aluminum foil doesn’t work. The key to preventing radiation, government spying, and extra-galactic alien targeting systems (EATS) is via liberal application of cheese-in-a-can, preferably Nabisco EZ Cheese.
May 23rd, 2005 at 2:26 pm
Rick says:
I can’t rule out a body being sensitive to RF … many has been the time driving down the road when I feel an urge to stomp the accelerator to the floor. In many of those cases, there was a cop with a fixed-mount radar running. I didn’t break out the aluminum foil … but I do lift my foot when I feel that crazy urge these days.
As for wrapping your house in aluminum … my house is insulated with foil-clad cardboard. Seriously. Just a thin layer between the studs and the outside sheathing (cedar siding). As an insulator, it works very well (found that out after losing power for a couple of days during a snowstorm). As an RF shield … well let’s just say that I don’t have to worry about getting any cell phone calls while I’m in the house.
The window screens are (mostly) aluminum wire screens … though I’ve been replacing them as needed with nylon screens … sometimes I do like some RF getting in.
Are these people crazy? Perhaps. Can they be affected? Quite possible. Are they being targeted? Doubtful.
RF fields are interesting stuff (worked with the stuff as a career and as a hobby for 30+ years now). Rather than get caught up in a debate of the individual’s sanity, I’d take some controlled measurements, inside the home, outside the home, in an anechoic chamber … lets find out what these folks do sense and document it.
Aluminum, by the way, is a very good reflector of RF energy, and a wonderful attenuator of RF energy … that is, energy is easily reflected away from the aluminum, and any that might penetrate the aluminum is severely attenuated. I’ve got a long rambling story about that … I’ll save that for another time.
Rick
May 23rd, 2005 at 2:57 pm
Alice says:
Bob - I just did a pice on the booster bags info you posted here. Thank you SO much. Send me your last name if you can so I can add it to the piece and give you credit.
Keep the info coming!
May 23rd, 2005 at 3:32 pm
Bob says:
Thanks Alice. Bob is fine.
May 24th, 2005 at 8:48 am
Lilorfnannie says:
A person shouldn’t line their house with foil because the house needs to “breathe”. The moisture needs to escape. They will have massive mold problems.
Personally I think it is entirely possible that some people are extra-sensitive to electro-magnetic waves, and it’s also possible these people are a combination of sensitive and just paranoid nuts. It’s sad overall. I wish some mental health professionals could help them, as well as taking their concerns seriously with extensive testing of the area.
May 24th, 2005 at 8:53 am
Alan Fargusson says:
What has somehow gotten lost in this story is that the aluminum is causing a danger to the neighbors. The siding is not properly attached to the house. This is an area where there can be fast winds, and is within a few miles of ware a tornado touched down in a couple of months ago, so there is a real danger of flying aluminum hitting someone.
May 24th, 2005 at 9:50 am
Lockergnome's Tech News Watch says:
Are “Foil Heads” Crazy or Really Warding Off Dangerous Radiation?
When I lived in New York, I noticed an odd trend among the homeless - wearing a giant ski cap packed with aluminum foil. I called the phenomenon “foil heads” and always wondered why some of the population felt the need to line their heads with layer …
June 13th, 2005 at 2:00 pm
Alan says:
For what it’s worth, I’m no foilhead, but I am sensitive enough to cellphone-frequency energy that putting a cellphone in my pocket will make my leg ache, and using a Sidekick will make my hands ache. So the phone stays in my backpack, rather than my pocket, and I always use a hands-free earphone when talking on the phone.
June 15th, 2005 at 3:29 am
Lockergnome's Tech News Watch says:
Booster Bags Use Foil to Foil Any Store�s Anti-Shoplifting Machines
I was covering a story about people lining their heads and even their homes with aluminum foil to protect themselves from what they feel is extreme radio wave radiation. The question I posed: are they crazy or just picking up on waves you and I cannot …
June 17th, 2005 at 10:20 am
Ted Voeks says:
Very interesting, could the aluminum industry have anything to do with these stories, I wonder.
June 17th, 2005 at 3:19 pm
dobbie says:
There are some that EMFs impact adversely.
pls check out:
http://www.clarus.com/h_science_research.shtml
Yep, this ol’mechanic thought it was a crock, but after donning the QLink, i could not believe the difference in well-being.
On the other hand, a pal felt lousy: different strokes…
Seems to me that to label anyone crazy/broken, is jumping to conclusions& refusing to look into the circumstances,conditions in depth–> sorta like replacing a worn tire sans checking out the front end.
In the end, who are we to judge?
June 20th, 2005 at 7:01 am
Marko says:
EMF from cell phone base towers are a common and growing phenomena as society digitilises in the wireless revolution. Adverse athermal health affects of long term exposure are recognised and documented. Interesting that the phone companies have stopped calling them “safe” in the past five years. Expect the carcinogenic and other indices of health impact to become quite noticealble over the next 5 - 10 years (if not already). Perhaps we should line schools and kindies as an expression of the ‘precautionary principle’. And put health warnings on cell phones!
June 22nd, 2005 at 9:28 pm
Anony-Mo says:
To Alan: I’m a bit skeptical that you can actually detect physical sensation from low level UHF/Microwave emissions from handheld devices, but, for now I will assume you actually do.. What causes me to wonder is that there are often other, stronger sources that people come into contact with every day. Do these also cause you pain or discomfort? I used to live near an airport with strong emissions around 2.4Ghz. Would you be in agony there? What about around wireless access points? A or B/G make a difference? Cellphones are around 800Mhz, do 900Mhz cordless phones cause discomfort? What about the wireless “notifiers” used at restaurants? Laptops? I’d imagine if you can physicly feel these devices, life would be rather difficult. Just curiousity..
January 12th, 2006 at 11:42 am
mens dress watches says:
mens dress watches
January 26th, 2006 at 1:57 am
bingo shutter cards says:
bingo shutter cards
February 2nd, 2006 at 8:33 pm
hoodia says:
hoodia
February 7th, 2006 at 10:36 pm
adjustable-air-bed says:
adjustable-air-bed
February 20th, 2006 at 9:41 am
alprazolam says:
alprazolam
February 28th, 2006 at 10:25 am
poker says:
poker
March 15th, 2006 at 4:30 am
adventure-vacation says:
adventure-vacation
July 1st, 2006 at 9:22 pm
alprazolam says:
alprazolam alprazolam
July 29th, 2006 at 12:33 am
fovcntrspc says:
Hello! Good Site! Thanks you! epmrvdbmzoh
July 7th, 2007 at 6:41 am
AnferTuto says:
Hola faretaste
mekodinosad
July 26th, 2007 at 5:39 pm
Cat says:
From time to time thru out my life I could hear what sounded like a garbage of sounds…sometimes I could make out music…or voices. It would pass. Then once I heard a distinct tune and a friend of mine turned on the radio and that was the song playing… coincidence? Possibly. However, I adjusted to this as just normal and thought that everyone had these experiences. Until I moved into a rural area and lived in a brick building without electric. The silence in my head…was deafening! I am committed to the objective to build a clay house for myself and have no electric. For me it is a much more peaceful way to live. As far as fears people have that they are being (invaded) by these waves, is part of their personal experience…I thought it was normal! When I found out that I was more comfortable without it I changed my circumstances….I have many friends that visited me in my brick house and they all responded positively to the sense of comfort and peace they felt…Though they did lament not being able to fire up the amp’s and play…People have a tendency to insist that the pack believe as they do…the unbeliever is driven out. Fear…each one of us fears what is different…If they need a foil cap to deal with their existence who am I to say they are crazy? I see lots of people with amulets of protection and power around their necks…Who am I to say that these are symbols of lunacy…maybe they work for them? I applaud those who have suggested further investigation and trusting themselves. The single eye lacks perspective. One needs at least two to see depth.
March 21st, 2008 at 10:37 am
Joan Doh says:
The following are reports from the D Souza family regarding their being microwaved.
To whom it may Concern,
Sacramento Police Department
Investigation Division
5770 Freeport Blvd., Suite 100
Sacramento, CA 95822
This is an addendum to Police Report #: 05-31663.
In fact, my daughter indicated that “the hate crimes are in the form of Microwave radiation & High Energy RF devices.” My husband was documenting unusually high EM measurements with a Tri-Field meter on the sidewalk.
I was misquoted as saying perpetrators were “unknown subjects”.
In fact, I stated that it is our “next door neighbors” committing these acts of hate.
We reached this conclusion on the basis of the trajectories of the burn marks on our radar reflective blankets, instrument readings, and thermal correlations.
Some of the evidence we presented to the officers, but failed to elicit any investigation on their part:
· Work-sheets that show a large thermal differential of 10-25° F higher than the reported temperatures, recorded for close to 2 years. Burn marks on our radar reflective blanket (No sample was taken for lab analysis). The radar reflective blanket comprises of pure aluminum on one side and AstrolarÒ fabric on the other side, sandwiched between a durable plastic film. The burn marks are visible on the AstrolarÒ fabric side while the pure aluminum side is melted and dissipated in the burn spots.
· Premature burn-out of our electronic equipment, appliances & light bulbs, as a result of repeated power surges induced by the advanced technology weapon assaults. Remote control tampering of our electronic equipment has also been observed. This adds to the evidence that next door neighbors are responsible because remote control IR devices have a range of approx. 15ft.
Details of ongoing post 9/11 hate crimes to-date, since addendum dated Jan 24,’05 to PR#: 04-272040
Based on our meter readings, observations & data analysis we have been able to determine several modes of attack in the commission of their black market advanced technology weapons. A constant property of all the modes is they all generate power densities that equate to a thermal signature.
Microwave Radiation (Radar, 1GHz and above):
High Energy RF (frequency 50-150 MHz):
EM field Effect(Approx 3mGauss):
I.R. Beam (TV Remote, 100THz ):
Laser (Beam, 1000THz)
Ø Physical Effects of Modes 1and 2:
10-25° F temperature differential in and around our home with respect to the reported temperatures.
Static interference on Channel’s 3 and 6 even though the stations are within a 5 mile range.
Pre-mature electrical appliances and light-bulb failure.
Physical measurements of Mode 3:
Measure approx. 3mGauss magnetic field around the perimeter of our property. Each duration for this mode varies between 5 minutes – 6 hours.
Physical effect of Mode 4:
TV channel’s flipping and VCR’s tracking disrupted, without our interaction.
Physical damage caused Mode 5:
Precision cuts on the glass of our front window.
PR#05-109503 is another hostile neighbor/perpetrator at 15 Timberwood calling the Sacramento Police Department to shift focus from their culpability, after we filed PR# 04-272040 dated July 16,’04.
Attached:- 1) Police Report #: 04-272040 and Supplementals dated August 12, 2004,
September 11, 2004, and the most recent dated January 24, 2005.
2) “Wave-Guide” literature
Sarah D’Souza
Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering
University of California, Davis
Linda D’Souza
June 5th, 2008 at 11:01 am