Early April involved working at the International Space Symposium. The Space Symposium is an annual event where space industry and organizations promote their technological products and conceptual visions for humanity’s future in space.
Work involves constructing trade show booths (small square or rectangular plots arranged within a large building) that feature models and prototypes designed to wow the public and maybe hook onto a lucrative government contract. By the end of construction the building is full of satellites, rocket models, rocket engines and space systems parts. Corporate crown jewels nestled in and about a lush futuristic display where plasma televisions roll orbital system operations footage over and over.
I was assigned to build a booth display with a client known for their numerous successes in launching sophisticated communication and surveillance satellites. Their set involved eight aluminum pillars supporting a massive wire mesh dish antennae inverted above the booth like a big umbrella with spider legs. Clever lighting and polished hardwood accents made it look like a steam punk star ship captain’s stateroom.
On each of the legs was a plasma display with a small transparent cube just below it. The cube would contain a system device and the plasma monitor would show a video animation describing its function in whatever satellite it was designed for.
During the construction phase we apply large amounts of adherent plastic to the aisle ways to protect the building’s carpeted floor from the forklifts and their tons of cargo. In the dry mountain air of Colorado it’s not unusual to generate a good bit of static electricity when you pull up that plastic after it has been mashed into carpet.
Four stage hands were pulling aisle plastic along the side of this display, they were moving quickly and pulling a 7ft wide mass of plastic. This generated enough of a charge that a bolt snapped into one of the pillars. This pillar happened to hold in its cube a special alloy device designed to amplify electrical frequencies emitting from the cosmos. At least that’s the official description.
The device instantly buzzed and flashed with a brilliant bluish white aura that expanded to the plasma display which reflected the webbed mass of bolts to all seven remaining plasma displays and up into the wire mesh antennae making the whole booth a Tesla cage.
I was standing stunned inside this cage during the whole event. The world outside looked like a three dimensional television where the channels were being switched at a breakneck speed. Colors turned to opposites, soft sounds became loud, people appeared to move very quickly, then slow, even reverse. The an immense cracking sound and I blacked out, that is the last thing I remember.
All I remember after that is going to lunch and coming back and working on another booth. There was no trace of the “spider” booth and everyone I mentioned it to would seem to try to match the description up with some other booth. Like it never existed.
These last few weeks I have experienced a personal residual electrical phenomena. It seems to have damaged my computer.
After some therapy including bathing in natural radioactive water and some bio degaussing procedures, life is turning to normal again. I have repaired my computer to a minimum functionality and will be posting more often.
