True Story

[Thorngrub]

My brother purchased 3 quartz -crystal spheres over ten years ago, early 90's. You know the kind you get at a New -age store. They were about the size of gobstoppers. . . slightly smaller than golf balls. And they were perfect. Paid a pretty penny for them, being flawless examples of quartz carved into perfect spheres.

He used to juggle them all the time, and occasionally drop em. A lot. For a few years. This resulted in pock -marks all over their surfaces; in short, he ruined them. But he enjoyed rolling them about in his hands, juggling them, etc because it was soothing and something to do.

He ended up giving one away to a girl about 10 years ago, leaving him with just the 2, completely-pock-marked quartz spheres.

He put them in a bell jar of water 10 years ago, and packed them away in a storage chest.

Last weekend he uncovered the chest in his basement, and found the bell jar w/the 2 crystal spheres still submerged under the water.

Upon removing them, he was astounded to see they had completely healed.

Both crystal spheres are back to their original flawless condition: all traces of pock -marks, gone. Clear as crystal.

Q: Who can provide the actual proper explanation for what occured -? My brother & I are rather impressed at this time.


Totally true story.


The quartz crystal spheres appear to have entirely healed.

[Fuzznuts]

They're aliens from outer space.

[luke]

There's no way this is a true story.

[rockysigman]

Maybe the quartz is part starfish.

[Fuzznuts]

You callin the man a liar, Luke?

[luke]

Yeah. Quit lying, thorn.

[Thorngrub]

Hey, it's the truth. Straight - up.

My theories thus far:

~ The chlorine (or some other additive) in the water may have slowly dissolved the outer layer of the spheres away, thus little by little removing the pock -marks

~ The crystal grew back

[luke]

I'm thinking the former.

Or I would be thinking that, if you weren't such a liar.

[Thorngrub]

~ It's no secret crystals grow. Quartz is no exception

~ I don't know much about the process of quartz crystal growing, but it makes me wonder. You'd think the quartz must be in its "natural" state; i.e, w/its multifaceted edges. The electrons or whatever slowly, one at a time, grow onwards, progressing the blossoming of the crystal formations.

~ I would infer that, once carved into spheres. . . . that this would stop the crystal's ability to grow? Could be wrong about that.


What I'm wondering is:

~ Had the crystal spheres NOT been kept in water for 10 years, would they STILL be pock-marked?

~ The water may have sped up the process of allowing the crystal to continue growing; or it may indeed have slowed down that process. I.E, maybe they'd have "healed" faster OUT of the water; maybe not.

~ My honest opinion is that quartz crystal is a rudimentary form of "life" existing on a frequency seperate from that which we biological creatures live and breathe on.

This mystery must be solved.

[sisyphus]

rockhoundingar.com/quartz/geology.html

if quartz is most commonly found in things like shale and sandstone, it's obvious that water must play an important role. still, there are obviously no examples of quartz crystals that are not angular, braking along angular lines of cleavage... i would think some kind of dissolution would be most likely. very weird.

[Thorngrub]

I'm out of true stories right now.

Anyone . . . ?