What is the Betz Sphere?

Uncovering Jacksonville’s Weirdest Hoax 

Picture this: you’re walking through the weeping willow forest of Fort George Island, a land once traversed by natives and European explorers alike, when suddenly, you come across a strange, looking metallic sphere, about the size of a bowling ball. Given the unique history of the area, you might assume that it’s some kind of cannonball or another artifact from several hundred years ago. Heck, you’d probably be tempted to bring it home as a souvenir.

Image courtesy of @cmrnrd / Unsplash

This is exactly what happened to Antoine, Gerri, and Terry Betz during an otherwise incident free walk around their property. They were trying to evaluate the damage from a recent brushfire when they noticed a nearly featureless metal orb in the debris. The only notable marking or alteration made to the otherwise perfectly smooth object was a small triangle inscribed into the surface.  Due to the peculiar nature of the object, the family decided to take it home with them.

The Betz Sphere’s Weird Properties

For a while, the sphere was nothing more to the family than a peculiar conversation starter that more or less sat on the shelf undisturbed.  This all changed one day, however, when Terry Betz happened to be playing the acoustic guitar in the living room. Defying all intuition and expectation, the sphere began to oscilate and move around seemingly on its own accord.

Terry would succeed at replicating this effect on several other occasions, the family noting that their dog would cover its ears every time it got too close to the sphere during these movements. This led the family, as well as a quickly growing community of paranormal enthusiasts, to believe that the sphere was admitting some kind of high-pitched frequency that went unheard by human perception. Ron Kivett, local radio host and writer of the 1971 B-Movie Zaat, was one of the first to report his belief of it coming from outer space.

Being the 70s, these rumors of extraterrestrial origin took off like— well, a flying saucer. Soon, the sphere became one of the top news stories in America, shaping up to be a UFO sensation as notorious as the Roswell Incident. As if the hype couldn’t become any more fervent, the family agreed to allow this sphere to be inspected at a nearby US naval base to determine the true origins of the sphere.

The Disappointing Truth of the Betz Sphere

It wouldn’t take long, however, for the cracks to begin revealing themselves in this overblown story. Very shortly after receiving this sphere, the Navy came to the conclusion that it was made of the not-quite space age material known to us earthlings as “stainless steel”. Even more damning was the explanation for the sphere’s movement, which was said to be a combination of resonance to the guitar’s frequency, much like a simple tuning fork, combined with the uneven center of mass caused by the triangular chip on the surface.

Even if one were to question the motives of the US government in such an analysis however, these mundane findings were corroborated by some of the leading UFO experts of the era. Though the true origins of the sphere were not entirely confirmed, it was widely discredited as being man-made rather than anything esoteric or particularly unusual.

Image courtesy of @mdherren / Unsplash

It was perhaps for the better that this ended up being a hoax, particularly for the Betz family. At this point, their phone would endlessly ring off the hook as they continued to be flooded by curious “fans”. They even received some invasions of the terrestrial variety to their property from these overeager enthusiasts. Since then, they have provided no further comments on the matter, presumably returning to their normal lives.

Or at least that’s what they want you to think…

Otherworldly Flavor at Timoti’s!

Here at Timoti’s, we’ve brought something truly out-of-this-world back to Jacksonville: our hush puppies!  Be warned though; they have been known to move towards the rumbling of empty stomachs at lightspeed! Just don’t be surprised during your next visit if they quickly disappear from your plate without a trace…