For ten days the mysterious swing at Firmat in Argentina has been moving back and forth, causing many to wonder if a local ghost is to blame. For days the activity was documented as the swing kept moving back and forth as though an invisible child were swinging in it. Scientists who have investigated the area have been unable to come up with a satisfactory explanation. Police still are at a loss for the mysterious object‘s behavior, and people crowded around it so much that police were told to keep a presence in the area just to make sure nothing got out of hand.
Wind was originally to blame for the swing’s ten day demonstration, but many in the area reported it was dead quiet for much of the time, and that the wind was effectively at least partially blocked by surrounding crowds. Several parents have decided the playground is haunted, but that’s not stopping many of them from still letting their children play near the supernatural swing.
Dozens of video presentations were recorded during the ten days that the swing was active, and hundreds of video presentations have been uploaded to the internet. Several of the presentations begin the same way, with the swing being bodily stopped to show it is not merely the continued momentum, but rather momentum generated from out of nowhere. Often the two swings next to the middle one remain completely still while other times they sway gently, but nowhere near the force of the center swing.
One video claims the phenomena was caused by a phenomena known as “vortex shedding,” in which wind blowing against a cylindrical object create a “wake” or trail of vortexes in the direction of the wind. These vortexes create a thin stream of wind that can effect object behind them. This attempt at debunking is interesting, but ultimately does not account for the Haunted Swing phenomena. First, vortex shedding requires a cylindrical object and a specific steady force of wind, which any professor would have easily picked up on as they investigated it. A simple waving of the hand in front of the swing would have solved the mystery had this been the answer. Instead, waving hands as well as several devices were employed which varied in readings several times, but ultimately ruled out wind. Other devices ruled out magnetism or any sort of hoax, leaving this mystery unsolved, possibly forever.
It also seems worth mentioning that the legend of the haunted swing is not uncommon in the paranormal field. What makes this particular story interesting is the attention the object was paid by the scientific community, and the fact that it kept moving despite repeated attempts to disrupt it for ten days without stopping for more than a couple of minutes at a time. Though there may be some other thus far not understood scientific phenomena happening here, the ghost swing is sure to stay in the minds of locals for many years. The only question is what made the ghost swing move and what made it stop after ten days? Could it be the ghost of someone who died in the area, now trying to recapture something they enjoyed in life?