# Flies coming out of his penis? Why can't X-Rays show the source of the infestation? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 24, 2003, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-coming-out-of-his-penis-why-cant-x-rays-show-the-source-of-the-infestation/190568 "2003-07-24T06:19:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-coming-out-of-his-penis-why-cant-x-rays-show-the-source-of-the-infestation/190568/21 "2003-07-25T02:30:47Z")
Well, if it’s not true, [it wouldn’t be the first time a wild story fooled someone](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/010907.html). Swimming up the urine stream. No way. I’m sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Rabid\_Squirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Rabid\_Squirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rabid_Squirrel)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-coming-out-of-his-penis-why-cant-x-rays-show-the-source-of-the-infestation/190568/22 "2003-07-25T02:48:19Z")
[Snoops](http://www.snopes.com/horrors/insects/flyboy.asp) reckons it’s likely to be true. ---
**Author:** ![samarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@samarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samarm)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-coming-out-of-his-penis-why-cant-x-rays-show-the-source-of-the-infestation/190568/23 "2003-07-25T02:57:06Z")
You cannot be serious. Flies crawling through the uriny tract? Anyway, they would be flushed out when he peed. Makes a great story for the press, but I say its bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-coming-out-of-his-penis-why-cant-x-rays-show-the-source-of-the-infestation/190568/24 "2003-07-25T03:54:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ranchoth \* > **Y’know, even if the X-Rays wouldn’t help _locate_ the…“infestation,” one might still be tempted give the, er, “effected members” some nice, thourough doses of radiation. If _that_ wouldn’t kill the little buggers, I’m not sure I’d want to know what _would…_** Radiation therapy is only used for life-threatening diseases (cancer) and absolutely the last resort when surgery is not an option. Radiation kills everything - you just hope that the cancerous cells die completely and enough healthy cells remain to keep you alive. And one of the reports mentioned acute abdomenal pain, so the infestation might be somewhere in the torso, not in the penis. I’d rather have bugs crawling out my penis than be shot in the belly with a high flux gamma ray beam. Anyway, wouldn’t a CT scanner or MRI detect a fully grown fly? I thought they can detect tumors as small as 5mm or so. I’d also think a fast-growing maggot would show up in a PET scan. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-coming-out-of-his-penis-why-cant-x-rays-show-the-source-of-the-infestation/190568/25 "2003-07-25T04:53:23Z")
Today I had an 18 inch tuna sandwich with cheese, olives, mayonnaise and lots of onion for dinner; I KNEW I shouldn´t open this thread. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-coming-out-of-his-penis-why-cant-x-rays-show-the-source-of-the-infestation/190568/26 "2003-07-25T05:09:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by raygirvan \* > \*\*As to the possibility of an UL: I’m a little suspcious at the variability of the details in news reports. Sometimes it’s flies, sometimes beetles, sometimes \*\* According to Snopes, it’s both a fly and a beetle: "In Chandan’s case, whole flies (later identified as a species of the rove beetle) complete with wings were emerging from his groin and flying off. " so there’s no “variability” there. ---
**Author:** ![samarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@samarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samarm)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-coming-out-of-his-penis-why-cant-x-rays-show-the-source-of-the-infestation/190568/27 "2003-07-25T05:22:29Z")
I wonder if fly boy knows that we’re discussing his penis on an international message board, with hundreds of people reading this thread? Not to mention having his magic penis written up on many news websites. For some reason I find this amusing. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-coming-out-of-his-penis-why-cant-x-rays-show-the-source-of-the-infestation/190568/28 "2003-07-25T06:19:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by scr4 \* > \*\* I’d rather have bugs crawling out my penis than be shot in the belly with a high flux gamma ray beam. \*\* …This, my friend, is where you and I must agree to disagree. Good _GOD_ I _HATE_ parasites… ---
**Author:** ![ataraxy22](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ataraxy22/32/307_2.png) [@ataraxy22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ataraxy22)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-coming-out-of-his-penis-why-cant-x-rays-show-the-source-of-the-infestation/190568/29 "2003-07-25T18:00:30Z")
Maybe he should just self-infect himself with candirus. maybe they’d eat the flies or beetles or whatever they are! ---
**Author:** ![dlack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@dlack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dlack)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-coming-out-of-his-penis-why-cant-x-rays-show-the-source-of-the-infestation/190568/30 "2003-07-25T18:44:15Z")
I would like to point out that the Snopes page says the insects “have flown out of the perforation in the boy’s crotch.” I really don’t think that means his penis. Perhaps he was wounded in his crotch or something and was then infected. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-coming-out-of-his-penis-why-cant-x-rays-show-the-source-of-the-infestation/190568/31 "2003-07-25T21:08:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Troy McClure SF \* > **I don’t know, but a Giraffe’s tongue is 18 inches long and prehensile.** Cite? This sounds like total bullshit to me. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-coming-out-of-his-penis-why-cant-x-rays-show-the-source-of-the-infestation/190568/32 "2003-07-25T23:09:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*originally posted by \ ***scr4** > > Anyway, wouldn’t a CT scanner or MRI detect a fully grown fly? I thought they can detect tumors as small as 5mm or so. I’d also think a fast-growing maggot would show up in a PET scan. CT and MRI show cross-sectional cuts of anatomy, and I’m sure the flies are very tiny (I hope) and not very dense. A PET scan provides a color-coded image of the body’s function - rather than its structure . I would think a cystogram (an x-ray study of the urinary tract using contrast) would be the way to go. ---
**Author:** ![Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bren_Cameron_1)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2003, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-coming-out-of-his-penis-why-cant-x-rays-show-the-source-of-the-infestation/190568/33 "2003-07-26T00:24:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ataraxy22 \* > \*\*Maybe he should just self-infect himself with candirus. maybe they’d eat the flies or beetles or whatever they are! \*\* I learned a song about that in nursery school. He swallowed candirus to catch the flies But I don’t know why he’s peeing the flies… ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2003, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-coming-out-of-his-penis-why-cant-x-rays-show-the-source-of-the-infestation/190568/34 "2003-07-26T04:08:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dlack \* > \*\*I would like to point out that the Snopes page says the insects “have flown out of the perforation in the boy’s crotch.” > > I really don’t think that means his penis. > > Perhaps he was wounded in his crotch or something and was then infected. \*\* Well in the article at the end of the Snopes report, about the boy with dung beetles in his rectum (gah!) they say “perforation in the lower part of his body” so perhaps this is the “style” of the news source. Do they not print “penis” or “rectum” in Indian newspapers? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flies-coming-out-of-his-penis-why-cant-x-rays-show-the-source-of-the-infestation/190568.md?page=1)