Today I was sitting at the dining room table in my house, all alone. To the left are twelve steps (stairs) leading up to the second floor, a detail which will become necessary a bit later. At the top of the stairs, there is a ceiling light with a shade similar to this one. Suddenly, I heard a loud crash, as of glass breaking. Upon inspection, I indeed discovered broken glass, a part of which was the rim of the light shade. I was able to fit it in the light shade holder confirming that it was almost certainly there not one minute previously. Assuming this to be true, I’m am stymied as to how the shade “magically” worked its way out. This particular shade hasn’t been touched in at least 3 months. But here is the real mystery: the light is positioned exactly over the top stair, but I didn’t find single shard of glass anywhere, except at the fifth stair from the bottom and on down, all of which were covered with them. How could this have happened?
Glass breaks. A tiny crack can open up with a slight change in temperature or vibration and it falls out of the housing. Glass broken from the rim or at the time of impact could be thrown horizontally and land a ways down the stairs. A big piece might have broken off and ended up breaking when it hit those stairs also.
Or it’s ghosts. GET OUT OF THE HOUSE!
But I think my first explanation is slightly more likely.
I did think of a small crack slowly getting bigger over time, with the shade some how swinging a bit and falling loose. But it fell a full five feet to the right of the light itself. And to be clear, no glass was found at the top of the stairs, so there was no partial piece that rolled down, then shattered, then covered the lower stairs. I suppose it had to have fallen straight down, rolled, and then shattered, but I really don’t see how it wouldn’t have been broken upon initial impact.
As for getting out of the house, I’m typing this sitting in a locked car with a butcher knife on the passenger seat!
I assume the glass was held in place with three little screws. The rim opposite the break could have hung on a screw so the glass wouldn’t fall straight down. It could have been given some significant sideways momentum. The glass probably broke at impact, but all the pieces or a big one could have been sent sideways by the impact.
But just to be sure, you should stay in the car overnight.
Was the light on at the time of the incident? Heat from the bulb seems a likely culprit. Unevenly-heated glass can shatter violently, which could throw the shards some distance.
I’m back inside. Curiosity got the better of me.
Hmm, was the light on? I’m not sure, maybe. I only found a very few good-sized pieces, so maybe the heat did cause violent shattering, but glass would have been found everywhere, not just the lower stairs I would think. But I left out a detail which I only now noticed. The light is not directly over solid floor, but instead is positioned over a banister. I think the shade hit the banister with a glancing blow, which wasn’t enough to break it, and then it bounced off down the stairs and shattered there.
It might not have shattered until after it had bounced down a few stairs. That would explain why there were no pieces at the top of the stairs.
Possible. But I think that the initial impact would cause the most breakage. Therefore, if it didn’t break into pieces at all when first hitting the floor, there would have been many more larger pieces.
Well, being the idiot that I am, I fell asleep watching “The Amityville Horror” last night on TV - I’m going to suggest you get back out of the house. NOW.
That movie scared the bejeezus out of me when I was a kid, and 30 plus years later, it sill does. It was NOT a good night, sleep wise.
glass might bounce once. it breaks when a stress point is hit.
Five feet over but how many feet down? It the floor beneath it was flat (a floor) and not descending stairs, how far would it have gotten? Not very far it seems.
Or maybe there is a tiny Japanese woman secretly living in your house with you.
If a flat floor was directly beneath, then yes, I agree. But as I’ve said, I only later realized it must have hit the banister first. Even though I acknowledged the possibility that the shade may have swung a bit and then fell diagonally, as it were, I was never crazy about the idea. As for the woman, I’m actually house-sitting, and a rather short Japanese woman does live here. Maybe it was her ghost, as she is currently in Japan.
I am again sitting at the dining room table, and again I heard a crashing sound from upstairs. There are three bedrooms up there, but they are all closed off. There is a bare hallway, and a bathroom with the door open. The only thing on the floor in there is a scale. On the counter, there is just a toothbrush and a can of shaving cream, and it IS NOT where I always leave it. Did I mention I have a cat? The only thing I can’t figure out is how he got that can back up on the counter before I got there, and when he learned to jump to the ceiling!
How did it get arounf the light bulb?
There could be enough clearance for it to get past. It all depends on the fixture, the angle, at what point it came free of the screws, and how tight the tight the screws are. Overtightening the retaining screws can contribute to this problem, they should only be tightened enough to keep the fixture from falling out. If they’re too tight expansion from heat could have caused the initial fracture.
That’s all based on the assumption that it isn’t a ghost. That part is still undetermined.
But if you fell asleep while watching it, it couldn’t have been THAT scary.
Fiddle, I vote for mischievous house-elves. You Muggles can’t see anything, can you? Right in front of your faces!
I guess you’re right. The idea of a cat causing these things, is quite frankly, ridiculous.
I fell asleep cause of the beer I was drinking.
Fiddle Peghead, I think you should MOVE! Before a priest who you get to come over and bless your house gets told to “Get Out” by a demon from hell and flies attack him and stuff. Really. It’s the only way to be sure.
Good God, now I’m wondering what movie is going to be on TV later tonight. I’m starting to get scared already.
Scale & a toothbrush: your cat has a hot date and body image issues. Sadly, your cat found that Gillette razors are hard to hold in tiny little paws and that evidently Barbasol stings.
Bad kitty! Bad! You know better than that…
I suggest you do SCIENCE! Go buy several similar light fixtures, and do controlled drops. Test some of the theories here, and see if you can duplicate the results.
If all else fails…use explosives.
-D/a