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Angel Light Sees Through Walls
Troy Hurtubise claims that he's invented a machine, dubbed the Angel Light, that can see through walls. It doesn't really matter what the wall is made of: wood, ceramic, steel, tin, titanium, even lead. The Angel Light can see right through it, just as if a window had opened up in the wall. Of course, he built this thing in his garage (where else?). The idea for the invention came to him in a dream, and he built it without the aid of any blueprints, drawings or schematics. Although Troy may hope to one day be known throughout the world as the inventor of the Angel Light, he's already well known as the inventor of the URSUS MARK VII, a suit that can help a man withstand the attack of a Grizzly Bear (see that suit in the right corner of the thumbnail? That's the Grizzly suit). So from Grizzly Bear suits to Machines That Can See Through Walls. No one can accuse him of not having an interesting resume.
Listed in chronological order. Newest comments at the end.
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http://www.mit.edu/people/dryfoo/home.html
The MIT fellow who observed it doesn't seem too professional, somehow.
I don't know why, but I'm a bit hesitant to believe that this thing really works.
Posted by Citizen Premier in spite of public outcry on Tue Jan 18, 2005 at 10:46 PM
The MIT fellow who observed it doesn't seem too professional, somehow.
I don't know why, but I'm a bit hesitant to believe that this thing really works.
iFilm has the video in the Viral section.
-Dan
Posted by Dan on Wed Jan 19, 2005 at 07:29 AM
-Dan
Why? And does he live near me?
Posted by artemys on Wed Jan 19, 2005 at 09:24 AM
Why, if it saw straight through his garage wall, did it not see straight through his car? Or is a car fundamentally different from, say, the metal wall that he also claims it can see through? What kind of focussing is he pretending it does? He didn't mention it once. It's one hell of a range, from being able to see through his skin to show up everything beneath as if he'd flayed his hand, all the way to seeing through a good few feet of wall.
Posted by Iain in Portsmouth, UK on Wed Jan 19, 2005 at 10:52 AM
Whoever does fact-checking at baytoday.ca is gonna get creamed over this. I'd bet a lot of money there never was any "Discovery Channel program about the LIMBC"...that's a brain-dead slam-dunk five-minute task for any fact-checker.
Then there's the fact that the whole story is hilarious from start to finish. "...covert help of scientists at the famed Massachusetts Institute of Technology..."
I'm also guessing there is no such person as "Gary Dryfoos, a consultant and former long-time instructor at MIT..."
This is particularly rich: " MIT contacts... told me that I was playing with electromagnetism.‰Û Yuk, yuk. 
And he had and make an $1800 model plane take off before determining that directing the "Angel Light beam" at it killed the engine?!
Apparently their editing department isn't any good either: "... 'there must have splash-back hitting me,' Hurtubise said."
Good stuff!
Posted by intjudo on Wed Jan 19, 2005 at 11:56 AM
Then there's the fact that the whole story is hilarious from start to finish. "...covert help of scientists at the famed Massachusetts Institute of Technology..."
I'm also guessing there is no such person as "Gary Dryfoos, a consultant and former long-time instructor at MIT..."
This is particularly rich: "
And he had and make an $1800 model plane take off before determining that directing the "Angel Light beam" at it killed the engine?!
Apparently their editing department isn't any good either: "... 'there must have splash-back hitting me,' Hurtubise said."
Good stuff!
Aparently there are reporters out there who will believe any and everything you tell them. I agree with intjudo. Ten minutes spent fact checking would have buried this story. The reporter obviously didn't bother to go and have the machine demonstrated for him, either. But, then, I guess there would have been no story.
Posted by Carl on Wed Jan 19, 2005 at 12:18 PM
Gary Dryfoos does indeed have a Web page on MIT's site but it has little or no content related to science and lots of content related to hoaxes and other fun stuff: the Daily Onion, Daily Howler etc. as well as links to comics, "legalize weed" stuff etc. It's listed in google as "The weirdest page on the web."
If you do an alumni search for him at http://web.mit.edu/bin/cgicso?query=Dryfoos he doesn't show up.
There are also comments on this at http://www.baytoday.ca/content/editorials/recent.asp,
or try the google cache at http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:DUT85yzFZNYJ:www.baytoday.ca/content/editorials/recent.asp?w=4++"Gary+Dryfoos+"+-mason+-masonry+-masonic&hl=en
*And* this isn't the first story baytoday.ca has published about this Troy Hurtubise! Check out their Oct 2003 story about his "fire paste:" http://www.baytoday.ca/content/news/details.asp?c=63
The only "documentary" I can find him in involves his "bear suit:" http://www.nfb.ca/grizzly/
the reviews I found at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/6305198152/104-8310545-7129567?v=glance don't give it too much credibility...
This guy looks like a "repeat offender" to me.
Posted by intjudo on Wed Jan 19, 2005 at 12:51 PM
If you do an alumni search for him at http://web.mit.edu/bin/cgicso?query=Dryfoos he doesn't show up.
There are also comments on this at http://www.baytoday.ca/content/editorials/recent.asp,
or try the google cache at http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:DUT85yzFZNYJ:www.baytoday.ca/content/editorials/recent.asp?w=4++"Gary+Dryfoos+"+-mason+-masonry+-masonic&hl=en
*And* this isn't the first story baytoday.ca has published about this Troy Hurtubise! Check out their Oct 2003 story about his "fire paste:" http://www.baytoday.ca/content/news/details.asp?c=63
The only "documentary" I can find him in involves his "bear suit:" http://www.nfb.ca/grizzly/
the reviews I found at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/6305198152/104-8310545-7129567?v=glance don't give it too much credibility...
This guy looks like a "repeat offender" to me.
This guy is a blast...help me I can't stop...
Check this out regarding his "blast cushion:" http://www.improbable.com/news/2004/troy-cushion-2004-06.html
He's the proud past recipient of the "IG-Nobel Prize" for his bear suit: http://www-tech.mit.edu/V118/N49/ignobel.49n.html
Here are pictures of him "lecturing at MIT:" http://projecttroy.com.nexx.com/website/photos.htm
Well...now I'm kinda starting to feel sad for the guy, he's making an ass out of himself...
Posted by intjudo on Wed Jan 19, 2005 at 01:13 PM
Check this out regarding his "blast cushion:" http://www.improbable.com/news/2004/troy-cushion-2004-06.html
He's the proud past recipient of the "IG-Nobel Prize" for his bear suit: http://www-tech.mit.edu/V118/N49/ignobel.49n.html
Here are pictures of him "lecturing at MIT:" http://projecttroy.com.nexx.com/website/photos.htm
Well...now I'm kinda starting to feel sad for the guy, he's making an ass out of himself...
I've seen news coverage in the past about the bear-proof suit. Apparently it really is more or less impervious to bear attacks. However, it weighs as much as a load of bricks and it's impossible to move when you have it on. So the challenge will be to explain to potential buyers what advantage this suit gives them over just staying home (assuming their houses aren't infested with grizzly bears).
It seems the inventor was once attacked by a bear, and ever since then (many years ago now), he's devoted his life to perfecting bear-proof armor. As intjudo says, you can't help feeling sorry for the guy, even if he does keep making a jackass of himself.
Posted by Big Gary C in Dallas, Texas on Wed Jan 19, 2005 at 03:09 PM
It seems the inventor was once attacked by a bear, and ever since then (many years ago now), he's devoted his life to perfecting bear-proof armor. As intjudo says, you can't help feeling sorry for the guy, even if he does keep making a jackass of himself.
The guy sounds like he doesn't mind wasting money on useless endevours. Wonder where it comes from? The movie review which stated he was trying to escape his father's (also a lunatic inventor type I imagine) shadow. Most likely he's done that, but at the price of becoming an electromagnetic hoax magnet.
Posted by sbnature in sb ca on Wed Jan 19, 2005 at 04:04 PM
Well I do remember seeing a show on the science channel, on which he showed off his invention fire paste. It was in fact, according to the show, real. Wether or not the show was duped, Im not sure, but the tests they put the paste through certainly seemed to prove that the fire paste, did in fact, operated as promised.
Posted by Jerry on Wed Jan 19, 2005 at 08:11 PM
http://www.exn.ca/dailyplanet/view.asp?date=9/15/2004#
this is a link to a discovery channel video demonstration.
now maybe intjudo can STFU! and do 5 seconds of fact checking himself.
Posted by norton on Thu Jan 20, 2005 at 12:32 AM
this is a link to a discovery channel video demonstration.
now maybe intjudo can STFU! and do 5 seconds of fact checking himself.
OK, I found the Discovery Channel "documentaries:"
fire paste:
http://www.exn.ca/dailyplanet/view.asp?date=4/23/2004
"1313" hardening compound with his fire-paste, metal sheets, kevlar & other materials-- "Light Infantry Military Glass Cushions."
http://www.exn.ca/dailyplanet/view.asp?date=10/12/2004
Here's a telling snip from
http://www.canadianbusiness.com/shared/print.jsp?content=20040301_58846_58846
"...But engulfed in flames, the proved permeable to fire.
Resolved to perfect his fireproof coating, Hurtubise started mixing. Within a few months, he fluked upon the winning formula (the secret ingredient is Diet Coke). 'I do things 30% intelligence and 70% luck,' says Hurtubise.
Apparently this guy's specialty is hacking around in the garage "inventing" things that withstand contrived "demonstrations" but are too cumbersome to apply in the real world, then talking them up too much. Starting with the "bear suit" which is too heavy and bulky to actually use. *And* is not fire-proof, which he learned the hard way. So he invents "fire paste" (to make his bear suit even more cumbersome?), but doesn't understand why it seems to work, and has to have some real scientists explain it to him.
Posted by intjudo on Thu Jan 20, 2005 at 01:00 AM
fire paste:
http://www.exn.ca/dailyplanet/view.asp?date=4/23/2004
"1313" hardening compound with his fire-paste, metal sheets, kevlar & other materials-- "Light Infantry Military Glass Cushions."
http://www.exn.ca/dailyplanet/view.asp?date=10/12/2004
Here's a telling snip from
http://www.canadianbusiness.com/shared/print.jsp?content=20040301_58846_58846
"...But engulfed in flames, the
Resolved to perfect his fireproof coating, Hurtubise started mixing. Within a few months, he fluked upon the winning formula (the secret ingredient is Diet Coke). 'I do things 30% intelligence and 70% luck,' says Hurtubise.
Apparently this guy's specialty is hacking around in the garage "inventing" things that withstand contrived "demonstrations" but are too cumbersome to apply in the real world, then talking them up too much. Starting with the "bear suit" which is too heavy and bulky to actually use. *And* is not fire-proof, which he learned the hard way.
So he invents "fire paste" (to make his bear suit even more cumbersome?), but doesn't understand why it seems to work, and has to have some real scientists explain it to him.http://www.baytoday.ca/uploads/writers/phil_sm.jpg
Phil Novak
http://web.mit.edu/dryfoo/www/Pix/my-world-full-j.gif
Gary Dryfoos
Same person. This has been cracked.
Posted by LePoissonDeNoel in Chicago, Illinois on Thu Jan 20, 2005 at 01:43 AM
Phil Novak
http://web.mit.edu/dryfoo/www/Pix/my-world-full-j.gif
Gary Dryfoos
Same person. This has been cracked.
Gary Dryfoos and I are not the same person.
Troy isn't the only one working on technology that can "see" through walls.
I refer your readers to the company Realtronics, in Hermosa, South Dakota. They also say they have developed or are developing something which can penetrate walls or the inside of mountain caves.
Why don't you guys laugh at that company for a while?
As for the editing department, that's me!
Thanks for pointing out the missed word. It has since been corrected.
Posted by Phil Novak on Thu Jan 20, 2005 at 07:53 AM
Troy isn't the only one working on technology that can "see" through walls.
I refer your readers to the company Realtronics, in Hermosa, South Dakota. They also say they have developed or are developing something which can penetrate walls or the inside of mountain caves.
Why don't you guys laugh at that company for a while?
As for the editing department, that's me!
Thanks for pointing out the missed word. It has since been corrected.
"I refer your readers to the company Realtronics, in Hermosa, South Dakota."
http://www.realtronics.com/
would you mean a company that produced this shoddy website that looks was thrown together in an hour to add depth the hoax you mean?
"Why don't you guys laugh at that company for a while?"
thanks i will, and you as well. ha ha.
Posted by corb on Thu Jan 20, 2005 at 08:36 AM
http://www.realtronics.com/
would you mean a company that produced this shoddy website that looks was thrown together in an hour to add depth the hoax you mean?
"Why don't you guys laugh at that company for a while?"
thanks i will, and you as well. ha ha.
Time Domain Corporation, among others, manufactures a device called ultra-wideband radio, among whose other properties include being able to image through walls. It's relatively new, but it is not Nobel prize stuff.
http://www.timedomain.com/
It uses extremely short pulses, around a picosecond or so, and senses the reflection time, just as does a normal non-Doppler radar.
Also, thermal imaging can provide information on what is behind walls, such as studs and wiring.
This 'garage inventor' most likely would not have the inherent smarts to deal with these issues, unless he had a fair amount of formal training, a large test equipment budget, and a lot of money to blow on state of the art hardware. It could be that he does have all of these.
The critical thing is to not dismiss the idea out of hand, even though anyone who claims 'New laws of physics need to be written' advertises something about their understanding of physics and physical laws that make my skeptic antenna emerge.
Posted by Forrest MacGregor in Vermont, USA on Thu Jan 20, 2005 at 08:42 AM
http://www.timedomain.com/
It uses extremely short pulses, around a picosecond or so, and senses the reflection time, just as does a normal non-Doppler radar.
Also, thermal imaging can provide information on what is behind walls, such as studs and wiring.
This 'garage inventor' most likely would not have the inherent smarts to deal with these issues, unless he had a fair amount of formal training, a large test equipment budget, and a lot of money to blow on state of the art hardware. It could be that he does have all of these.
The critical thing is to not dismiss the idea out of hand, even though anyone who claims 'New laws of physics need to be written' advertises something about their understanding of physics and physical laws that make my skeptic antenna emerge.
Well it is no secret that there are tons of particles that penetrate solid materials. Its just that most of them are highly unstable and it does not explain what causes the light to bounce back to allow him to see things.
This guy has been on TV as few times (I have seen the shows). But his Bear suit is a joke now and the fire paste must have some problem or else it would have been bought by now.
He invents mostly by luck, however since he does not follow the usual paradigm of scientific progession he theoretically could stumble across something new.
However I doubt that this angel viewer does every thing he says. At any rate it sounds incredibly dangerous.
Posted by bks on Thu Jan 20, 2005 at 08:44 AM
This guy has been on TV as few times (I have seen the shows). But his Bear suit is a joke now and the fire paste must have some problem or else it would have been bought by now.
He invents mostly by luck, however since he does not follow the usual paradigm of scientific progession he theoretically could stumble across something new.
However I doubt that this angel viewer does every thing he says. At any rate it sounds incredibly dangerous.
Project Grizzly is very funny, a must see for all lovers of those funny talk'in northeners.
Posted by jay on Thu Jan 20, 2005 at 08:59 AM
This guy was a guest on Coast To Coast AM last night. WEEOOOWEEEOOOOWWWWEEEOOOO. Here comes the nice young men in their clean white coats.
Posted by Hairy Houdini on Thu Jan 20, 2005 at 09:12 AM
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