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Conference hydra::dejavu

Title:Psychic Phenomena
Notice:Please read note 1.0-1.* before writing
Moderator:JARETH::PAINTER
Created:Wed Jan 22 1986
Last Modified:Tue May 27 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:2143
Total number of notes:41773

171.0. "Gremlins" by INK::KALLIS () Fri Jul 18 1986 19:18

    During World War I, and to a _much_ greater extent during World
    War II, there were stories of "gremlins," who were supposed to be
    supernatural critters who caused anomalies in the behavior of
    machinery, particularly airplanes.
    
    Gremlins were the males; they inhabited aircraft and caused perfectly
    good engines to sputter and misfire and other odd behavior.  The
    females were fifinellas; they were subtler, but tickled pilots'
    (or bombadiers') noses to make them sneeze at odd times.
    
    A ground-based set of female gremlins were the dingbells, who jinxed
    office machinery and other ground equipment.
    
    Gremlins reputedly were descended from the Little People.  They
    entered and loved machinery and took to the air when airplanes were
    developed.
    
    Any gremlin stories?
    
T.RTitleUserPersonal
Name
DateLines
171.1Re: .0NATASH::BUTCHARTMon Jul 21 1986 19:324
    Are gremlins supposedly responsible for malfunctioning equipment
    (of any kind) that works perfectly when the repairman arrives?
    
    Marcia
171.2Well...INK::KALLISMon Jul 21 1986 19:4823
    Some gremlins are.  I wrote a styory based on Gremlin lore that
    appeared in _Analog_ (of all places) a few years ago.
    
    The idea is that a gremlin can cause odd behavior, but _mischevious_
    odd behavior.  If a person's in serious trouble, according to some
    World War II pilot lore, gremlins will actually help out; some aircraft
    were reputed to have flown for enough miles on supposedly empty
    tanks to make it back to base, for instance.  Gremlins aren't
    malicious.
    
    But since they are tricky little fellows and girls, intermittent
    problems would be right up their collective alley.
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.
    
    P.S.:  According to some post-World-War-II pilots, there's a very
    high-altitude variety of gremlin known as a "Spandule."  Guess it
    bugs astronauts and pilots of X-15s and SR71s.  (Maybe U-2s, too!)
    
    -SK
    
    Bluejay -- Any gremlin stiries?
    
171.3Unidentified Little PeopleBRAT::WALLISWed Jul 23 1986 16:246
    
    
    
    Sounds like Deva's too me.
    
    Lora