Ringing Rocks, Upper Black Eddy PA
Stones from Mysterious Bucks Co. Park are Capable of Playing Songs
Dr. Ott gathered some of these rocks and held a concert accompanied by a brass band. A geologist studied them in his lab. What makes these rocks ring is still a mystery.
Ringing Rocks: The Place
Ringing Rocks State Park is in Upper Black Eddy, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, not far from where General George Washington crossed the Delaware River
The park has 128 acres that contains the field of rocks and Buck County’s largest waterfall. In
addition to these attractions, the park also offers picnicking facilities and hiking trails.
The only vegetation in the “stone pond” is the lichen that grows on the rocks. There are other
boulder fields in the state which are at the bottom of hills or mountains and were deposited by
glaciers. Ringing Rocks is towards the hill’s top, which means they are not a result of a melting
mixture of snow, ice sediment and rocks.
These rocks are not merely stones, but one third of them ring when struck with a hammer. All of the rocks seem to be made of the same material, mainly hard minerals and iron. This phenomenon is not confined to Bucks County. Ringing rocks have been reported world-wide.
Playing the Rocks
Dr. J. J. Ott gathered rocks that rang with different tones in June 1890. He played different songs backed up by the Pleasant Valley Band for the Buckwampum Historical Society at Stony Garden. Perhaps this bring new meaning to the term, “rock concert.”
Richard Faas, a geologist from Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania took some of the rocks to his lab to test them in 1965. He discovered that, when the rocks were hit with a metal object, they created sounds at frequencies that were inaudible to human ears. When the sounds interacted, they were able to be heard.
Theories
While Fass’ experiments answered questions as to the character of the pitches, he could not figure out the mechanism the rocks contained that made them. Scientists think it might have something to do with the rock’s stress level.
Other theories involve meteorites, radioactivity and weird magnetic fields. There have been claims that compasses do not work in areas where there are ringing rocks, but attempts to prove these theories have been futile.
Apparently, there is a scientific explanation for ringing rocks which has not, yet been discovered, however, there are paranormal theories. It has been noted that there is something about these rock fields tend to scare animals. There is little or no flora, water, shelter or insects inhabiting the boulder fields and the fields are hotter than the surrounding woods in summer. These places are inhospitable to sustain life.
Source:
Unexplained!, Jerome Clark, (Visible Ink, 1993)
