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Rumor causes panic buying of candles
By Zhao Wen |
December 6, 2012, Thursday
|
Online Edition
Online Edition
Folks in a rural county in southwestern Sichuan Province rushed to buy candles and matches as a rumor said the earth would be shrouded in darkness for three days from December 21 when the fabled Mayan Calendar came to an end.
Candles ran out of stock in Longchang County due to panic buying in the past few days, the Southwest Metropolitan Daily reported today
A local vendor said his shop sold five times more candles because of the widespread rumor. Matches also sold briskly as the rumor said only matches could light up the candles. But the vendor said the price of candles remained unchanged.
The paper said the rumor first circulated online and spread to rural population by word of mouth. Most of the believers are elderly people.
Astronomers said the rumor was groundless. "People with some common sense would know that there couldn't be three days of darkness on the earth," said Luan Jiangao, an astronomy researcher.
Luan said only the two poles on earth have polar nights lasting for months. On December 21, the North Pole will be in total darkness for three days while the rest of the globe experience the longest night of this year.
Other experts ruled out the possibility of a total solar eclipse on that day, the paper said.
Candles ran out of stock in Longchang County due to panic buying in the past few days, the Southwest Metropolitan Daily reported today
A local vendor said his shop sold five times more candles because of the widespread rumor. Matches also sold briskly as the rumor said only matches could light up the candles. But the vendor said the price of candles remained unchanged.
The paper said the rumor first circulated online and spread to rural population by word of mouth. Most of the believers are elderly people.
Astronomers said the rumor was groundless. "People with some common sense would know that there couldn't be three days of darkness on the earth," said Luan Jiangao, an astronomy researcher.
Luan said only the two poles on earth have polar nights lasting for months. On December 21, the North Pole will be in total darkness for three days while the rest of the globe experience the longest night of this year.
Other experts ruled out the possibility of a total solar eclipse on that day, the paper said.
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