In 1901, physicists, including Fred McNair, James Fischer Jr., Nathan Osborne, and Elmer Grant had an opportunity to conduct experiments in the mile long Tamarack Mine shafts while providing reference lines for the mining company with plumb bobs. The most interesting result came when measuring the distance between two plumb bobs. At the surface, they were about an inch further apart from each other than they appeared to be at the bottom of the mine shaft.
The discovery was picked up by the Daily Mining Gazette, a local Houghton newspaper, and in an article the reporter suggested that something new had been discovered. The story gained national attention which led to strange and misinformed explanations spreading around the country including, but not limited to, a hollow Earth, failure of Newton’s law of gravity, or general government cover-ups. After extensive experimentation, it was concluded that the discrepancy was due to the significant natural airflow in the mine shafts.
