Strange footage of a ‘magical stone that melts metal’ has emerged online, sending the internet into a frenzy.
The clip appears to show someone placing a nail on a black rock with it transforming into a liquid state just seconds later.
Uploaded onto YouTube earlier this week, the clip left viewers baffled but experts say the nail is most likely made of gallium, which melts at around 29.8°C or 85.6°F.
Strange footage of a ‘magical stone that melts metal’ has emerged online, sending the internet into a frenzy. The clip appears to show someone placing a nail on a black rock with it transforming into a liquid state just seconds later
The clip ‘Bizarre Stone Found That Melts Metal’ was uploaded by ‘The Hidden Underbelly’ and left viewers scratching their heads.
One version of the footage racked up nearly eight million views in four days.
‘This strange looking black stone was discovered by a soldier in Myanmar (Burma)’, wrote the user ‘The Hidden Underbelly’ who posted the video.
‘The soldier states that when he was next to the stone his gun started to melt.
‘The stone has been taken to experts to find the truth behind origin of this stone that melts metal’, the user wrote.
The baffling video sparked a number of conspiracy theories, with some people saying it must have been left by an ancient civilisation.
‘Ancient civilisations left behind some energised stuff’, wrote user Emilis Nelius.
‘You don’t see that every day! Strange if real’, wrote another YouTube user Spacecase7717.
However, according to fact-checking website Snopes, there’s a perfectly scientific explanation for this baffling phenomenon.
The strange clip ‘Bizarre Stone Found That Melts Metal’ was uploaded by ‘The Hidden Underbelly’ and left viewers scratching their heads. However, experts say the nail is most likely made of gallium, which melts at around 29.8°C or 85.6°F
The website also noted that the person handling the nail in the video is wearing a latex glove. This is further evidence that the nail is made of gallium
Fact-checker Alex Kasprak who wrote the post points out that liquid iron or steel is molten red in liquid form while this metal is bright silver.
‘The metal used here is almost certainly gallium, which is solid at room temperature, but melts at around 85.6ºF (29.8ºC)’, he wrote.
‘A black stone sitting in the sun could easily reach this temperature and cause the gallium to liquefy.
‘Further, making gallium nails is both easy to do, and something for which there are directions on the internet’, Mr Kasprak wrote.
The website also noted that the person handling the nail in the video is wearing a latex glove.
This is further evidence that the nail is made of gallium.
‘The heat of someone’s hand would melt the gallium fairly quickly, and because gallium, while generally safe, can irritate the skin upon contact’, he wrote.
‘The video most likely shows a gallium nail crafted specifically for the purpose of showing a science experiment’.