Medical Bag
Fortean Times|December 2017

India’s electricity eating “Living Light Bulb” and the man who swallowed a traffic cone

Medical Bag

WATTS FOR DINNER?

Naresh Kumar, 42, from Muzzafarnagar in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, claims that he is naturally insulated against high voltage electricity, and furthermore that he can draw energy directly from electricity, obviating the need for regular food to survive. One day at work he touched a live wire by mistake, but nothing happened. He decided to explore his “superpower” by grabbing even more live wires and eventually realised that he could use electricity as an alternative to traditional food.“Whenever I feel hungry and there’s no food in the house I hold naked wires and within half an hour I’m satisfied,” he said.“I eat electricity like it’s food.I can touch any electrical appliance like a television, washing machine, fridge, and an inverter with my bare hands and it doesn’t affect me.Infact it helps my energy levels.I think about 80 percent of my body is composed of electricity now.” His house is full of live wires that let him tap into his favourite energy source whenever he likes.“There are no switches, and sometimes my children and I fear we’ll get an electric shock,” his wife said.“But because he’s obsessed with touching naked wires they are left like this. He even uses his bare hands to switch different appliances on and off.”Videos of Naresh holding live wires in his hands or his mouth have been doing the rounds of social media, and he’s been dubbed “India’s Living Light Bulb”.

This story is from the December 2017 edition of Fortean Times.

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This story is from the December 2017 edition of Fortean Times.

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