Do Planetary Alignments In Maine Make Brooms Stand On Their Own?

Every few years, we start to see posts on social media talking about how, because of the alignment of the planets, a shift in the Earth's axis, or some other space sciency thing, brooms were able to stand up on their own.

Recently, I saw this topic being brought up again

Unfortunately, while this is a cool trick, it has nothing to do with gravitational forces (from other planet's, at least) or with the Earth's axis. If you really think about it, if the reason given was true, it would have an affect on EVERYTHING! It would even include us. Yes, if it were true, people would feel the same effect.

So, what's the truth? Well, the real reason they stand up does have to do with the science of physics. Basically, you are using the stiffness of the bristles to create a platform stable enough for the boom to balance on.

This CNN video does a good job explaining the phenomena

So, have fun posting pics and videos of this on Facebook and Instagram and feel free to tell your friends whatever you want about why it works. We'll just keep the real (kinda' boring) reason between us.

Obviously, feel free to share your pics and videos with us. Whether they involve floating brooms or not. Just message us through our radio station app.