Inside the spooky UFO riddle of the Betz Mystery Sphere – a 22-pound metal ball found in a garden… that 'behaved on its own'

THE fascinating story of the Betz Mystery Sphere behaving on its own has remained an unsolved mystery for 50 years.

The 22-pound ball of metal was first discovered in 1974 by a family from Florida and sparked a frantic search for its grisly origins by scientists, the US Navy And conspiracy theorists directly.

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After becoming a worldwide phenomenon for the ball's seemingly shocking ability to hum along to music, roll around on its own and even follow people freely, it found itself at the center of wild theories.

Ron Kivett, the host of local radio show about paranormal phenomena, was one of the first to see the sphere come to life and told his fans his crazy theory during the broadcast.

Ron was convinced that the orb could not possibly have originated Soil and called it “a device created by a cosmic intelligence for an obscure purpose”.

Jacksonville's local newspapers then quickly jumped on the mystery bandwagon, offering several explanations for the orb's existence.

According to Lindsey Kilbride, a reporter and later host of a podcast about the orb, it sparked people's frenzied curiosity about UFOs around that time.

But bigger concerns about the ball began to arise when the US Navy asked to investigate.

They had the aircraft in their possession for two weeks and inspected the sphere at Naval Station Mayport in detail.

Reports at the time said a Navy spokesman stated the ball was made of stainless steel, but they had no idea what it was or where it came from. Soil.

They suggested that the ball moved because of a small triangular chip on the ball that occasionally threw it off balance, before blaming it on the family who found it and their uneven floors.

The spokesperson said: “I think it is due to the construction of the house. It is old and has uneven stone floors.

“The ball is almost perfectly balanced and only a small indentation is needed to make it move or change direction.”

After the military largely drew blanks with the orb, a team of scientists took it upon themselves to solve the mystery.

J. Allen Hynek, a professor of astronomy at Northwestern University, was part of a team of experts who investigated it.

Widely regarded as one of the best-known ufologists of all time, Hynek and his friends were reportedly unimpressed by what they saw and agreed that it was a man-made object.

After being thrust into the spotlight because of the ball, the Betz family was no closer to discovering the truth than when they first discovered it.

But the attention had gotten old and with no solutions on the table, they decided to put the atmosphere away and never talk about it again.

The reporter closest to the family, Lindsey Kilbride, said: “This is just extremely overwhelming for the family. (Gerri Betz) was called 24 hours a day, the phone was constantly ringing.

“People would just show up at her house. It changed their lives drastically. This is what they became known for.”

Even though the family kept the sphere under lock and key, people remained fascinated by it.

Some have theorized that if you drilled into it, the sphere would explode with the same force as an atomic bomb.

But in 2012, an award-winning podcast famous for solving mysteries analyzed the story of the ball and came up with a much more down-to-earth solution.

Sceptoid revealed that the Betz ball was most likely just a ball check valve produced by the Bell & Howell company.

They found that it was similar in size, weight and composition to those used at the time.

The investigative podcast also concluded that despite stories of the ball moving on its own, this never actually happened.

They said it was more likely just that it “sat quietly on display in the Betz home for almost two weeks, and reportedly never moved on its own.”

According to Skeptoid, it only started acting strangely when someone took it down to experiment with it and prove that it moved.

The mysterious atmosphere of Betz

According to reports at the time, the Betz family was wandering around their Fort George Island home after a small forest fire nearby when they saw the ball.

The family of three – consisting of Antoine, Jerri and son Terry – were the first to make a punt where the ball came from.

Their first thought was that the strange orb was a cannonball that had been abandoned and never recovered from a horror battle in the Florida area.

At first glance, the mysterious object appeared to be just a heavy ball, but after several days the ball apparently came to life and sparked a search for answers.

A 21-year-old Terry was playing his guitar at home when he claims he saw the ball moving and making a buzzing sound to the sound of the music.

As he continued to play, the ball started rolling around the house, he said.

He was able to stop on his own and could easily change direction and swerve, it was claimed.

Intrigued by the newfound possibilities, Terry began doing experiments with the orb after realizing that it probably wasn't just a normal cannonball.

The ball reverberated when struck by a hammer and moved around frantically after being shaken and placed on the ground.

As a family, the Betzes also reported that the orb could move freely around the house without anyone around.

It followed them everywhere and seemed to have a mind of its own, even letting out a shrill screech followed by vibrations dogs crazy and running away.

After much guesswork, the family decided to store it in a drawer in their home, only taking it out occasionally to impress guests.

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