About twenty years ago, I was working in a BASF chemical plant, near Clute, TX. We were ripping out an old plant block, built around 1970. They had cleared the old chemical machinery, and ripped out the concrete. We were getting ready to dig out the soil with a backhoe. I worked under a Mexican fellow named "Isabel Galvan". His name looks like a woman's name, but he is a man. Anyway, we drove to the metal shop, and he selected two steel rods. He bent about four inches at the end of each rod at a 90 degree angle. I asked what he was doing? He told me that we would use the rods to find pipes. I thought to myself that the rods were too thin to use as probes. But, I kept my thoughts to myself. We left the shop, and stopped somewhere in the plant, and picked up wooden stakes. Then, we drove back to the site. Isabel picked up both rods, held them outstretched in the air, and told me to follow him with the stakes. He walked along the edge of the broken concrete foundation, while holding the two rods in his hands. I asked what he was doing? And, he told me that he would know where the pipes are located, underground, by using the rods. I laughed to the point of ridiculing him. I could not believe what I was seeing. I was sure that there was no way on earth the rods would tell him where there are underground pipes. Isabel became quite angry and told me that he knew what he was doing. He started walking along the edge of the ripped out concrete, and stopped. He told me to put a stake down. I did. He walked a little further, and told me to put another stake down. So, I did. Then, he told me to get a shovel and start digging. And, he would come back, IN A FEW HOURS! Now, I do not know what I thought would happen. But, I dug and dug and dug until I was around waist deep. Suddenly, CLINK! God is my witness. There was a pipe around three feet underground. I went to the other stake, and started digging. Eventually, I hit another pipe, several feet under ground. One pipe was thin, and one pipe was thick. When he came back, I showed him the pipes. Then, he went to the block office, and got the blueprints for the block. He brought them out and verified that those were the only two pipes under there - he didn't miss one. After that, the heavy equipment operators started digging out the soil, while being careful to avoid the pipes. I asked Isabel to show me how to use the rods. I held them, and walked along the concrete, just as he walked. To be honest, the rods swung around like haywire, in my hands. But, every time Isabel did it, they would stay straight, and then suddenly cross the moment he stepped over the pipes. I spent years thinking about this experience. My best guess - and it could be wrong - is that our bodies have a magnetic field. And, other objects - like pipes, and water - have magnetic fields. And, maybe the intersection of both causes a neurological change in the control of one's muscles. Maybe my theory is wrong. I have no idea... It is still pretty amazing to see, though.
