A debunked conspiracy theory with no basis in reality linking a power substation to injuries to the San Francisco 49ers has made its way up to general manager John Lynch.
Lynch was asked about it at a news conference Wednesday on the heels of a 49ers season that was ravaged by injuries to key players. Here’s what he had to say:
“Because it deals with, allegedly, the health and safety of our players, I think you have to look into everything,” Lynch said. “Our guys have been — we’ve been reaching out to anyone and everyone to see — does a study exist other than a guy sticking an apparatus underneath a fence and coming up with a number that I have no idea what that means.
“That’s what we know exists. We’ve heard that debunked. So yes, we will look into it. We have. The health and safety of our players is of the utmost priority. … I know that a lot of games have been won at this facility since it opened. We aren’t gonna turn a blind eye. We look into everything.”
John Lynch answered a question on Wednesday about a conspiracy theory linking 49ers injuries to a power substation near their home stadium and practice facility.
(Mitchell Leff via Getty Images)
We’re not going to go into detail about the theory here because, as noted, it has no basis in reality. But the short of it proposes that the 49ers have experienced an increase in injuries because their home field, Levi’s Stadium, is built near a power substation.
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The theory was amplified by a person who describes himself on social media as a “board-certified quantum biology practitioner.” A post perpetuating the theory had gained more than 22 million views as of Wednesday.
Front Office Sports and the Washington Post published recent stories debunking the theory, citing science and medical experts.
Per FOS, the person who posted the viral theory is not a doctor. He took a Gauss meter, which measures the strength of magnetic fields, to the 49ers facility to garner a reading. That’s presumably the “apparatus” that Lynch referred to Wednesday.
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Jerrold Bushberg, a radiology professor at UC Davis, told FOS that “there is no firmly established evidence” that backs up the theory. Other medical experts with whom FOS spoke with called the theory “nonsense,” “wild,” and “not possible.”
The Washington Post spoke with Frank de Vocht, a professor of epidemiology and public health at Bristol Medical School in England, whom the Post described as a leading expert on how electromagnetic fields impact humans, which is at the basis of the theory. De Vocht told the post that the theory is “nonsense.”
The 49ers have played at Levi’s Stadium since 2014, but the substation also sits adjacent to the practice facility that they’ve used since 1988, a span that includes two Super Bowl championships.