A 71-year-old man, Arvind Sonar, from India's Nashik city in Maharashtra state has become the talk of the town after metal items started sticking to his body.
Because his magnetism happened days after he received his second dose of vaccine against COVID-19, it has prompted some to link his “mysterious power” to the vaccine.
In an attempt to quell panic and squash any rumours that the vaccine makes people magnetic, the government’s Press Information Bureau tweeted a “fact check” to insist that this is false and inoculation is a completely safe process.
A video clip showing Sonar’s family members keeping steel items such as utensils and coins near his arms and watching them remain stuck – has gone viral on social media.
Baffled, netizens are now calling the elderly man after famous sci-fi fiction characters such as “Magneto” in X-Men and “Iron Man”.
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Authorities from the Nashik Municipal Office reportedly visited Sonar at his residence to witness his sudden ability and clarified that it was not related to getting vaccinated.
The reason for Sonar’s magnetic abilities remains unclear and his family have also told the Indian media they have never claimed that the vaccination has anything to do with this.
