Serb cousins share same strange attraction

The two boys from the central Serbian town of Gornji Milanovac have the rare ability to attract metal objects, acting much like human magnets.

Sanja Petrovic, the mother of 4-year-old David, said it first came to her attention “about a month ago”.

“I asked him to fetch me a spoon so I cold feed his little brother, and he yelled back: ‘Mom, it sticks!’” Petrovic recalls. “I found him with several spoons and forks hanging from his body.”

Terrified, the 26-year-old woman phoned her sister, who discovered that her son, Luka, 6, has the same attraction. “Other kids in the family can’t do this, just the two of them,” Petrovic said.

The phenomenon is rare and so far medically unexplained. Several similar cases, however, have recently been reported in Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia.

“As far as I know, there is no medical or scientific explanation,” said radiologist Mihajlo Dodic, who runs a practice in the Serbian capital, Belgrade. He said the cousins’ magnetism borders on the “paranormal”. Luka’s father, Slavisa Lukic, said doctors have examined the boys, and announced them to be perfectly healthy, adding that they should be monitored as they grow up.