You've heard the old myth that crime rates rise during the full moon because people are somehow affected by its evil glow, intense gravity, or some other nonsense reason. In fact, in Ye Olde England, a murderer could plead to the effects of lunacy to get a reduced sentence.
It wasn't my fault, your honor, the Moon made me do it.
Perhaps this trend is coming back. UK lawyers should get ready with the lunacy defense.
Even though this myth has been well and truly debunked by several studies, people still take it seriously. The latest victim is the police department of Sussex, who are planning to deploy more officers during a full moon. According to the TimesOnline, they looked at last year's crime data, matched the peaks to lunar phases, and concluded that crime rates rise during the full moons.
Sussex police officials have probably gotten an earful from scientists by now, and here's what they'll be saying. There's no scientific evidence that the full moon increases crime rates. At best, there's anecdotal evidence, the cherry-picking of evidence and statistical errors. At worst, there's outright pseudoscience.
For example, one of the possible causes theorized by Inspector Andy
Carr, is that the Moon's gravity can do funny things to a person during the full moon.
The Moon's gravity does have a powerful effect on the Earth and its tides. And because of its elliptical orbit, the Moon ranges in distance, between
363,104 km and 405,696 km. Its effects get stronger when it's closer, and weaker when it's more distant.
Here's the problem, the Moon's phases have nothing to do with its distance to the Earth. Same goes for magnetic fields, size in the sky, pull of gravity, etc. There can be a new moon when the Moon is at its closest, and a full moon when it's at the most distant point in its orbit. And everything in between.
For one of the most comprehensive breakdowns of the lunacy myth and the overwhelming evidence against it, check out the Skeptic's Dictionary entry.
