Caltech To Host Annual Pumpkin Drop

PASADENA (KNX1070/CBS) — When trick-or-treating and the West Hollywood Halloween Carnaval wind down late Sunday, Caltech will hold its annual "Millikan Pumpkin Drop Experiment."

Pumpkins at Caltech To Be Dropped 10 Stories, KNX 1070's Ed Mertz reports.

"It's just our big Halloween tradition. It's sort of a great symbol of Caltech fun, using something like liquid nitrogen and looking for the infamous blue flash when it impacts with the ground," Assistant Vice President of Student and Campus Life Tom Mannion said.

Mannion said the pumpkin drop has been a Caltech tradition since 1972.

According to school tradition, a claim was once made that the shattering of a pumpkin, frozen in liquid nitrogen and dropped from a sufficient height, would produce a triboluminescent spark (i.e., cause the pumpkin pieces to glow as they shatter).

Dabney House, one of the student residences, hosts the annual Halloween pumpkin drop from the top of Millikan Library, the highest point on campus.

Students are expected to gather about 11 p.m. for the drop, which will begin around midnight and last for about five minutes, according to Caltech.

The yearly event involves a crowd of observers trying to spot the elusive spark.

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