When I was a kid, a friend of mine and I found a flexible metal rod on the ground about two meters in length. The 14-year-old geniuses we were, we decided to toss it at the power lines above until we shorted them.

After about 40 minutes my friend made a successful throw, landing it perfectly across the overhead lines. The rod partially vaporized and bits of it landed in the grass, starting small fires. We put out the fires by stomping on them and then ran like hell.

We later learned that we had blown a fuse, shutting off power to the street where it occurred, probably affecting about 50 homes.

We swore one another not to tell anyone. We escaped punishment for our crime.