A group of pub-goers got a chilling champagne experience of a different kind last night when a cap started sliding across the table of its own free will.
Ken Frost and his partner Eva Hellqvist were in the Charles Napier pub when the ghostly goings on started happening.
Mr Frost posted a short video of the phenomenon on Facebook, captioned: “The Napier ghost is busy tonight.”
But he told Brighton and Hove News he thought the real explanation is a little more down to earth.
He said: “Eva and I were there last night to celebrate the Albion Hill Christmas lights switch on for the advent calendar.
“The object gliding across the table is the bottle top from Eva’s prosecco. It happened several times, when we moved the top back across the table.
“We were amused and intrigued. The explanation, in my opinion, is a wet table.”
The effect is caused when water forms a seal between an inverted vessel – in this case the prosecco cap – and a flat surface.
As the cap sinks slightly into the water, the air pressure inside it rises. This higher pressure also means the cap doesn’t touch the table, making movement almost frictionless.
