Editing Red mercury (section)

=== Saudi Arabia ===
In April 2009 it was reported from Saudi Arabia that rumors that [[Singer Corporation|Singer]] sewing machines contained "red mercury" had caused the prices of such machines to massively increase in the Kingdom, with some paying up to [[Saudi riyal|SR]]200,000 for a single machine which could previously have been bought for SR200.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/04/15/2543046.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090416054431/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/04/15/2543046.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 16, 2009 |title=Red mercury hoax sparks sewing machine frenzy |work=[[ABC News (Australia)|ABC News]] |date=15 April 2009}}</ref> Believers in the rumor claimed that the presence of red mercury in the sewing machines' needles could be detected using a mobile telephone; if the line cut off when the telephone was placed near to the needle, this supposedly proved that the substance was present.

In [[Medina]] there was a busy trade in the sewing machines, with buyers seen using mobile phones to check the machines for red mercury content, while it was reported that others had resorted to theft, with two tailors' shops in Dhulum broken into and their sewing machines stolen. At other locales, there were rumors that a Kuwait-based multinational had been buying up the Singer machines, while in Al-Jouf, the residents were led to believe that a local museum was buying up any such machines that it could find, and numerous women appeared at the museum offering to sell their Singer machines.<ref name=saudigazette>{{cite news |last=Al-Maqati |first=Abdullah |title='Red mercury' rumors gain ground |newspaper=[[Saudi Gazette]] |date=14 April 2009 |url=http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=2009041435015&archiveissuedate=14/04/2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716185425/http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=2009041435015&archiveissuedate=14%2F04%2F2009 |archive-date=16 July 2011}}</ref>

There was little agreement among believers in the story as to the exact nature or even color of the red mercury, while the supposed uses for it ranged from it being an essential component of nuclear power, to having the ability to summon [[jinn]], extract gold, or locate buried treasure and perform other forms of magic. These beliefs in the supernatural properties of red mercury are rooted in [[Alchemy in the medieval Islamic world|medieval Islamic]] conceptions of the [[alchemy|alchemical]] properties of mercury. The official spokesman for the [[Riyadh]] police said that the rumors had been started by gangs attempting to swindle people out of their money, and denied the existence of red mercury in sewing machines.<ref name=saudigazette/>