 None of the effects observed by Saxl and Allen have obvious explanations in terms of well-established theories of gravity and electromagnetism.Although more subtle explanations, still using conventional physical theory, have been proffered there does not appear to be general agreement as to the cause of the anomalies.Saxl and Allen's claim that general relativity must be modified, and earlier claims of a similar nature by Allais based on observations of anomalies in the behaviour of a paraconical pendulum, have not won acceptance by the physics community, and recent attempts to reproduce the phenomena have not been successful.