[14] However, this is true of any room without ventilation, and a running fan will not greatly improve or worsen the problem, except in zero-gravity environments where exhaled air tends to form a bubble around astronauts' heads instead of dispersing normally.

A typical example is this excerpt from the July 4, 2011, edition of The Korea Herald, an English-language newspaper: A man reportedly died on Monday morning after sleeping with an electric fan running.

University of Miami researcher Larry Kalkstein says a misunderstanding in translation resulted in his accidental endorsement of the fan death theory, which he denies is a real phenomenon.

"[6] Philip Hiscock, when interviewed by The Star, suggested that fan death's prevalence in Korean beliefs and its potential as a euphemism contributed to the idea's continuation, "Traditional fairy legends (or) contemporary UFO abductions are used for things that are either inadmissible or untellable in present company.

From 2003 [to] 2005, a total of 20 cases were reported through the CISS [Consumer Injury Surveillance System] involving asphyxiations caused by leaving electric fans and air conditioners on while sleeping.