Gonzo
The Living Force
After reading the article Unexplained lights, noises appear again in Baraboo (http://www.sott.net/articles/show/249339-Unexplained-lights-noises-appear-again-in-Baraboo), I thought about an experience I had last night.
Last night, love-of-my-life and I were walking the dogs. Earlier that evening, we had thunder, lightening and a heavy rainfall (thank you rain gods, the drought stricken farmers appreciate whatever you can afford). So, while walking, we saw the occasional flash of sheet lightening in the sky as the storm system made its way past us. In fact, lovey had commented on the lightening several times as we walked.
I had originally thought the lightening was coming from the clouds above, but, after a while, realized the clouds were merely reflecting the flashes that were coming from elsewhere. Incidentally, there was no thunder. Suddenly, the flashes became regular instead of their earlier intermittent expression. I looked to the horizon, which was obscured by distant trees, and could see the flashes were actually coming from the horizon, at least 5 kilometres away.
Now, I have seen similar white/blue flashes coming from a transformer exploding, so I wondered if a hydro pole got hit in the distance. However, the flashes continued at regular 2-second (or so it seemed) intervals, much like a strobe light, and I figured there were between 30 - 50 of them before they stopped. Once again, there was no thunder.
So, while I can accept that this could have been lightening, I have never seen it occur at regular intervals for an extended period of time. It could have been a damaged transformer, I guess, that kept blasting out giant sparks before finally shutting down. This would make sense, since there was no thunder. But, has anyone ever seen a transformer create such a massive strobing effect for more than a few seconds?
Thanks,
Gonzo
Last night, love-of-my-life and I were walking the dogs. Earlier that evening, we had thunder, lightening and a heavy rainfall (thank you rain gods, the drought stricken farmers appreciate whatever you can afford). So, while walking, we saw the occasional flash of sheet lightening in the sky as the storm system made its way past us. In fact, lovey had commented on the lightening several times as we walked.
I had originally thought the lightening was coming from the clouds above, but, after a while, realized the clouds were merely reflecting the flashes that were coming from elsewhere. Incidentally, there was no thunder. Suddenly, the flashes became regular instead of their earlier intermittent expression. I looked to the horizon, which was obscured by distant trees, and could see the flashes were actually coming from the horizon, at least 5 kilometres away.
Now, I have seen similar white/blue flashes coming from a transformer exploding, so I wondered if a hydro pole got hit in the distance. However, the flashes continued at regular 2-second (or so it seemed) intervals, much like a strobe light, and I figured there were between 30 - 50 of them before they stopped. Once again, there was no thunder.
So, while I can accept that this could have been lightening, I have never seen it occur at regular intervals for an extended period of time. It could have been a damaged transformer, I guess, that kept blasting out giant sparks before finally shutting down. This would make sense, since there was no thunder. But, has anyone ever seen a transformer create such a massive strobing effect for more than a few seconds?
Thanks,
Gonzo
