Strange white flash in a dark room - II

Evo

You should probably have your eyes checked by an opthamologist, they might want to refer you to a neurological opthamalogist.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photopsia

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10506812

balana

Thanks for the insight (no pun), It's worth considering eye impairment. I'm still having a hard time explaining why there was reflection off the inside walls from a far away flash though. Two different animals being "inside" the flash as opposed to seeing it from afar.

collinsmark

A small discharge of static electricity can easily be visible if your eyes were well adjusted to the darkness (which would happen if you're in darkness for a half hour or so -- and the discharge is more likely inside a heated dwelling, on a cold, dry, night). Even comparatively dim flashes could appear bright when your eyes are in that situation. Even though the flash itself might only last a tiny fraction of a second, the image sensed by your retina (which can include the walls/floor/ceiling -- anything lit by the flash) might last at least a little longer than that, just due to the way the eyes work. But I doubt it would be enough destroy your night vision though (even if the flash did appear very bright compared to the otherwise near-total darkness).

If the true intensity of the flash was actually the typical intensity of a camera flash, you would have perceived the after-image for quite awhile after. But maybe it just seemed really bright, because your eyes were already well adjusted to the dark at the time.

And if the spark occurred outside your direct line of sight, all that you would see is the reflection off the walls/floor/ceiling etc., and you wouldn't see the source of the flash.

You've mentioned that your [presumably furry] cats were playing before one happened. That could explain a flash right there. Fur can build up static fairly easily. When you moved from the bedroom to the hallway, did you touch a doorknob, or grab onto anything?

Drakkith

Given that your eyes didn't experience any pain or other normal effects due to bright light on dilated pupils, it is likely that it wasn't real.

balana

The "flashes" I saw from the inside were intense enough to make you think somebody in the house had a flash camera, or someone very close shooting in. I like the cat theory though. Trying hard to explain this to myself. The total immersion in what seemed to be a white shaft enveloping me is the one I have a real problem with. Whiter than white, so much that your whole body appears translucent white for that brief half step second. Then to see perfectly well in the dark after that was perplexing. Took my pulse & pinched myself to make sure - then waked the wife. This happened three years ago, nothing since.

Evo

The reason I was/am concerned is that I have suffered from "light flashes", and other odd visual problems that are physical.

They seem to be coming from within the room/house but are actually opthalmic (painless migraines) They can take different forms from just a small flash of light to very bright/intense. We won't go into the purple squares and hot pink filigree circles, I have a thread on those. I also get the traditional glowing crescent filled with pulsating, undulating geometric patterns. So before jumping to a supernatural explanation, it's best to look at the natural. Then there are the spinning orange and purple cats, but we've narrowed those down to a certain medication.

I would hold off on a supernatural diagnosis until a full physical exam was done, if you get my drift.

Dotini

Dear balana,

I think some of the facts you have stated are possibly important.
For instance, snoring is a possible indicator of underlying physical conditions. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/sno...SECTION=causes Then one night your wife kicks you out of the bedroom, and you experience this anomalous light experience.

I think it's possible your experience was a sort of hallucination, not an OBE but distantly related to it, in response to the separation from your wife, and conceivably in response to your putative health issues.

Respectfully yours,
Steve

Edit: Just saw Evo's post, and I agree a physical exam is in order.

Evo

Nothing wrong in seeking out a supernatural explanation, just make sure to rule out health issues and medications first. I saw where you said "55 years" in the house, and us old geezers need to get anything unexplained checked out by a doctor. Even for youngsters, stress, lack of sleep, you may not even know it's lack of sleep as in sleep apnea, medications, etc... our brain loves to play tricks on us.

balana

Still have tonsils, a bit overweight, snoring is a given, even a wine after dinner isn't that odd. This is good advice even though I had a physical a couple of years ago. Typical, lose wt., etc. Appreciate the observation. Would like to rule out the power balls going off in the house. Hard to rule out my personal perception though.

Drakkith

Power balls?

chrisbaird

I know this is an old thread, but I will add my two cents. Some possible options:

1) When a powerline transformer blows or a power line itself snaps, it makes a bright flash and a loud pop. It can be quite frightening the first time if you are not used to it. Either you end up without power, or some of your neighbors end up without power depending on where you are in the grid, so this is easy to diagnose. If you didn't hear a sound, it's probably not this.

2) Lightning flashes can occur in some instances when there is not an apparent storm brewing, and if the lightning strikes far enough away, you may not hear any accompanying thunder. There will usually be several flashes over the course of a few hours.

3) Static electricity can be fun. I remember as a kid wearing a certain flannel pajama set and certain blanket and creating my own lightning show every time I climbed into bed. Simply rolling over was enough to create multiple sparks. This one is easy to diagnose because there are more sparks if there is more movement and rubbing.

4) Eye aftereffects. If you look at a red square for a long time, then look at a blank, white wall, you will still see a square. The same thing can happen with flashes of light. If you have a bright light on, then turn it off so it suddenly goes quite dark, you can see flashes for a few seconds while your eyes adjust from saturation.

5) Cosmic rays impacting your eyes. I think this one is rare on earth, but astronauts have to deal with it.

balana

Appreciate the possibilities but the flashes going off before I got out out of bed were far greater than pajamas rubbing. The beam that came down on me was only a split second but so vivid it's beyond real description. Still can't figure out why no eye effect. Thanks - I'll keep searching.

Ajoo

When I was younger, and for about a month or two I would regularly see these flashes of light that appeared to come from either the corridor or the bathroom just outside my room when I was lying in bed. At the time I was terrified by them as they roughly always happened around midnight (although this was the time I usually went to sleep).

My house was also near an airport but my room was facing the other side so I don't think there it was aircraft related. These flashes always came with a very audible "cracking" sound, like wood settling originating seemingly inside my room. It was infact these sound which tipically made me open my eyes and see a flash.

I eventually dismissed this phenomenon as just my brain seeing a flash when I open my eyes after hearing such a noise. In fact, my parents had recently bought some wooden shelves for my room which i assumed produced these cracking sounds when settling which made me open my eyes and see a flash.

After a while I just stopped seeing these flashes, don't remember exactly if it was because I started going to bed later and the wood tended to settle at an earlier hour (I'm thinking temperature was a factor here since houses where I live are very poorly insulated) or because my brain stopped reacting that way (a few years later I started getting migraines with some very strong visual aura, dunno if related as these also wen't away).

Drakkith

Are you discounting the possibility that there was no actual flash?