White Flashes: What just happened?

Something really weird just happened to me and I must ask if anyone has experienced similar.

I just got home from the grocery store and sat down on the couch. I was just relaxing and I sat there for no more than two minutes. In my living room I have a large fireplace and on top of the mantel we have family pictures, etc. I was just looking at the pictures from my sofa, nothing was out of the ordinary; I felt and feel fine and I am not prone to hallucinations (under normal circumstances). In the center of the mantelpiece, below the shelf with the pictures, there happened a bright silver flash. It was so bizarre my heart is still beating quickly.

Nothing has ever happened in my home that I would call supernatural. I looked all over for a logical, natural explanation - my cellphone flash, one of our cameras or laptop, one of my kid's toys, the TV, but nothing electronic could have caused it as nothing was in that area and it just didn't seem like the kind of flash - it's difficult to explain. It really didn't seem like the sun being refracted or reflected - it just wasn't like that... just a silver-white flash, brightest in the middle, expanding to maybe the diameter of a basketball. It all took just longer than the blink of an eye. I so wish someone else was home to maybe rule out my mind playing tricks on me, but while that is possible I don't think it is so, and I can't find an explanation.

reply to post by cosmikDebris





I get flashes sometimes like that, but I am unsure why.

I read somewhere once that it could be some sort of particle from the sun going through the body, but can't remember where I read it, only that astronauts experience almost the same thing in space.

reply to post by cosmikDebris


a similar thing happened to me in my bedroom about a year ago just as you described but this came from my ceiling i know it wasn't my imagination but ive never seen it since

reply to post by cosmikDebris


Well, I've had some experience with white flashes of two types. For a short while, we had an issue of seeing what looked like white wisps in the house. Very quick but enough to basically stop people in their tracks. No clue what it was and I definitely know it wasn't just me seeing them as the startle response was pretty obvious. No clue what that was, I'm sure there is an explanation for it outside of group hallucination, lol.

The other type would be like a star like but brighter flash. Kind of like how a headlight looks on a dark night but it can happen during the day and it's fast. If it's like that, it could be an optical phenomena related to an eye issue. I don't know how old you are but if you're middle age, then it could very well be related to the aging eye. Flashing lights or floaters can increase with age. I have visual defects in my field of view either due to ms or cranial injury and that bright starlike flash is one of the signs. It might behoove you to get your eyes checked out if it continues as such a thing can be a more serious issue in the eye. In my case, my eyes are just fine and it's the optic nerve and/or visual cortex botching up.

Hope that helps.

reply to post by cosmikDebris


Was it Sunny outside, and did you have drapes on windows open to let light in. If you do, it may have been the reflection of sunlight off a passing vehicle outside your home. I've had those quick flashes of intense light happen before that turned out to be sun reflect off a passing car.

Des

Rule out the mundane first.

-Was there anything reflective that could have caused it?
-Windows or other sources of external light that might have caused it?
-Fatigued or experiencing a headache/migraine at the time?
-Do you wear a watch? (I know it's kinda dumb, but I've actually been blinded briefly by a sudden reflection off my watch's sapphire crystal when it's at the right angle. *Snooty rich guy voice* this might only apply to quality Swiss watches. [kidding])

If nothing mundane, then what other possibilities? You said you've never had paranormal experiences at your home before. Have you ever experienced something like this elsewhere? You seem to have had a distinct response to it - was there any specific feelings other than a general fight/flight response? Anything different in the home or with you after? Time difference or misplaced objects?

Very curious!

reply to post by cosmikDebris


If there was a thunderstorm in your area, it could of been ball lightning too.

There are lots of possibilities!

For a paranormal one, I would think there would be more to it such as moving objects, or voices, strange sounds, knocks etc...

I saw 2 orbs once with my own eyes, but they were the size of basketballs and didn't change shape or size or disappear like that, so I can't say that is what it was either....

I have experienced white flashes, especially at night. Personally, I think it is either an electrical "spasm" in the visual cortex, or maybe a transient external EM thing. The reason I think it could be EM (radiation, even?) is because of an MRI experience. I had an MRI of my head, and even though the room was dark and I had my eyes shut, I could "see" the head of the MRI machine spinning. The energy from the machine was stimulating my retinas and creating a visual signal to be sent to my brain. It was very cool, actually. It was like a bar of light was spinning around inside my eyes.

reply to post by WhiteAlice


A retinal tear was my first thought, too. They can actually happen at any age, but they are more common - in fact, quite common - after, say, 40 years of age.
The thing about retinal tears and similar eye conditions is that the flashes are usually seen in the corner of an eye, not head-on.

FWIW, I know a person who experiences bright flashes in the corner of an eye after drinking Coke Zero (or Diet Coke), which is unsurprising considering the neurotoxins in it, but I digress.

Anyway, OP, like others have said, make sure you exclude all possible mundane explanations first.
I for one would love to hear what it was, if you ever find out.

only thing I can think of is the movie with John Travolta, Phenomenon.
He sees a bright light, gets really smart, falls in love, his friends get angry, govt abducts him, he dies... oh spoiler alert.

My wife gets white flashes. She's menopausal.

Itsy bitsy seizures happen all the time in our brains. They are nothing to worry about. If one hits the lobe or a connecting lobe or neurons associated with sight, we can get a little flash. Most times these things are in the brain. If they start happening all the time, it could be beneficial to look at what we have eaten, or maybe what you have neglected to eat, within the hours preceding the flashes. Sometimes ignoring cravings over a long period of times can cause this.

Most people don't notice these things, many don't pay attention to the ones that cause noises either. Filters in our brains constantly filter these out. If the filters aren't working properly, we notice them. They are still there if we filter them, we just have gotten acclimated and ignore them. There are combinations of ways to control these but that would take a lot of explaining. Lowering sugars or creation of insulin or eating foods that balance the brain and organ chemistry can stop these. When being busy then stopping, chemistry in the body needs to change and if it doesn't switch fast enough, purging chemicals, then it may cause this.

I get these flashes occasionally and have been trying to figure out how to dampen them. I have TLE though, they are sort of an occasional occurrance. I am getting better at controlling these but the thing is tracking down exactly what is causing them by elimination or additions to the diet is hard. sometimes it is combinations, and I also get them sometimes if I have not eaten because it spikes insulin in the body and if the body releases a little sugar, it happens. Kind of weird that even though you know of these things, it is hard to identify the exact cause.

I can't say for sure if this is the case, it could be something more interesting like paranormal but it doesn't have to be. I wish I could be more unanalitical about these things and believe things are paranormal. Life is boring when you think all the time looking for explanations to things you see and hear. It would be nice to live in a world filled with mysticism. I do get comfort in seeing others believing in things that are not really paranormal, I am sort of jealous actually, I see how interesting a person's life can be. People believe in society, but much of society is not even logical. Now I feel like Mr. Spock

Its quite common along with floaters in the vision.

Flashes can be caused by slight pulling on the retina by the viterous humour which causes flashes. You can have similar effects when you press against your eyes or you bang your head and you see shapes and stars.

If it is a more lasting flash it can be a sign of an ocular migraine which I suffer from, I always used to get flashes without headaches but now if it happens I need to find a dark room fast

I've had multiple experiences with what I can only describe as paranormal.

I've only seen the flash once in my life. I was sitting at my computer here, and just to my left is a doorway leading to another room and something white flashed from the other room -> through the door -> just past my left shoulder.

It spooked me a good bit.

reply to post by cosmikDebris


Depending on how old you are and your lifestyle, I would think you might want to check for a minor cerebral infarction. I have had white flashes before and they were mini-strokes (TIA's) and I had them when I was between 35 and 50. It can happen to anybody. If you are seeing this kind of event, I would just quickly check with your doctor, just in case.

I would also look at silent migraines also as they cause visual hallucinations and distortions. They last usually anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour and there is no pain involved, but you can see flashing "lights" to many flashing or moving "sprites" and sometimes it starts as a small area in your field of vision and then expands to the entire visual area including the periphery until it dissipates. It is generally a genetic trait, so if your parents have migraines, there is a reasonably probability you could have them as well in some form.

I hope it is not a stroke or anything major. My uncle is going through this right now, he appears to have just had a fairly major cerebral infarction, we're just not sure yet whether it was a an eschemic (clot) or hemorrhagic (aneurism) as we don't have the results of the CT/CAT scans yet. He is 80 however and it is expected this kind of thing can happen when you're older.

Cheers - Dave

hehe, check your watch. are you missing a few hours?

who knows.. i attended a church function once, there was a massive red flash in the room.
noone seemed to react to it that i could make out?
it was weird, like.. uhh, when you put milk in water (cloudy?) that's the only way i can describe it..

Your experience may very well be paranormal. I'm not discounting that possibility. BUT you need to rule out a physical cause. Flashes COULD be caused by glaucoma. Get your eyes checked for pressure just to be sure. You don't want something like that to escalate and, caught in time, it is very treatable. It's worth the few bucks it might cost you just to eliminate the possibility.

reply to post by rickymouse


Oh come on, rickymouse, you know darn well that scintillating scotoma are actually Thor dishing out a thunderbolt in John Woo style slo-mo. At least that's what I tell myself as I wait for it to pass, lol, as well, there's not a whole lot else one can do during one. They're boring.

This is more than likely a medical issue not a paranormal issue. This can also be caused on purpose via a caffeine overdose. If it continues see your doctor.

reply to post by WhiteAlice


I like that Thor lightning bolt cause. I wish I could believe in things like that. Sometimes I feel my research keeps me from enjoying life by limiting my creativity.

It's bad luck to walk under a ladder because someone on the ladder may spit a chew on your head. Had that happen to me before. I wonder if the guy who did this to me will see this post and again apologize, he kept apologizing all day that day.