Turn Out The LIghts!

I'm not sure where this post belongs actually, but this seemed the best fit.

All my adult life I've experienced this strange phenomenon for which I have no explanation. Now, I'm not much for paranormal stuff for the most part, but this is just too unusual not to note. It's not about mentally bending forks or anything like that, though it ranks right up there in my 'normal' life.

I think I first noticed it when I was about 18. I'd grown up in the country and hadn't really ever lived in 'the big city' (well, it was big for me) until I left for college. One thing which defined 'city' for me was all the lights, but streetlights in particular were something I really noticed; there were just everywhere. There were lights on the highway, lights on the secondary roads; there were even lights on the side streets. Heck, there were so many lights a person could just drive at night with no headlights on it seemed.

One night I was driving down a main thoroughfare in Salt Lake City; I was tired and just kind of mindlessly driving along to my destination when I noticed one of the streetlights in front of me blinked out. I thought nothing of it really, but it did kind of catch my 'zoned out' attention. Over the next few years I would notice this happen on numerous occasions. It wasn't like it was all the streetlights going out, just a single one...one I happed to be approaching. Every time it was the same thing; I would be driving along sort of in that "zone" we sometimes get into while driving and (blink), a streetlight would go out. Each time it would kind of snap me out of the zone for a moment. Odd, but mentally I had always just chalked this up to streetlights being unreliable. I was a physics student at the time and everything had a logical explanation with the simplest explanation usually being the correct one. To me it seemed perfectly logical, with all the tens of thousands of streetlights, that periodically a random streetlight would blink out and go dark. I just happened to be there to see it by coincidence. In a random data set, and given the sheer quantities of data points, this explanation seemed reasonable. I never really thought about it much more for years.

Fast forward about 10 years; I had accepted a job outside the city of Detroit. Wow, talk about a big city! Being early in my career I wasn't making a lot of money so I wound up renting this duplex which just happened to reside on the service drive of a major freeway. It was convenient because this freeway led right to my place of employment, so I drove on it every day. As winter approached and the days grew shorter I found myself driving this same stretch of road at night more frequently. Each night as I drove home I would notice the streetlight just past my exit would blink out. What was strange was, it was always the same one. That this same light would blink out nearly every night caught more than my casual attention. Okay, this was kind of weird.

One night while driving, off in my post-work 'zone', I wondered about the light long before I got to it and made up my mind to pay closer attention. Sure enough, as I got to my exit the same light blinked out, but this time I decided to drive past my exit. The light stayed out. I drove down the road for a few minutes and exited at a different exit, circled back and came back to the same spot from the other direction. The light was back on again. Hmmmm... This happened for quite a while and I always just chalked it up to some random occurrence.

It just so happened I could see this same light from my apartment. I'd never really looked at it before out of my window, but I could see it. So one night I decided to look out the window at the light...and you can probably guess what happened. Yep, the light blinked out! Okay, there's definitely something to this.

One Friday night while sitting around drinking beer with a buddy we got onto the conversation about weird occurrences in our lives. I told him about the light, and of course he thought I was crazy. I told him I'd prove it to him. And so the next night I took him along for a ride with me. I had pointed the light out to him while it was still daylight outside. Now, after dark, we are driving down the road coming up on my exit; sure as shootin' the light goes out, just as expected. He was incredulous.

Now I need to digress here for a second. I'd noticed this phenomenon with many, many, streetlights; right as I would approach them they would go out. It just so happened this particular light was easy to use as an example.

-----END PART 1------

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

I'm quite certain that there will be others coming along that will say the same thing: street lights are on timers and sometimes they are programmed to go off at certain times when traffic is slow -early a.m., and they intermittently go on and off to save energy. I'm not saying that is what is happening to you but it may be possible.

originally posted by: donktheclown
a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

I'm quite certain that there will be others coming along that will say the same thing: street lights are on timers and sometimes they are programmed to go off at certain times when traffic is slow -early a.m., and they intermittently go on and off to save energy. I'm not saying that is what is happening to you but it may be possible.

Here in Holland, local authorities have been testing streetlights on certain roads, by fitting them with motion-sensors in order to save energy.
However, I get the feeling that these kind of things are not what the OP is describing.

---- PART 2 -----

My buddy and I made kind of a pact to study the behavior of this streetlight. He would take notes on how many times he observed it going out versus how many times I did. Well, this study didn't take long. He never observed the light to go out, not once, and I observed it going out about 98% of the time. This was really odd.

I thought of everything imaginable to logically explain it; maybe my car had some anomaly with its headlights which triggered the photo sensor, maybe my windshield reflected some portion of the spectrum differently than other vehicles, etc. I mean we actually put some math and physics toward an explanation because it was just that strange.

As I noted previously though, this wasn't the only streetlight which acted this same way, many did. It isn't every streetlight either, but enough to know there is a trend. They were always streetlights I was approaching and it was always at a time when I wasn't really paying attention (notice a theme here?). Each time it would happen my mind would snap out of this zone where I was paying attention to my driving and my surroundings, but little else. I was usually thinking about something which had happened that day.

Several decades have passed since those days. To this day the phenomenon remains. I'll be approaching a streetlight and it will go out. I've pointed it out to my wife and, like my buddy of so many years ago, she thought I was crazy at first too. Not anymore though, now she's absolutely riveted to the phenomenon whenever we drive together at night.

I have no reasonable explanation why this happens. I used to think I did, but it occurs far too often to be a random occurrence. I've gotten to the point where I can almost predict when it will happen...and this is even spookier still! I'll look up and say to myself, "That streetlight is going to go out". (and far more often than not, it does) It's not like I can look at a streetlight and make it go out, but rather I can predict when it's going to happen. It always seems to happen when my mind is in this same sort of contemplative state.

There are numerous anecdotal footnotes to this story and the phenomenon I experience. Depending on the interest and/or responses perhaps I will post some of those too.

I still can't bend forks, but I have no explanation for how some phenomenon could...

...turn out the lights.

a reply to: Tyrion79

Nope, been there, thought of that already. In virtually every instance I can recall over 30+ years it has always been "dark-dark" and there was plenty of activity on the road in question. Plus, it's not like it was all the lights, but just a single one in a string of many down a road way.

Further, on numerous occasions I have circled back only to see the light back on again a few minutes later.

Over the years I've had many cars too, so it's not the car. The only common denominator I can factor down to is...me.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

I suggest you do a test of your abilities. Park near where you believe your abilities interfere with the normal operation of the light and see what happens. Quite possibly, it will do an on-and-off cycling every couple of minutes in response to a intermittent fault in its light-sensor and not your presence in the area.

For myself, I like to think that I can count down from five to catch the exact moment a stoplight will change to green. Or in another version, I say or think "now" when it should change. In my game, I know that the light will be changing fairly soon, so I've got a great edge over mere randomness.

Some view this as a particular aspect of an OCD symptom.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Nice story, not one that I have heard before
It doesn't sound like something external of yourself, you must be causing it somehow.

Just a few questions:
Have you ever had someone else drive down the road ahead of you, to see if the light went out?
Does the light go out the second time, after you circle back and come around again?
Have you ever noticed other electric/electronic equipment malfunction around you? (I've heard this happens with some)
Have you ever visited a psychic/clairvoyant? After this much time, it may be worth a shot. At least it can't hurt

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Very strange phenomenon, I have no experience myself with this particularly.
Interesting though, that it's repeatable and even predictable as I understand.
Should make it easier for others, that are more experienced in this field, to analyse this when it happens.
Maybe you should talk with students at a local university about this or maybe people, who are researching supernatural phenomenon professionally.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Very interesting, thanks for posting.
Did this happen in all seasons, every day, same time or random times? I know you said it happened for years...a strange question to you: have you ever been electrocuted? Not shocked as we all have, but truly electrocuted? Also, do you ever hear anything, even in your mind, that would stand out before, during or after these events?

I will explain this theory once you respond.

originally posted by: Aliensun
a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

I suggest you do a test of your abilities. Park near where you believe your abilities interfere with the normal operation of the light and see what happens. Quite possibly, it will do an on-and-off cycling every couple of minutes in response to a intermittent fault in its light-sensor and not your presence in the area.

...

Yep, tried that (many times actually). Here's what we found...

The light in question will not go out at all while actively observing it. No amount of trying to make it go out works.

I know what I'm about to say next will sound completely nutty, but it's true. I would swear it has something to do with actually looking at the light, but not how you think. If I look at it, it won't go out. However, if I don't look at it, it will go out. Again, this doesn't occur with every streetlight, it's not like a steady stream of lights blinking off as I drive down the road. Nothing outlandish like that, but it's definitely enough to notice and for other people to notice.

a reply to: NewzNose

Interesting questions...

No, I have never been electrocuted.

Yes actually, I do hear something, but I think it's just in my mind. I hear a "click" when the light goes out. A click like a light switch or an energized circuit going to an open state.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Ok, more questions...is the blinking out one flash, several flashes or it just goes out? That click you hear is the moment it goes dark and just one click?

originally posted by: Bagel
a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Nice story, not one that I have heard before

It doesn't sound like something external of yourself, you must be causing it somehow.

Just a few questions:
Have you ever had someone else drive down the road ahead of you, to see if the light went out?

Yes, and it does not. Have experimented with this numerous times.

Does the light go out the second time, after you circle back and come around again?

Excellent question, with an even more bizarre answer. The one street light my buddy and I experimented with would in fact turn off...multiple times actually. However, we would have to give the light an hour or so in between attempts. If I circled back just 2-3 minutes later it would stay on. It was like there was some 'reset' time. (?)

Have you ever noticed other electric/electronic equipment malfunction around you? (I've heard this happens with some)

No, and I work in electronics too. Nothing unusual there. I have met some people in the past though who claim that some chemical in their body wreaks havoc with things like watches and phones, but nothing like this for me.

Have you ever visited a psychic/clairvoyant? After this much time, it may be worth a shot. At least it can't hurt

No, I haven't.

a reply to: NewzNose

Just goes out and stays out until I am out of sight of the streetlight in question.

The click is just the moment the light goes out. Just a single, almost sub-audible, click.

All it is, isthe ballast getting hot and shutting the light down to cool for a few minutes. Very very common

a reply to: damwel

Only when I approach it, the same light...every time...every day...regardless of time???

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

This might explain it. I was talking to a police officer one night and he said for fun they would put out the street lights.(temporarily)They have sensors in them that face the east,when the sun hits that sensor the light goes out. Most aren't on timers. I would guess that your headlights are tilted in just the right angle to hit the sensor and put out the light. It comes back on when you are past it yes?

The police use their spot lights and hit the sensor.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

I'm going to make a few assumptions:

1. You have a very healthy immune system
2. You have a high lung capacity
3. Very resilient when injured
4. High pain capacity
5. Quick reflexes
6. Higher tolerance to cold.

Any of these applicable?

Are you relaxed when you arrive home after the light outage and, finally....what kind of dreams do you have after the events?

(yes, this is leading somewhere)

a reply to: Dimithae

I think he addressed that probability earlier. And, while that might be fun the first few times, a daily event would be less so, I'd imagine.