Misinterpreted senses.

To begin, I would like to point out that I do not have synesthesia, nor am I inquiring about it.

I have experienced in the past, most recently 2 days ago, a bright visual flash, when perceiving a loud noise.

Person came up behind me an yelled at the top of their lungs.
this noise startled me, but most notably I recall a bright burst of white/gold light.
Almost like being hit in the head."seeing stars"

It's not the first time it's happened either.

Has anyone else experienced anything like this and if so, I would like some theories before I lay out my own.

Sure sounds like it.

I read the title, and Ramachandran speaking flashed before my eyes, and I go aha.


Then you wiped me out in the first line.

I guess i'm with you mate. Lately, i've been tasting really weird things. Like I just woke up, and started tasting blood in my mouth, as if there was alot... kinda woke up a bit more, and don't taste anything now.

I've always had Taste Hallucinations though... lol, there real!

reply to post by reticledc



I experience it most commonly when in the stage between 'awake' and sleep .. during the dropping-off point. Same 'thing' as you've described .. a golden coloured 'starburst' type thing within otherwise total blackness. The noise sounds very loud. But when I jolt awake and sit up to see what it was, it turns out to be what would ordinarily be a 'small' noise, such as a soft door-click or something like that

Originally posted by Republican08

I've always had Taste Hallucinations though... lol, there real!

hehe - I have smell hallucinations! Usually they take me right back to a pleasant memory right out of the blue.... They don't seem to be any pattern to them, they are rare, and the smell is always very faint, almost an artificial copy of the original.

Originally posted by Republican08
Sure sounds like it.

I read the title, and Ramachandran speaking flashed before my eyes, and I go aha.


Then you wiped me out in the first line.

I guess i'm with you mate. Lately, i've been tasting really weird things. Like I just woke up, and started tasting blood in my mouth, as if there was alot... kinda woke up a bit more, and don't taste anything now.

I've always had Taste Hallucinations though... lol, there real!

Republican08, since we're friends and all, I won't go into detail of the many replies I thought of as to what the cause of the blood taste in your mouth could be.... You rock buddy.....BUt back to the original post, I am with you. I played punk rock in a band for about 10 years, and loud noises go hand and hand (personally) with a "bright light" type of reaction. I have no idea what it means....wait a second...maybe that was all the acid

reply to post by Now_Then




I still wonder about a sulphurous odour I used to experience back in the early 1990s, as I passed a particular spot. No apparent reason for it. And when some buildings were removed and new ones erected, I didn't smell it any longer. During the time it was happening, the odour seemed to be within my nose, rather than the place itself. It intrigued me to the point I persuaded a couple of people to walk that way with me. I didn't tell them why and would pretend to have to attend to my shoe for a few moments. Then I'd comment on a 'smell' and ask if they could smell it too. They couldn't. I never found out what it was all about.

I guess I have sound hallucinations then. I'm only 23 and have attacks as if I were an old Vietnam vet reliving nightmarish memories of bombs dropping, sirens, helicopters etc. It usually happens the moment before I wake up. Once I heard a window slam shut and jumped outta bed, went to the window, nothing there. Then another sound of a baseball bat or a hammer hitting my skull, the cracking sound of it woke me up but it wasn't a dream though because it would be a sound. Nothing more. I hear screams, people talking, when I am awake. Man, it is freaky.

As for seeing stuff, might be the effects of the drugs in your drinking water! J/K

I have seen the light,and its like a hit in my head, it makes me shut my eyes really hard, and bend my head a little bit to the left,it reminds me when in the matrix movie, they are loading training programs into neos head, i havent noticed if it happens with a sound, but it has happened for like 5 days.

[edit on 25-8-2009 by ehomero]

OK. Time for some speculation.
I have tried to do some research on this but I keep coming up with results for synesthesia.

My relative perception seems intact, but the loud noises, especially when they startle me, make this happen.

I think what's happening is an adrenalin based reaction.
When I am startled by a loud noise, I immediately go into fight or flight response.
I think what's happening is the sudden abrupt overwhelming of my auditory senses is causing something in my brain to go into immediate overdrive, stimulating an area that is either connected to or in the proximity of my visual centers or optic nerves.

The first time I can remember it happening is when I was doing some construction and my boss broke out the HILTI gun and shot a nail into some concrete. He had is already loaded and my back was turned, so when the thing went off, I had the flash, and I also feel like I jumped back 5 feet from where I was standing.
there was another time when a tree fell outside in the yard after a storm. I almost felt like I heard it coming, but then POW!!
Again the same flash occurred.

Originally posted by PeterGriffin

Originally posted by Republican08
Sure sounds like it.

I read the title, and Ramachandran speaking flashed before my eyes, and I go aha.


Then you wiped me out in the first line.

I guess i'm with you mate. Lately, i've been tasting really weird things. Like I just woke up, and started tasting blood in my mouth, as if there was alot... kinda woke up a bit more, and don't taste anything now.

I've always had Taste Hallucinations though... lol, there real!

Republican08, since we're friends and all, I won't go into detail of the many replies I thought of as to what the cause of the blood taste in your mouth could be....

You rock buddy.....BUt back to the original post, I am with you. I played punk rock in a band for about 10 years, and loud noises go hand and hand (personally) with a "bright light" type of reaction. I have no idea what it means....wait a second...maybe that was all the acid

No I haven't earned my Red Wings yet... don't plan on it either!

reply to post by reticledc

I have the same thing, i think it's the shot of adrenalin.
I think it is the fight or flight response, every sense gets heightend