"MORE ILLUMINATIONS ON SLI" > Page 1, 2

Explanations For
Believers offer mysterious explanations for the SLI phenomenon, ranging from the tapping of Earth energies to anomalous activities of the brain:

• One local TV station here in Denver does consumer reports about people who have trouble with local businesses. I caught a special report about people who have called about appliances that won't work, and when they take them to the shop [for repair], they work fine. The [repairman] said it has happened enough that he has come to the conclusion that there are some people who just have weird effects on some electronics.

• I stop watches by holding them or putting them on. I have blown peripherals and hard drives by simply booting up. Not once in a while, but repeatedly. I notice that from time to time I am "wired." The concept of kinetic energy is not a new one, and probably more of us do these things without recognizing the connection.

• This is an easy explanation: telekinesis. Everything is composed of electrons and neutrons. Your electrons stimulate the electrons of an object to create the bending or movement of an object. When a person that performs telekinesis, for instance, on a spoon, they envision it as energy shaped as a spoon. As a child has not been taught they cannot do a lot of things, therefore they can do them.

• Any studies [of SLI] must, I believe, take consideration of geo-magnetic, geo-electric, Schumann resonance, and other vibrational energy flows in the energetic landscape to make sense of the effect. It may well be that the combination of my energy at a specific point in one of these flows interrupts, interferes, or magnifies the effect that results in the streetlight going out. Integration of geomancy may well prove rewarding in explaining why it is only some specific lights that sometimes go out.

• Just to add another twist to this phenomenon, I have noticed that these things happen most often when I have a severe headache across the frontal lobe.

• In Sanskrit, the term "chakra" means wheel and is often used to describe various energy centers of the aura or electromagnetic field of the physical body. When the lower chakras are more activated, which they are in many people, often through semi-stressed, deep contemplative states, the energy field lowers its vibration and thusly its density to a more compatible level of many electrical circuits. You mix that with a light or battery that may be close to burn-out and the SLI results.

• Your poll about street lamp interference wasn't quite fair. It implied that there were either two choices, a psychic or a coincidental occurrence. You omitted a third explanation - a natural but rare ability of brain cells to generate signals of a type to be picked up by the sensors on street lights.

Explanations Against
Nonsense, say the skeptics. Why look for a paranormal explanation when a perfectly reasonable one is evident or at least possible:

• I suspect something more physical is to blame. My theory is that the photoelectric eye of the affected street lamp is not properly aimed. This could also be caused by a reflection of headlights either from water standing on the road or, more likely, perhaps from the outside rear-view mirror of another vehicle. From the headlight's perspective the mirror could be reflecting the beam upward toward the sky without affecting the driver of the other vehicle.

• The street lamp example can be a bit misleading. I spent six months working for a city public works department. While I was there, I made a comment about the streetlights turning off when I drove by. An employee who had been around longer explained that it was a relationship between the specific type and model of sensor used, and the aiming point/bleedover of the headlights of your vehicle. Older cars (and even newer trucks) that have less focused headlight patterns constantly would cause this effect.

• I noticed streetlights going out as I drove or walked past them. My over-logical mind convinced myself that the lights went out because of some energy-saving algorithm that the municipal government had in place.

• With great regularity, when I turn lights on or off the bulbs are likely to burn out. But this is no psychic phenomenon. I apparently build up a large reservoir of static electricity, which is death to light bulbs and some other appliances. I have "zapped" a few digital watches, and I can cause havoc with television and radio shows by walking around the room. Mercury and sodium vapor lights can apparently be subject to intermittent failure - sometimes with great frequency - people in the vicinity notwithstanding. And the ones that are controlled by optical sensors are apt to be even flakier.

• While I find the article very interesting, I believe the that the streetlights that are cutting in and out, are all HPS (high-pressure sodium). When these lamps reach their end of life, they begin to short cycle. Hence, a cutting on and off mode. As you drive or walk by, the light seems to switch off, and you think that you had an effect on it. If you stopped and watched that particular light, you'd observe that it continually cycles on and off. Eventually the power company will replace the lamp and the problem is solved. Also with HPS, there is an igniter. The igniter sensed that the lamp is off and sends a high-voltage pulse to restart the lamp. This pulse usually gets the lamp going again, and then it goes out, causing a short cycle.

• I have had this experience with the sodium vapor lamps since 1976. This occurs mostly with the partially defunct lamps. It seems the starters are somewhat sensitive to the human electromagnetic field (as per a conversation with an electrical engineer).

Conclusions
What are we to conclude from the revelation that so many people identify themselves as SLIders? Either a great many people have some psychic or otherwise unexplained effect on streetlights and other electronics, or this is a misunderstanding of a common occurrence. The latter seems more likely. When we're driving at night, we don't notice that most of the streetlights stay on as we pass under them, but it does catch our attention when one happens to go off. We then might think that the two are related in some way, when it is most likely just a coincidence.

It's possible that some people might have some strange affect on electronics and if so, it is more probably a rare phenomenon. It's a possibility worth investigation.  

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