Re: Close lightning strike and strange tick (fwd)

["High Voltage list" <hvlist@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: Steven Roys <sroys@xxxxxxxxxx>



---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 11 Jul 2007 01:09:09 -0400
From: Richard Hull <rhull@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: High Voltage list <hvlist@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: Close lightning strike and strange tick (fwd)

I have heard several clicks from near lightning strikes during my lifetime.
Once in Viet-Nam while on a flight line and near strike and several times
since then.  As an old coiler and HV guy I know a spark sound and the click
is way too high pitched.  It is more like a low decibel  first click from
one of those old metal "criket clickers".

What it is or why it is casued is anyone's guess.  The preceeding click or
tick is a common thing heard by many near hit reporters.

Richard Hull


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "High Voltage list" <hvlist@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: "hvlist" <hvlist@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, July 10, 2007 3:34 PM
Subject: Re: Close lightning strike and strange tick (fwd)


> Original poster: Steven Roys <sroys@xxxxxxxxxx>
>
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> Date: Mon, 9 Jul 2007 13:30:43 -0600 (MDT)
> From: Chip Atkinson <chip@xxxxxxxxxx>
> To: High Voltage list <hvlist@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Re: Close lightning strike and strange tick (fwd)
>
> No, the sound was definitely not a sharp crack like a spark or anything.
> It was more porcelain or plasticky sounding.  Plus since it coincided as
> closely as I could tell with the flash but the flash and boom were
> separated by a noticeable difference in time I think the click sound was
> "right there", be it in my head or the surrounding environment.
>
> There wasn't any metal other than two residential size mail boxes within
> around 10' and I was just in a residential neighborhood.
>
> I've heard about meteors making sounds in the grass as the long-wave rf(?)
> rustles it too.
>
> I think I'll buy the microwave auditory phenomenon first since the sound
> seemed to not come from a specific direction either.
>
> Chip
>
> On Mon, 9 Jul 2007, High Voltage list wrote:
>
> > Original poster: Steven Roys <sroys@xxxxxxxxxx>
> >
> >
> >
> > ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> > Date: Sun, 08 Jul 2007 18:21:58 -0500
> > From: Bert Hickman <bert.hickman@xxxxxxxxxx>
> > To: High Voltage list <hvlist@xxxxxxxxxx>
> > Subject: Re: Close lightning strike and strange tick (fwd)
> >
> > High Voltage list wrote:
> > > Original poster: Steven Roys <sroys@xxxxxxxxxx>
> > >
> > >
> > Hi Chip,
> >
> > I had the same experience several years ago, under very similar
> > circumstances. I heard it as a "tick" or "click", very similar to your
> > description. It was a quick, short click, but considerably "duller" than
> >   the sharp snap of an electric spark, and it was simultaneous with the
> > first flash.
> >
> > One possibility is that you an incomplete upward leader from a very
> > nearby object. However, I don't think this was the case, since the sound
> > was not a sharp, spark-like crack. Another possibility is that, with the
> > main discharge, the nearby electrical field suddenly changed. This might
> > cause a sudden movement of leaves on trees, blades of grass, etc.
> > However, I wouldn't expect the noise to be a brief "tick" since the area
> > affected by the E-field change would be fairly large and the sound more
> > distributed.
> >
> > Another possibility, and the one I suspect, is that you actually
> > detected the electromagnetic impulse from the lightning strike itself.
> > If so, it may be related to a phenomenon known as the "microwave
> > auditory phenomenon" (also known as the "microwave hearing" or "Frey
> > Effect"). This occurs when humans (and some animals) are subjected to
> > short impulses of microwave radiation. The exact mechanism(s) are not
> > completely understood. Some theories invoke thermal-acoustic pulse,
> > which is induced within the water in your soft tissues and then detected
> > by your inner ear. Other research implies that there may be more direct
> > detection processes going on within the brain itself. For a pulsed
> > microwave signal, the "sound" that is heard is a click coincident with
> > the leading edge of the pulse. Changing the parameters of the pulse can
> > change the sound, and audio modulated words can also be detected...
> > sounding sort of like a Cylon (robot-like).
> >
> > There is no doubt that the above effects are real and repeatable for
> > microwave and radar pulses... perhaps for lightning RF impulses as
well??
> >
> > Bert
> > -- 
> > **************************************************
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> > ***************************************************
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>