Re: Close lightning strike and strange tick (fwd)

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

Original poster: Steven Roys <sroys@xxxxxxxxxx>



---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 13 Jul 2007 07:26:54 -0600 (MDT)
From: Chip Atkinson <chip@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: High Voltage list <hvlist@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: Close lightning strike and strange tick (fwd)

I'd say that's a good description of the click sound that we heard.  It
was definitely not the crackly sound of a spark.  It also wasn't the sound
of a pop like a discharging capacitor either.  

On Thu, 12 Jul 2007, High Voltage list wrote:

> 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
> > > -- 
> > > **************************************************
> > > We specialize in UNIQUE items! Coins shrunk by huge
> > > magnetic fields, Lichtenberg Figures (our "Captured
> > > Lightning") and out of print technical Books. Visit
> > > Stoneridge Engineering at http://www.teslamania.com
> > > ***************************************************
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> 
> 
> 
> 
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