Strange electrical disturbance

Hoosier · 07-27-2013, 09:36 AM

Shortly after 10 pm last night (Friday, 7/26) the following strange events happened at our place on Moultonboro Neck, Boathouse Road:

Blue-white flash outdoors. No thunder.
PC behaved strangely, then shut down. Operates normally when restarted.
Cable TV went off. Operates normally when restarted.
Telephone "dinged" but didn't ring.
Lights flickered, but power wasn't off long enough to require clocks to be reset.
Battery operated smoke alarms emitted a brief squeal.
Lights in the garage door openers went on, but doors didn't open.

Our next door neighbor had an identical experience.

NH Electric Coop website shows no power outage at that time.

Did anyone else experience the same thing? Any ideas about the cause? (My neighbor thinks it was poltergeists)

Hoosier

Slickcraft · 07-27-2013, 10:47 AM

Strong electric field but not strong enough to result in cloud to earth lightning. Similar situation to St. Elmo's fire.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Elmo%27s_fire
It can induce currents in wiring and ding the phone or give the PC a fit.

Lakegeezer · 07-27-2013, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hoosier

Shortly after 10 pm last night (Friday, 7/26) the following strange events happened at our place on Moultonboro Neck, Boathouse Road: Did anyone else experience the same thing? Any ideas about the cause? (My neighbor thinks it was poltergeists)

Hoosier

Happened here too (down M'boro neck). TV rebooted several times, yet the night lights stayed on. It lasted 10-15 seconds then all was back to normal.

sluggo · 07-27-2013, 11:19 AM

A car hit a pole on the neck last night around 10pm and caused some electrical problems. I didn't see any aliens from planet loontoon though

Chaselady · 07-27-2013, 02:21 PM

Pretty creepy, if you ask me!

GTO · 07-27-2013, 03:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hoosier

Shortly after 10 pm last night (Friday, 7/26) the following strange events happened at our place on Moultonboro Neck, Boathouse Road:

Blue-white flash outdoors. No thunder.
PC behaved strangely, then shut down. Operates normally when restarted.
Cable TV went off. Operates normally when restarted.
Telephone "dinged" but didn't ring.
Lights flickered, but power wasn't off long enough to require clocks to be reset.
Battery operated smoke alarms emitted a brief squeal.
Lights in the garage door openers went on, but doors didn't open.

Our next door neighbor had an identical experience.

NH Electric Coop website shows no power outage at that time.

Did anyone else experience the same thing? Any ideas about the cause? (My neighbor thinks it was poltergeists)

Hoosier

I live on thr Meredith/Ctr Harbor line and our lights all flickered for about 10 seconds

Happy Gourmand · 07-28-2013, 05:53 AM

Welcome to the Twilight Zone......

DickR · 07-28-2013, 02:57 PM

At around that time the house lights on the lower Neck and Long Island went dark. Power came back on a little after 11 pm. I figured either someone went into a pole or a tree branch finally gave way somewhere and took out a wire up on the neck.

jetlag100 · 07-29-2013, 07:21 AM

Thanks to that power outage, (really just flickering) I discovered that an outlet in my living room was not working. After investigating, my husband found that the outlet had fried. House is only ten years old. Good things come in very strange ways!

RLW · 07-29-2013, 10:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hoosier

Shortly after 10 pm last night (Friday, 7/26) the following strange events happened at our place on Moultonboro Neck, Boathouse Road:

Blue-white flash outdoors. No thunder.
PC behaved strangely, then shut down. Operates normally when restarted.
Cable TV went off. Operates normally when restarted.
Telephone "dinged" but didn't ring.
Lights flickered, but power wasn't off long enough to require clocks to be reset.
Battery operated smoke alarms emitted a brief squeal.
Lights in the garage door openers went on, but doors didn't open.

Our next door neighbor had an identical experience.

NH Electric Coop website shows no power outage at that time.

Did anyone else experience the same thing? Any ideas about the cause? (My neighbor thinks it was poltergeists)

Hoosier

Hoosier, I just noticed that you are fairly new to posting on the forum and glad you have joined us. Have fun and enjoy the Winni Forum while making many new friends.

May have been a transformer flash...

07-27-2013, 09:36 AM	#1
Hoosier Member Join Date: Jun 2013 Posts: 25 Thanks: 28 Thanked 2 Times in 1 Post	Strange electrical disturbance Shortly after 10 pm last night (Friday, 7/26) the following strange events happened at our place on Moultonboro Neck, Boathouse Road: Blue-white flash outdoors. No thunder. PC behaved strangely, then shut down. Operates normally when restarted. Cable TV went off. Operates normally when restarted. Telephone "dinged" but didn't ring. Lights flickered, but power wasn't off long enough to require clocks to be reset. Battery operated smoke alarms emitted a brief squeal. Lights in the garage door openers went on, but doors didn't open. Our next door neighbor had an identical experience. NH Electric Coop website shows no power outage at that time. Did anyone else experience the same thing? Any ideas about the cause? (My neighbor thinks it was poltergeists) Hoosier

07-27-2013, 10:47 AM	#2
Slickcraft Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Welch Island and The Taylor Community Posts: 3,301 Thanks: 1,222 Thanked 2,088 Times in 955 Posts	Strong electric field but not strong enough to result in cloud to earth lightning. Similar situation to St. Elmo's fire. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Elmo%27s_fire It can induce currents in wiring and ding the phone or give the PC a fit.

07-27-2013, 11:19 AM	#4
sluggo Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Posts: 169 Thanks: 13 Thanked 70 Times in 43 Posts	A car hit a pole on the neck last night around 10pm and caused some electrical problems. I didn't see any aliens from planet loontoon though

07-27-2013, 02:21 PM	#5
Chaselady Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Melvin Village Posts: 309 Thanks: 150 Thanked 105 Times in 73 Posts	Pretty creepy, if you ask me!

07-28-2013, 05:53 AM	#7
Happy Gourmand Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Ruskin FL Posts: 1,027 Thanks: 188 Thanked 322 Times in 179 Posts	Welcome to the Twilight Zone......

07-28-2013, 02:57 PM	#8
DickR Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Moultonborough Posts: 751 Thanks: 4 Thanked 259 Times in 171 Posts	At around that time the house lights on the lower Neck and Long Island went dark. Power came back on a little after 11 pm. I figured either someone went into a pole or a tree branch finally gave way somewhere and took out a wire up on the neck.

07-29-2013, 07:21 AM	#9
jetlag100 Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Revere, Massachusetts and Moultonborough, N.H. Posts: 311 Thanks: 228 Thanked 79 Times in 50 Posts	Thanks to that power outage, (really just flickering) I discovered that an outlet in my living room was not working. After investigating, my husband found that the outlet had fried. House is only ten years old. Good things come in very strange ways!