Slidings - No 1 - 1990 02

Magazine Overview

Title: slide
Subtitle: Street Lamp Interference Data Exchange
Issue: Number 1
Date: February 1990
Co-ordinator: Hilary Evans

This is the inaugural issue of 'slide', a bulletin dedicated to the exchange of data and observations concerning Street Lamp Interference (SLI). The publication aims to gather preliminary thoughts and observations, with the hope that patterns will emerge and ideas will be generated. The co-ordinator emphasizes the importance of collecting data without imposing premature direction or filters.

Spontaneous or Deliberate?

The issue begins by exploring whether SLI events are spontaneous or deliberate. While most reports suggest SLI cannot be ordered, some individuals claim to be able to influence it. Syd Ellis of Hickory, North Carolina, recounts an experience in September 1980 where a mercury vapor street light went out as she passed it. This effect has persisted, and she notes that while lights often go off by themselves, she can occasionally make them go out by trying. She also observes that the lights were always on the next day.

The Emotional Element

There appears to be a general consensus that emotional state is a crucial factor in SLI. A Belgian informant stated they could 'do' SLI only when emotionally aroused. Syd Ellis further elaborates that the phenomenon has decreased as she has aged, but she notices lights going out over her head when she gets aggravated. However, she also notes that SLI mostly happens when she is elated, though being upset can also cause it.

Concentration and Mental State

Dr George Egely from Budapest, Hungary, relates SLI to mental concentration. During his evening walks home from 1976 to 1979, while deeply engrossed in computational problems, he noticed about twenty instances where mercury vapor lamps went out as he walked under them. These lamps would stay off for the night but function normally the next day. The conditions were consistent: maximum concentration on his problem, ignoring the outside world, and sometimes experiencing a mild pain at the back of his head. He was in good physical condition during these events.

Steven Yaple of Fullerton, California, discusses his own psyche, noting that during the period he first noticed the phenomenon, he tended to be lonely and unhappy. He sensed a great deal of energy during his walks, though he couldn't correlate it directly with the street lights going out. He also reported hearing humming from power lines.

An anonymous sysop on the PSINET computer bulletin board, reported by Steven Yaple, described a recurring occurrence over 9-12 months where a specific street light would go out when he was exactly underneath it. This happened about a dozen times in a year. He noted that about 50% of the time he was not thinking of anything specific, and the other 50% of the time he was somewhat upset. Recently, he witnessed a similar event with three large square lights on a building, with the last light going out as he drove by, coinciding with him getting angry about an earlier incident.

David Lang of Eugene, Oregon, presents a different experience, stating that mood, thoughts, and emotions do not seem to correlate with his SLI experiences. He has 'zapped' lights while in various emotional states, alone or with friends, day or night, on busy or side streets.

State of Health

George Egely suggests that physical state might be important, stating that SLI has never happened to him when he was even a little bit sick.

Type of Lamp

Syd Ellis mentions mercury vapor lamps and fluorescent lights. George Egely confirms that in 1979, the effects he experienced were repeated on mercury lamps in a different district but never with tungsten lamps. David Lang wonders if the phenomenon is related to regular light bulbs or house fluorescents, and hypothesizes that street lamps, which are often on light-sensing switches, might be tricked into thinking it's daytime by his energy at certain times. He has not been able to test this hypothesis as he has not zapped any lights since developing the idea. A sysop named Ron Carter, reported by Steven Yaple, notes that street lights go out when he is near them, usually with new mercury vapor lamps, but recently it has spread to regular bulbs.

After-effects

Syd Ellis reports that SLI doesn't seem to cause any after-effects. When it first occurred, she was concerned because she didn't understand it, but now she enjoys it.

SLI Linked with Other Capabilities?

The issue speculates on what kind of person is 'SLI-able'. Steven Yaple suggests that SLI might involve a different type of psychic ability, but notes that unusual experiences like SLI are not uncommon for him. He highlights synchronicity as a powerful concept, with synchronous events occurring frequently in his life. He sees street lights going out when he is near them as just another part of life, not necessarily caused by him but occurring when he is around.

Syd Ellis reflects on coincidences, noting that from childhood, they caused her to question how many coincidences it takes to make reality. She believes she is somehow connected to everything, causing lights or machines to stop when she walks by if she's 'being a certain way', though she feels it's internal.

David Lang mentions knowing his computer was going to die before it did, and occasionally fixing broken electrical things by simply opening the case and looking inside. He wonders if this is sensing or causing.

Hilary Evans ([HE]) notes that some colleagues are 'machine-friendly' while others are not, questioning if this is linked. He recounts a woman who experienced SLI and also affected electrical equipment, causing supermarket check-out tills to malfunction when she reached the head of the queue. Evans believes that for some, SLI ability may be linked to 'gifts' related to other types of equipment, usually electrical.

Ron Carter, the sysop, relates SLI to a weirder ability: finding parking spaces no matter where he goes. This has been consistent for him, with parking spaces available on a regular basis, often with time on the meter and close to his destination. He questions if this is precognisance of a space.

Rhonda Lee, responding to Ron Carter, shares similar eerie experiences, but focused on electricity. She reports that when she gets too close to a safe in a 7-11 store, it will start popping out money. On windy days, electricity builds up more, requiring her to ground herself. She has crashed computer systems, shocked boyfriends, and has problems with computers, digital electronics, and copy machines.

Ann Joplin also reports the same phenomenon with lights, stating she can go by certain lights on different nights and put them out, seeking an explanation.

Suggested Explanations

While it is premature to synthesize ideas, the issue presents several suggestions. George Egely proposes that during SLI incidents, a special, unknown type of magnetic field is created around the body, temporarily changing the fundamental properties of materials, such as tensile stress and electric conductivity. He notes similar effects in 'metal bending' and around ball lightning.

Steven Yaple points to Loyd Auerbach's book 'ESP, Hauntings and Poltergeists', which references a caller on WNBC-Radio's 'Edge of Reality' show in June 1984 who reported street lights going off as he walked by. Yaple also received a similar call later. He suggests that while this could be paranormal, it's also probable that headlights of passing cars were reflected into the photoelectric cells of the lamps, causing them to turn off. This is supported by Jim Reeb, a PSINET contributor, who added that headlights need not shine directly on the sensor but can be reflected by an overhang.

Steven Yaple questions this explanation, as he doesn't recall passing cars in many of his experiences, and wonders why SLI wouldn't occur more frequently if it were caused by passing cars. He suggests testing the hypothesis by trying to make a street light go out that someone recently had the SLI experience with.

The issue acknowledges that Auerbach's explanation might be inadequate but stresses the importance of considering all suggestions to eliminate factors like passing cars.

Dennis Stillings of the Archaeus Project in St Paul offers practical suggestions. He advises talking to street lamp manufacturers about idiosyncrasies and whether lamps respond to changes in fields or capacitance. He suspects some street lights are sensitive to light changes and may fluctuate easily, especially at twilight. He shares an experience with bridge lights in Minneapolis that seemed to go off and on as vehicles approached and departed, relieving him of personal psychokinetic responsibility. He also describes a malfunctioning streetlamp near his home that would go out as he approached, but he discovered it was arbitrary and not related to him. Stillings proposes that a distinguishing characteristic of truly anomalous SLI is that the lights, once out, stay out for the rest of the night, only to come on again the next night. He questions if this rule is sufficient to distinguish anomalous SLI from spurious effects.

Recurring Themes and Editorial Stance

This first issue of SLIDE establishes a collaborative and open-minded approach to investigating Street Lamp Interference. The recurring themes are the personal experiences of individuals who report street lights behaving anomalously in their presence, the potential influence of the individual's mental and emotional state, and the exploration of various explanations, from mundane environmental factors to more speculative psychic phenomena. The editorial stance is one of data collection and open inquiry, encouraging readers to share their own observations and contribute to understanding the phenomenon. The issue highlights the potential link between SLI and other anomalous abilities, such as precognition, synchronicity, and the manipulation of electrical equipment, suggesting a broader spectrum of unexplained human capabilities.