Phantom Lightning
WILLIAM T. REID
I've taken quite a bit of lightning video with a Sony Hi-8 camcorder the past 4
years, and there are a few frames (out of 20+ two-hour tapes) in which a weak,
stray lightning bolt appears to strike the ground quite close to the camera.
These stray bolts occur at the same time (or within one video-frame) of a
typical, much more distant CG lightning bolt which is caught by the camcorder.
This type of stray bolt is demonstrated in a couple of chase videos produced by
Warren Faidley (who thought the bolt was real). In addition, last month's
Stormtrack had an article in which the author believed that lightning stuck
within a few yards of the camera. In none of these examples, including those
from my video, is sudden thunder heard or mentioned.
A friend of mine, well-versed in electronics, is convinced that these nearby
"stray" bolts are the product of the camcorder's mechanical method of taking
video (associated with the CCD), and that they are not real. I am inclined to
believe, too, that they are phantom bolts. Has anyone out there had similar
"phantom" lightning bolts show up on your video? Was your camcorder a Sony (or
Sony clone)? Do you, too, think that these are phantom bolts?
One other lightning-related tidbit: Two chaser friends and I were set up with
tripods and cameras, watching a thunderstorm (near Dalhart last spring) with
occasional CG lightning. The storm and its lightning were a few miles away. We
were set up beneath a line of telephone wires, believing that they afforded a
bit more safety from lightning (i.e., any nearby lightning would strike the
higher poles, not us). We began to hear a steady, quite noticeable
hissing/buzzing sound in these wires---the buzzing would get louder and then
immediately cease when lightning struck the ground a few miles away. This
sequence repeated itself several times, and when we finally figured out the
pattern of buzzing/bolt/no buzzing, it scared the heck out of us and we were
back in the car in a jiffy! Have you other chasers experienced this? This was
the first (and only) time I've heard wires buzz and hiss. It makes me wonder
about the extra safety afforded by overhead wires out in the middle of nowhere.
By the way, our hair did not stand up on end.
Bill Reid
TESSA
Woodland Hills, California
CompuServe 73551,2512
Chris Novy
>Hi everyone--
>
>I've taken quite a bit of lightning video with a Sony Hi-8 camcorder the past 4
>years, and there are a few frames (out of 20+ two-hour tapes) in which a weak,
>stray lightning bolt appears to strike the ground quite close to the camera.
I'd really need to see a copy of the video to have a *real* opinion. CCD
cameras *can* produce artifacts though. However, high-speed recording
devices (such as CCDs) often catch things that are not visible to the naked
eye. In other words, you may indeed have discovered an interesting new
phenomena.
>Warren Faidley (who thought the bolt was real). In addition, last month's
>Stormtrack had an article in which the author believed that lightning stuck
>within a few yards of the camera. In none of these examples, including those
>from my video, is sudden thunder heard or mentioned.
Very close lightning strikes can sometimes produce no recordable thunder
either because the shock wave is too close (and outwardly moving) or, more
commonly, because the audio circuits of the camera (most which use automatic
level control) get momentarily clipped (suppressed) by the sudden bang and
all you end up hearing is a little click --the rest is attenuated.
>...We began to hear a steady, quite noticeable
>hissing/buzzing sound in these wires---the buzzing would get louder and then
>immediately cease when lightning struck the ground a few miles away. This
>sequence repeated itself several times, and when we finally figured out the
>pattern of buzzing/bolt/no buzzing, it scared the heck out of us and we were
>back in the car in a jiffy!
You were probably experiencing the corona effect that preceeds a lightning
discharge. I can't say that I've ever heard it in the power lines (since
I personally stay away from things that could fall on me or ruin a shot).
However, the sounds you described are similar to the "zipper" effect heard
on AM radios just prior to a strike. The zipper is a buzzing low-pitched
sound that slowly increases in frequency (from low-pitched to high-pitched)
until a discharge occurs --at which time the zipper stops. The zipper is
more common when you have multiple antenni on your vehicle and if your
corona discharge balls (the little ball on the tip of the antenna) is missing.
A chaser safety note: If you are in a storm that is producing a lot of
zipper activity, stay in your vehicle. Lightning can strike from out of
the blue --literally miles ahead of an approaching storm. ..Chris..
*====================================================================*
Chris Hayes Novy - WA9V Internet: Ch...@twister.c-lib.siu.edu
Southern Illinois Univ. : Ch...@siucvmb.siu.edu
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Mark D. Conner
>William T. Reid <73551...@compuserve.com> wrote...
>>Hi everyone--
>>
>>I've taken quite a bit of lightning video with a Sony Hi-8 camcorder
the >>past 4 years, and there are a few frames (out of 20+ two-hour
tapes) in >>which a weak, stray lightning bolt appears to strike the
ground quite >>close to the camera.
>I'd really need to see a copy of the video to have a *real* opinion. CCD
>cameras *can* produce artifacts though. However, high-speed recording
>devices (such as CCDs) often catch things that are not visible to the
>naked eye. In other words, you may indeed have discovered an
interesting >new phenomena.
>>Warren Faidley (who thought the bolt was real). In addition, last
>>month's Stormtrack had an article in which the author believed that
>>lightning stuck
>>within a few yards of the camera. In none of these examples,
including >>those from my video, is sudden thunder heard or mentioned.
^^^^^^^^^^^^
Were the camera operators in close proximity (audible to the
microphone) to the camera?
>Very close lightning strikes can sometimes produce no recordable thunder
>either because the shock wave is too close (and outwardly moving) or,
>more commonly, because the audio circuits of the camera (most which
use >automatic level control) get momentarily clipped (suppressed) by
the >sudden bang and all you end up hearing is a little click --the
rest is >attenuated.
If the camera operator(s) were nearby when the lightning struck, I
would think the audio portion would be filled with phrases like "Oh,
s***!" shortly after the strike, even though the thunder was not
audible on tape for whatever reason.
Were the flashes against a bright or dark background (day or night)?
Normally a bright flash is easily visible to the eye, even if it is of
short duration. A photographic strobe can have a duration of 20
microseconds or less at low power, yet is quite detectable (unless you
happen to blink and/or are facing away from the source). If there is
more than one person about, all of them failing to noticing such a
flash is rather improbable. I doubt a camcorder CCD can see a bright
flash any better than the naked eye until you get to a much shorter
duration, and the eye may still win. If the contrast between the flash
and background is sufficiently low, then the CCD may be the better device.
Can you give a few more details about the frames in question?
--
Mark D. Conner - N9XTN Opinions expressed here are
Dept. of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences not necessarily those of the
Purdue Univ., W. Lafayette IN 47907 Government, DoD, Purdue, or
mco...@rain.atms.purdue.edu the author.
Bob McCabe
>I'd really need to see a copy of the video to have a *real* opinion. CCD
>cameras *can* produce artifacts though. However, high-speed recording
>devices (such as CCDs) often catch things that are not visible to the naked
>eye. In other words, you may indeed have discovered an interesting new
>phenomena.
Another possibility is that it is an optical effect. Bright lights with dark
background often produce reflections with in the lens that are picked up by
film (or CCD's in this case). Away to check this is to see if the 'close'
lighting looks like another stroke in the same frame. -Bob
Glenn Durden
>> typical, much more distant CG lightning bolt which is caught by the camcorder.
>> "phantom" lightning bolts show up on your video? Was your camcorder a Sony (o
Sounds to me like simple "internal reflections" inside the lens of the
camcorder.
I've has similar effects with my 35mm camera... because lightning can be so
bright that the internal reflactions in the lens are also picked up.
William=E.=Newki...@ns14.cca.rockwell.com
>low as possible (don't lie down) until the charge (buzzing) subsides or
>lightning hits, then (if you're still alive) get in your car, and get the
>hell out of there FAST! Last year, several KU chasers were zapped, and
around here on the central east coast of florida, such buzzing is considered
normal since the power lines get coated by salt spray - if you can find a
location away from lighting you can see the arcing. the power companies have
some sort of "insulated water" trucks that used to hose off the salt buildup.
at a presentation about a year or so ago on lightning, the speaker held that
being on the beach next to the water was probably the worst place to be
compared to being on the water (making you usually a moving target) or farther
inland (where there are more things to be hit) during a severe storm.
the speaker (forget his name) had taken a lot of pictures using a still camera
on a pendulum and setting the shutter up for "toggle". this way he could get
several stroke components on the same frame of film.
Tuesday, we had some magnificent lightning north of here, our guess was more
than 5 miles away. Many strokes, several lasting over a second. no recorders
available tho...
bill wb9ivr
melbourne, fla.
Roger Edwards
>I've taken quite a bit of lightning video with a Sony high-8 camcorder
>the past 4 years, anf there are a few frames (out of 20+ two-hour tapes)
> in which a weak,stray lightning bolt appears to strike the ground quite
>close to the camera. These stray bolts occur at the same time (or within
>is caught by the camcorder.
Is it before or after the "typical" CG? If it's after, you *might* be
able to attribute it to a post-CG illusion created by the camera.
I've never seen "phantom" lightning show up on any of my Super-VHS video,
but I haven't done frame-by-frame on every second of video either.
[Whoever has the time to do that ain't got enough to do!] The latest
edition of Storm Track documents one such example, from Charles Vlcek, on
a storm that I chased separately down by Crane TX on 11 May 94. It may be
related to a common fault in the different camcorders that they and Warren
Faidley were using, but I suspect it's real. Cloud-to-ground charge
differential affects more than just the immediate (yards to a mile) area
around a return stroke (the visible part of a CG discharge). I've
witnessed (and been enveloped within) corona discharges and noticeable
e-fields well away from visible CG's on several occasions, including once
(23 Apr 89 near Crowell TX with NSSL) when my hair stood on end. NSSL
vans equipped with e-field detectors have documented many variations in
the electric field, on the surface and aloft, under and near
thunderstorms. My guess is that what Bill, Charles, and Warren filmed
were so-called "point discharges," possibly aborted CG channels whose
residual step leaders drew up enough ground charge to light themselves for
a small fraction of a second.
>We began to hear a steady, quite noticeable hissing/buzzing sound in
>in these wires---the buzzing would get louder and then immediately
>cease when lightning struck the ground a few miles away.
You're lucky it wasn't much closer. If that happens, crouch down as
low as possible (don't lie down) until the charge (buzzing) subsides or
lightning hits, then (if you're still alive) get in your car, and get the
hell out of there FAST! Last year, several KU chasers were zapped, and
one had to be hospitalized (she was blown several feet through the air and
stunned, but later recovered) after a nearby discharge jumped from
overhead wires to their equipment. The same thing happened to several
veteran chasers back in the early 80s, and one of them had to be
hospitalized.
On 13 Apr 89, we were taking stills of night lightning that was in a
core 10-15 miles SW of us, when we started getting precip from the anvil
and started dismantling our equipment for safety reasons. Gene Rhoden
tried to open the back door of the van, got shocked, and saw a corona
discharge (green-blue glow) on top of the van. The antennae on the van
started sparking, a barbed wire fence alongside the road was buzzing, and
my hair was standing on end. Gene dove into the van, but I had to
crouch down because I was about 100 ft from the van. After a minute, the
e-field subsided, and we got out of there. A couple miles down the road,
we noticed a big anvil-to-ground flash behind us, in about the same area
we had been standing. We came awful close to being bacon strips.
There's a lesson here for all chasers & spotters - respect lightning and
give it its due. Your life depends on your safety.
===== Roger Edwards =====
SELS (soon to be SPC)
Forecaster
"I FEAST ON THE SMORGASBORD OF ATMOSPHERIC VIOLENCE."
blinking...@gmail.com
discharge. I can't say that I've ever heard it in the power lines (since
I personally stay away from things that could fall on me or ruin a shot).
However, the sounds you described are similar to the "zipper" effect heard
on AM radios just prior to a strike. The zipper is a buzzing low-pitched
sound that slowly increases in frequency (from low-pitched to high-pitched)
until a discharge occurs --at which time the zipper stops. The zipper is
more common when you have multiple antenni on your vehicle and if your
corona discharge balls (the little ball on the tip of the antenna) is missing"