The Street Light Interference People…
Have you heard about Street Light Interference? I hadn’t until my husband, then my boyfriend, pointed out that more often than not a street light would flicker or go out completely when I passed by. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that this phenomenon has a name and that many other people experience similar light-altering effects!
Have you ever had one of these “SLIder” experiences yourself? Is this an endearing trait or is it just utterly creepy?
SLIders: The mystery of street lamp interference
By Hilary Evans
Illustration by Etienne Gilfillan (Fortean Times)
“Streetlight Interference (SLI) is an alleged phenomenon in which it is claimed that certain people, passing near a streetlight at night, cause it to spontaneously extinguish (or if off, come on). Although there are hundreds of reports by both SLIders and witnesses, the subject remains controversial. Though trivial at first glance, closer study shows SLI to be a complex process, rich in paradoxes and contradictions. If true, however, the claims carry profound and exciting implications for science and for our knowledge of human potential.
People respond to Streetlight Interference with amusement or amazement, with belief, disbelief, or relief at learning that it happens to others as well as to themselves. SLI takes many different forms, and people react to it in many different ways. The best way to discover what happens when SLI occurs is to have it happen to you. For those of us who have not had the benefit of personal experience, though, the next best way is to learn what SLIders say happened to them. Jane de la R, a SLIder from Surrey, England, reports:
When living in London, I was able to do it almost at will – I have as witnesses my husband and a large group of friends who, over the years, came to regard my ability as an endearing trait….”
For the complete article click here to go to Fortean Times.
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Jodie on 05 May 2011 at 5:21 am #
This happened to me on several occasions at the end of last year, when I was living in England. At first I just thought it was a random occurrence, but then it started to happen more and more! Sometimes, when I would walk past a streetlight, it would go on, or off, or just flicker. It happened to me a few times with the same streetlight, one that I passed on my way to and from work every day and I put it down to the fact that it obviously needed fixing and the council just hadn’t gotten round to it. But then it happened at other times, with other streetlights elsewhere, and I began to wonder.
I have to admit I’m a believer in signs, and the fact that a white feather fell out of the sky in front of me, in the same spot as this streetlight (but in the morning, when the streetlight was off), is not lost on me. Maybe it’s me, or perhaps there’s something about that particular location?
I’ve been studying in the States since the beginning of the year, and it’s never happened with streetlights. But it did happen with the lamp that was in my room for the first few days after I arrived, when I was alone in the house before my new housemate came home. It’s been nearly four months now, and it makes me wonder if it will start to happen when I go back in September…
I think this is an endearing trait, although I can imagine it being a problem were it to happen all the time!
Lily on 10 May 2011 at 9:45 am #
Great article. This has happened to me for years — in fact, I started a song about it, which I never finished — but now I will. 🙂
Lily on 10 May 2011 at 12:33 pm #
This is a favorite subject of mine, as I have been experiencing SLI for many, many years! Shared this on my facebook page. Thanks for the article.
Jennifer on 20 Jun 2011 at 8:57 am #
This has been happening to me for years, but I noticed it most in college when I would, every night, walk across campus at night. It was always the same street light, and it would always go off as I approached and go back on after I passed. This wasn’t just occasionally – it was every time.
I transferred to another college my sophomore year and again there was a street light at my new campus that would do the same thing with such regularity that one time I was walking by at night with a group of friends and took the risk to tell them as we approached that the light would go out and then back on and one of my friends freaked out when it happened as I said and the others weren’t sure what to say.
Now years later I just recently noticed a light on the highway go off as I drive by 3 lanes away.
It’s so good to know others have the same experience – I’ve always wondered what it is.