From Wikipedia:
Street light interference, or SLI, is an alleged anomalous phenomenon where a person seems to turn off (or sometimes on) street lights, or outside building security lights, when passing near them.
Although street lights sometimes turn on and off by chance (especially at the end of their life cycle), believers in street light interference tend to claim that it happens to them personally on a regular basis, more frequently than chance would explain. Some propose paranormal explanations for SLI, sometimes based on scientific terminology, such as the explanation that electrical impulses in their brain interfere with the workings of electric lights. Anecdotes about people’s experiences of SLI have been reported by news sources.
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13 Comments so far. Leave a comment below.I used to pass by a street light that always seemed to turn off when I would pass by. Creepy.
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Supermarket doors almost always open for me when I walk up, so there’s that.
I pull up to order at fast food drive-throughs and inexplicably they know I’m there.
There was also that one time when I walked underneath my garage door as it was closing, and it actually reversed itself.
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This was one of the first “long” discussions on the snopes.com message boards back in the day (about ten years ago now). I believe the consensus of educated observation turned out to be: chance. The lights heat up then cycle through a cooling down period – the ‘observer’ only notices when the streetlight goes out, not when they stay on, so the frequency of observance is already slanted towards the “bizarre”.
I’m sure there are a few “Coast To Coast AM” specials on SLI, though.
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I used to turn street lights off all the time but I didn’t have any magic powers so I had to use a spotlight to trigger the photo sensor.
Note: the photo sensors usually face south so aim the spotlight from that direction.
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did not realize that such thoughts were so popular. it is a very eerie sensation, especially when you’re in your solipsistic college years and entertaining the notion that the infrastructure of the universe is trying to tell you something.
seems that streetlamps are uniquely positioned to cause this phenomenon (low but nonzero incidence of high-amplitude, slow-period oscillation, with most lamps unaffected). which i consider lucky.
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Most street lights have an optical sensor that shuts them off when ambient light reaches a sufficient level. Most sensors don’t usually react to vehicle lighting but quite a few do. We use the spotlights on our ambulance to ‘shoot em out’ in the middle of the night when we’re bored. The increasing prevalence of gas discharge headlights also tends to increase these occurrences due to their color temp being very close to the sun’s.
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I have seen this. When I was in college, I had a girlfriend who pointed out that when we took walks together at night that we turned off the street lamps (and how convenient that was :>. I thought it was a cute thought, but, rationalist forever, I dismissed any supernatural undertones. I did notice, however, that as we walked down a street, the lights went off so reliably that I noticed when they *didn’t*. I counted once, and found a string of six lights that went off as we passed under each. It wasn’t a scientific sample, but it seemed odd at the time, and I could offer no rational explanation. I looked for this other times, and it seemed it was only when I was with Ellen. She said it was only when she was with me. Shrug.
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I’m with Neil, it’s probably that they perceive that it happens to them a lot. And of course they remember that one night 5 years ago when a lot of lights went through their “warm up, cool down” cycle by chance when they were around. When I was young, it freaked me out that I would often open my eyes at night to see the alarm clock at 11:34, “Hell” upside down. I say “I would often”, but I’m sure I perceive it that way partly because the number creeped me out more than any other, and partly because of chance due to my sleeping cycle. Recently, we (thankfully) were able to fire a guy at work over quality issues, who kept refering to “them” or “they”…”they’ve followed me around from workplace to workplace, sabotaging me”…”they’re making the lights flash every Sunday I’m here” (it was a regular building glitch, whether or not he was there)..”they’re putting messages up on my computer screen that only I can interpret”…I’m so glad he’s gone. Hopefully he’s getting help somewhere.
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I totally have this. It happens to me all the time.
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Thor does it, in order to prove that he is Thor.
Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, or possibly the sequel, The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul. I must read them again, it’s been far too long.
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I remember walking home from school there was one light that I would turn off, almost without fail. I assumed I was triggering a sensor although I couldn’t fathom why a streetlight would have a detector that could be tripped by a lone, overweight middle school student. I suppose it could have been on a timer and the time I left school and my rate of walking were so exact that I just happened to reach the light just in time for it to cycle off. But it’s more fun to use this to nurture my god complex.
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maybe SLI people are walking regular routes at regular times? one possibility
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I’ve been experiencing SLI for 4 years. But in this week, it happens more often than ever. 2 to 3 lights turn off when I passby. And it got weirder now because the lights that had turned off, turns back on when I passby them again.
I am more curious about the scientific explanations of this phenomenon. And I completely dismiss any paranormal issues regarding this matter.
E-mail me some updates about SLI. Thanks!
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