Touch lights...

Obviously poltergeists. I can't think of any explanation. Seriously, though, I'd say it was probably just a spike on the mains supply, possibly from lightning or another external cause. Otherwise, a fridge or similar appliance switching can cause this, during switch-on or switch-off. You can be pretty sure that it has an electrical cause, not supernatural(superelectrical?). ... Steve

Do a test for me.

Unplug the lights, wait a minute, then plug them back in. Do they turn on?

If not, unplug them again, and wait a shorter period, say 1 or 2 seconds. Do they turn on?

If so, you just had a short power outage. Many cordless phones beep when the mains power returns from a blackout.

I tend to dissagree with the postings so far. This is definately supernataral stuff going on here, no question. Just think how touch-lights work?! A spike or outage or even a dip cannot cause this phenomenon.

I think you should hang pouches of garlic around the offending equipment - indeed add a sprig of rosemary & thyme if need be.

Did you hear a 'BOO' at anytime immediately before or after ther incident?

Maybe Bob needs to invent something that'll measure ghost capacitance.

You're implying that ghosts have an electrical charge. If so, what sort of voltage are they, and how many amps can they deliver. Could a haunted house produce enough electricty to power all of your household appliances? I imagine they would be DC so an inverter would be required to power most appliances. Can you connect ghosts in series to increase the voltage? Do they need recharging? Could a cemetery contain enough ghosts to power a small town?

Elmo

I tried to power a strobe tube from a ghost once. Didn't work very well.

The spirit was willing but the flash was weak.

Just how long have you been waiting for a chance to do that line, Bob? :-)

Peter

I just suddenly thought of it. Atrocious, isn't it? :-)

Bob

Thanks for all the interest, I can't find anything supernatural and I have been unable to reproduce the effect. I tried switching on and of as suggested but nothing happened , the lights just stayed off! I had a look in a spare bedroom where we also have two touch lights and they were on too! Must be electrical but I would love to know how it can happen.

DD

Phil > Do a test for me.

Saw this problem over 10 years ago with touch lamps and telephones being interfered with by the RF radiated from a HF (Ham) radio being operated on 80 metres (3.5MHz). The touch lamps would go crazy and the telephones were unusable while the HF rig was keyed up.

Any new antennas in your proximity? Or maybe an existing ham may have got himself a new amplifier....

Andy

Yes indeed. For Ghosts the square of the mean ripple current is equal to twice the velocity of EMF divided by four times the current delivered into one goul of energy. So therefore it would take six Ghosts connected in series three days and two nights to generate enough power to provide energy to the average household. However one must bear in mind the losses encounted due to the necessary use of an inverter as practically all modern day Ghosts are DC. Getting back to the original post - I suspect the single BEEP was caused by a Ghost farting.

Thanks, I have had a good look around but have not noticed any Ham antennas but will keep looking. The nearest antennae array that I know of is about a mile away but that has been there for yonks.

DD

Andy wrote:

Also have experienced this problem when a complaint was made about irregularities in the mains supply causing a garage door to keep opening plus other odd effects. Turned out to be a small boat radar (the home was on a waterfront).