People Who Affect Electronics: Weirdest Stories

Trying to use a radio
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Street lights go out when they approach, lights shatter when they are angry, watches always fail. What's going on with these people?

HUNDREDS OF READERS have responded to the article SLIders & the Streetlight Phenomenon with their experiences of affecting street lights and other electronics. SLI stands for “street light (or lamp) interference”, and it refers to the phenomenon of street lights brightening or shutting off when certain people pass near them. They are called SLIders.

To be sure, there are non-paranormal reasons for street lights to behave erratically, even shutting off from time to time at night, due either to the lights wearing out, malfunctioning, or even reacting to cars’ headlights.

Many people, however, report that they seem to have an effect not only on street lights but on electronics of all kinds. Here are some of the most interesting reports.

EFFECTS ON ELECTRONICS – RUNS IN FAMILIES?

Some people report that electronic machines shut off or go haywire in their presence. “One time, I was to have my neck lasered in a series of appointments,” says Sarah, “and the machine broke six times – on six different occasions.” Strangely, however, she isn’t overloading the electronics. “I went to a science museum and noted that I have an odd effect on the electric experiments,” she says. “I actually generate far less electricity than others – about one-fourth the readings of even my six-year-old son. Am I storing the energy?”

Battery-operated watches are frequent victims of these people, and the trait might run in families. “I have the problem with watches and appliances,” Murph says. “My sister had the same thing. When she passed away, I found she had a box of 30 watches in her closet. I understood right away!”

Tybald says it runs in his family, too. “The ability to affect electrical devices is well-known on my mom's side of the family,” he says. “None of the women can wear a watch; we magnetize the works or no watch battery lasts as long as it should. My mom is the WWII generation, and the jeweler told her to tape a copper penny behind the watch. Jewelers who worked on watches were very familiar with the phenomenon then.”

STRESS AND EMOTIONS

Very often, these people have found that there seems to be a connection between these events and how they are feeling. When they are feeling stressed or angry, their emotions appear to interfere with electronics around them. “I noticed it happens more often when I am stressed,” Kamilla says. “I wish there was a pill to make it go away.”

“I always knew something was different with me,” says James. “Why TVs would malfunction around me, why cars would stall, or lights go out. And it would only happen when I am experiencing an extreme emotion.” JR also noticed that his moods were a factor. “I realized that if I'm in a bad mood, more streetlights seem to go out,” he says.

Blonde knows what that’s like, but her body pain also is in the element in her experiences. “When I get emotionally upset or I am in a lot of pain, light bulbs burn out when I walk past them,” she says. “One time I was at the mall in a lot of pain. I stopped to watch this man working on a model airplane that had an engine. As soon as I stopped to watch him, the motor came on and made the man jump out of his chair.”

Cynthia’s abilities are also pain related: “It usually happens when I have a migraine or a tension-type headache and the lights are bothering me,” she reports.

“For me, whenever I was scared, that's when I was releasing the most energy,” Colada says. “One website I found said that I needed to figure out a way to mentally ground the energy or to calm myself during these times. So now, whenever I turn on lights in dark rooms, I release a slow breath of air and flick on the light switch at the same time. Since I started doing this, I have gone from burning out one bulb every other day, to one every six months or more.”

Depression also can be a trigger, according to Bradly. “It started when I was nine,” he says. “I used to pass by certain lights when I'd walk at night, and whenever I'd walk under them, they'd often glow an eerie fluorescent blue, and then blink out, so I thought they were haunted. Since I am a manic-depressant, whenever I was down the interference would seem to happen randomly and without warning, which would really spook me. Whenever I was feeling up, if I concentrated hard enough, they would light up or blink out and would often glow a warm peach color.” Bradly adds that other contributing factors could make it worse. “Certain stimulants, such as alcohol and caffeine would appear to actually present more extreme results at times.”

Josh can relate to that. “I had an experience when I was double-dosed with acid (LSD) by accident,” he says. “I was walking through a park with my friends and every street light would go out when I walked by it or when I spoke.”

On the other side of the coin, Breezeq says it happens when she’s happy. “It won't happen for a few days, then – bam! -- if I'm driving super happy, street lights turn off or on just as I'm driving under them. Driving home tonight, three lights went out. There's no way this is a coincidence, not this regularly!”

MAN, THE EXPENSE!

One of the most annoying aspects of this affliction is that it can get downright expensive when just about every electronic you touch gets destroyed. “I break every pair of headphones I wear,” says Josh. “I break every printer I use just by printing on it. I go through one laptop a year. And cell phones never last more than a few months before they are corrupted. I had one phone that would do the strangest thing: Every time the battery died it would send my ex-girlfriend the previous 20 text messages I had sent her – all at once. Talk about an annoying tech problem!”

“I have had this ability since I was a child,” Megenta tells us, “but as of late it has become expensive and causing my children and myself to worry. The other day it happened at least a dozen times. In the last four years I have gone through two VCR/DVD players, three phones, two microwaves, numerous lamps, and now my car is reacting to this.”

OTHER DIFFICULTIES

Besides ringing up the expense of having to constantly replace watches, light bulbs, computers, and other valuables, this effect can be troublesome and embarrassing, especially in public. “Last March, I had got the wrong shoes and took them back,” Tonya says, “and when the cashier tried to open her register, it would not budge. A second person came over and still could not get the drawer to open. A manager came and the thing would not open and they were wondering what was wrong with the register. I walked off to get something and I heard it open as soon as I walked away. I told them I have that kind of effect on electronics and other electrical things. I have zapped computers, and restaurant signs have shut off around me only to come back on when I leave.”

MJR was in court, of all places, when his ire started to have its effects. “When I am angry or have gotten into an altercation, it appears to bring this on quickly,” he says. “I was in court with my ex-wife. Needless to say, she was stating lies to the judge. The judge seemed to be eating this up. This made me so angry. There was a lamp sitting on the desk next to my attorney and me. When I seemed to have reached my peak anger, the light on the lamp went very bright and then started flickering erratically. My attorney looked at me very strangely.”

The phenomenon was causing problems for Melanie at her job, who also notes the stress factor. “One of the officers at work took notice and then started spreading the word about me,” she says. “Needless to say, I would have even more problems with the machines around me as my agitation level arose. I would have to reset every single machine I went to because as soon as I slid my card in, it would shut down and freeze. My officer started to comment that this kind of thing only happens with me. His questions made me more uncomfortable and added to the perfect storm with embarrassment.”

More than just embarrassment, this problem can have devastating effects on the job. “My older brother once worked for the state as a computer programmer,” says Nightshade, who also affirms it runs in the family. “One-night working third shift with the state’s mainframes, he patted the mainframe and jokingly told it ‘go to sleep.’ The state’s entire computer network shut down that night and for 24 hours. The fault was eventually tracked down to the mainframe my brother patted jokingly.”

WHAT MAKES A PERSON LIKE THIS?

Kamilla believes her effects on electronics began with a jolting accident. “Since I was about 11, when a 220-volt bad circuit connection threw me ten feet, I am experiencing anomalies with electronics,” she reports. “I don’t wear watches, they stop. Computers stop working as I walk into a bank or store. There was a blackout when I walked into a Walmart twice. My TV got hit by lightning in a bad storm. I have gone through so many appliances and lights and switches for my car, and when it happens it’s like a comet, one after another, then it stops.”

Chad suspects in was a car accident in his youth that brought about his abilities. “I was in a bad car wreck when I was seven,” he says, “and I have read that traumatic experiences can have an effect on individuals and their brains in a positive and or a negative way. When I was eight I began to notice that street lights would go out as I was walking down the sidewalk.”

Then Chad realized he could control it to a certain degree. “Ten years ago I noticed I could shut off lights while meditating,” he says. “I can even manipulate these lights at a distance. The farthest so far has been a half mile away. I hold my arm out and begin to concentrate on the light, then I begin to feel the heat in the palm of my hand, and as I concentrate the heat intensifies, the lights begin dimming and after approximately 20 seconds, the light then turns off. I started meditating over a decade ago and I believe I have been able to ‘exercise’ my ability and effectively concentrate it, and now direct it. My friend and I are going to do some tests, like checking the temp of my palm as I do this as some sort of proof for others.”

Meditation has also helped Velma. “I now practice meditation and have learned to reign in my energy,” she says, “and yes I wreck more electronics when I am stressed, so the deep breathing calms me down. I feel more at peace. I wonder if there is a way to use this energy to help others.”

As to how and why Tybald believes it has something to do with a person’s electromagnetic fields. “I believe this is an electromagnetic anomaly,” he says. “We all have electromagnetic fields. Our fields are different. The question is how and why.”

Nightshade claims a more otherworldly cause for his family’s abilities. “Our family had heavy UFO ‘close encounter’ events during the early 1970s,” he says. “We believe it’s a leftover from those experiences.”

CB has mixed feelings about the “why” of this phenomenon. “I do believe that something like this is a potential precursor to some type of ‘awakening’ and should be considered a gift,” she says. “But I don't consider this a gift at all – but rather a curse.”

Lee doesn’t see it as a curse at all but as a blessing. In fact, he says his years of experiences affecting street lights might have saved his life one night. “While walking home because my car broke down, I remember having to walk at least twelve miles to my house,” Lee says. “I had to walk through a bad neighborhood, which is not safe during the day let alone at 2:30 in the morning. Two men in a large Cadillac saw me all alone walking along under the street lights. Always aware of my surroundings, I noticed them approaching at a high rate of speed and then slow to take a turn at the corner in front of me. But as they were approaching me, the street light snapped off, giving me time to come up with a safety maneuver, which I was able to do because they lost sight of me.”