Walking past streetlights

[bernse]

I did a search on this but no joy, so please forgive me if this has been asked before.

When I used to walk home from school in the evening, there was always a streetlight that would go off as I approached it. I could never figure out why. I also know I am not alone with this as it has happened to other people I know too...but not always with the same lights.

Example. I was once watching someone ahead of me approach that light and it stayed on. When I got about 5ft away from it, off it went.

Any explanations?

[DrMatrix]

Can some people extinguish streetlamps by means of their bodily emanations? (http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_047.html)

[bernse]

Thanks for the link! Still sounds like too much of a coincidence though... Oh well.

[CalMeacham]

According to James "THe Amazing" Randi, Uri Geler used to take credit for extinguishing such streetlamps when in the resence of the gullible. "It always happens when I'm around", he'd say, with mck exasperation. Why not build up your rep using convenient coincdences?
It got to the point where Randi himself used to joke about it, saying "These things happen when I'm around!" to friends in th know. I think he relates this in his book The Truth About Uri Geller. I've noticed th same thing myself, of course. But if you look at a streetlight that does this for some time -- easy if it's outside your window -- you can watch it cycing on and off, even when no one is nearby.