# Can people have the ability to extinguish streetlights with their bodily emanations.. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [January 26, 2007, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-have-the-ability-to-extinguish-streetlights-with-their-bodily-emanations/389502 "2007-01-26T01:22:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2007, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-have-the-ability-to-extinguish-streetlights-with-their-bodily-emanations/389502/21 "2007-01-26T20:47:15Z")
I’ve noticed sometimes that streetlights go off or on when I’m near them. It must be me, because I _never_ notice far-away street lights going off or on. I can’t think of a single example when I’ve noticed a streetlight that’s out of my visual range behaving strangely. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2007, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-have-the-ability-to-extinguish-streetlights-with-their-bodily-emanations/389502/22 "2007-01-26T21:31:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Eloquent, aren’t we? Here’s the thing. If the answer had been “yes”, then he could have followed it up with descriptions of how it might be possible, or case studies on folks who could do it, or other forms of elaboration. But given that the answer is “no”, what more is there to say? They cannot do it in a box, they cannot do it with a fox, they cannot do it in a house, they cannot do it with a mouse, they cannot do it here or there, they cannot extinguish streetlights anywhere? While amusing, such an answer really wouldn’t have added any more information, so it’s best to just go with the simple, concise single word. ---
**Author:** ![Khampelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Khampelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khampelf)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2007, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-have-the-ability-to-extinguish-streetlights-with-their-bodily-emanations/389502/23 "2007-01-26T22:47:50Z")
[QUOTE=Chronos] While amusing, such an answer really wouldn’t have added any more information, so it’s best to just go with the simple, concise single word. [/QUOTE] But, Chronos. But what about a streetlight with a really hot burning filament and brittle bulb. Then someone spits on it, cooling it enough in one spot enought to cause a contraction differential that cracks the bulb, spoils the vacuum, and ruins the filament. That would be extinguishing a streetlight with a bodily emanation, wouldn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2007, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-have-the-ability-to-extinguish-streetlights-with-their-bodily-emanations/389502/24 "2007-01-27T09:53:12Z")
The reference to Angélique Cottin piqued my interest - not least because getting compass needles to move is a simple magic trick that I can plausibly see a 14-year old girl inventing by herself. Doing some digging online throws up a lot of repetitive pages, of which [this one](http://www.mysteriouspeople.com/poltergeist_girl.htm) is reasonably representative. She’s also duly mentioned in Charles Fort’s [_Wild Talents_](http://www.resologist.net/talent27.htm): > [@](#): > > There are many accounts of poltergeist-phenomena that are so obscured by the preconceptions of witnesses that one can’t tell whether they are stories of girls who had occult powers, or of invisible beings, who, in the presence of girl-mediums, manifested. But the story of Angelique Cottin is an account of a girl, who, by an unknown influence of her own, acted upon objects in ways like those that have been attributed to spirits. The phenomena of Angelique Cottin, of the town of La Perriere, France, began upon January 15, 1846, and lasted ten weeks. Anybody who would like to read an account of this wild, or undeveloped, talent, that is free from interpretations by spiritualists and anti-spiritualists, should go to the contemporaneous story, published in the _Journal des Debats_ (Paris) February, 1846.(4) Here are accounts by M. Arago and other scientists. When Angelique Cottin went near objects, they bounded away. She could have made a perpetual motion machine whiz. She was known as the _Electric Girl_, so called, because nobody knew what to call her. When she tried to sit in a chair, there was low comedy. The chair was pulled away, or, rather, was invisibly pushed away. There was such force here that a strong man could not hold the chair. A table, weighing 60 pounds, rose from the floor, when she touched it. When she went to bed, the bed rocked – The involvement of [François Arago](http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/history/Biographies/Arago.html), the astronomer, is the detail that particularly intrigued me in these versions. It’s his name that’s invariably used to give the story an air of scientific endorsement. However, the most interesting online version of the story is the article from 1864 in [_The Atlantic Monthly_, vol. 14, no. 83](http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20350/20350-8.txt). While this is a journalist writing a secondary account 20 years after the fact in a fairly uncritical manner, the piece does furnish substantially more detail. It turns out that Arago’s initial interest derived from a relatively brief demonstration to him at the Paris Observatory. Then: > [@](#): > > He did not assist at the sittings of the [Academy of Sciences] committee that had been appointed at his suggestion; but he signed their report, having confidence, as he declared, in their judgment, and sharing their mistrust. > > That report, made on the ninth of March, is to the effect, that they witnessed no repulsive agency on a table or similar object; that they saw no effect produced by the girl’s arm on a magnetic needle; that the girl did not possess the power to distinguish between the two poles of a magnet; and, finally, that the only result they obtained was sudden and violent movements of chairs on which the child was seated. They add, “Serious suspicions having arisen as to the manner in which these movements were produced, the committee decided to submit them to a strict examination, declaring, in plain terms, that they would endeavor to discover what part certain adroit and concealed manoeuvres of the hands and feet had in their production. From that moment we were informed that the young girl had lost her attractive and repulsive powers, and that we should be notified when they reappeared. Many days have elapsed; no notice has been sent us; yet we learn that Mademoiselle Cottin daily exhibits her experiments in private circles.” And they conclude by recommending “that the communications addressed to them in her case be considered _as not received_” (“_comme non avenues_”). In a word, they officially branded the poor girl as an impostor. Not an untypical turn of events in the history of such investigations: the miraculous powers disappear when examined more formally, followed by assorted excuses for why this is so. Furthermore, the most spectacular of her manifestations - the moving furniture - don’t seem obviously electromagnetic. All those tables and chairs were _wooden_. To take her as evidence for “electric people” requires isolating some aspects from the overall - and far more sensational - story. One would have to go back to the French primary sources to be sure, but this looks like one of those “nice” stories where all the awkward details have been dropped over many years and multiple tellings. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2007, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-have-the-ability-to-extinguish-streetlights-with-their-bodily-emanations/389502/25 "2007-01-30T13:57:04Z")
What about a gas streetlamp being extinuished – or ignited, for that matter – by [Le Petomane?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Petomane) Sailboat ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2007, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-have-the-ability-to-extinguish-streetlights-with-their-bodily-emanations/389502/26 "2007-01-30T18:01:24Z")
Fascinating account, **bonzer**. One wonders if, a century or two from now, folks will be telling tales of Uri Gellar, and propping them up by pointing out that he was tested by Randi (omitting, of course, the critical detail that he didn’t pass). > [@](#): > > What about a gas streetlamp being extinuished – or ignited, for that matter – by Le Petomane? I doubt he could ignite them… Remember, [Le Petomane](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_394)’s emanations were not intestinal in origin, but merely atmospheric, so he would have the same effect on a streetlight as would a person blowing upon it in a more conventional manner. ---
**Author:** ![DeeCee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9c0ed/32.png) [@DeeCee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeeCee)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-have-the-ability-to-extinguish-streetlights-with-their-bodily-emanations/389502/27 "2007-02-02T03:27:28Z")
OK, I’m new here – and actually – I wasn’t going to register til I saw this thread & realized that there’s others out there like me. I had this big “AHA!” moment (and I admit - a bit of a “whew” feeling when I found out there’s either people with the same problems as I have, or at least that I’ll have plenty of company at the looney bin) Yeah, I’m one of those people that can put out streetlights. Never on demand though. I’ve always thought of myself as a “snuffer” though. I kinda like that term better than a Slider, anyway 🙂 It doesn’t happen as often as it used to, and it normally only happens when I’m upset or thinking hard about something. Then, lights start going out - sometimes 6-10 of them or so - but only when I drive or walk up to them. I get to about 10 ft from one and it will go out --not dim, but just go out with a pop. One right after the other sometimes. I noticed it for the first time about 15 yrs ago, and it didn’t take long before people with me started remarking on it as well. My Ex knew to stay out of my way when streetlights would start popping on me 🙂 Well, apparently not far Enough out of my way – he IS my ex, afterall. 😃 Another odd thing that’s always happened is that I’m unable to wear a watch that runs on a battery. If I wear it while I relax or read, they’ll slow down. If I have one on and fall asleep, the watch stops completely until I wake up again. The self-winding ones are the only ones I can wear. What really got me is that several years ago, I bought a self-winding watch for my sister, and she was thrilled that she was able to wear it. We’d never ever talked about it before then, but she admitted that she had the same luck with watches until I got her the self-winding watch. Someone had told her that it had to do with a high metal content in her blood or something, but – heck. No clue. So – whatcha think? I’m just kinda glad to realize that I’m not the only one that has these things happen. ---
**Author:** ![DeeCee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9c0ed/32.png) [@DeeCee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeeCee)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-have-the-ability-to-extinguish-streetlights-with-their-bodily-emanations/389502/28 "2007-02-02T03:28:17Z")
OK, I’m new here – and actually – I wasn’t going to register til I saw this thread & realized that there’s others out there like me. I had this big “AHA!” moment (and I admit - a bit of a “whew” feeling when I found out there’s either people with the same problems as I have, or at least that I’ll have plenty of company at the looney bin) Yeah, I’m one of those people that can put out streetlights. Never on demand though. I’ve always thought of myself as a “snuffer” though. I kinda like that term better than a Slider, anyway 🙂 It doesn’t happen as often as it used to, and it normally only happens when I’m upset or thinking hard about something. Then, lights start going out - sometimes 6-10 of them or so - but only when I drive or walk up to them. I get to about 10 ft from one and it will go out --not dim, but just go out with a pop. One right after the other sometimes. I noticed it for the first time about 15 yrs ago, and it didn’t take long before people with me started remarking on it as well. My Ex knew to stay out of my way when streetlights would start popping on me 🙂 Well, apparently not far Enough out of my way – he IS my ex, afterall. 😃 Another odd thing that’s always happened is that I’m unable to wear a watch that runs on a battery. If I wear it while I relax or read, they’ll slow down. If I have one on and fall asleep, the watch stops completely until I wake up again. The self-winding ones are the only ones I can wear. What really got me is that several years ago, I bought a self-winding watch for my sister, and she was thrilled that she was able to wear it. We’d never ever talked about it before then, but she admitted that she had the same luck with watches until I got her the self-winding watch. Someone had told her that it had to do with a high metal content in her blood or something, but – heck. No clue. So – whatcha think? I’m just kinda glad to realize that I’m not the only one that has these things happen. ---
**Author:** ![DeeCee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9c0ed/32.png) [@DeeCee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeeCee)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-have-the-ability-to-extinguish-streetlights-with-their-bodily-emanations/389502/29 "2007-02-02T03:42:40Z")
Oh Criminy. I guess that post was so good that it shows up twice. :smack: :smack: :smack: Ah, it truly sucks being a newbie somewhere! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-have-the-ability-to-extinguish-streetlights-with-their-bodily-emanations/389502/30 "2007-02-02T15:33:45Z")
\*\*DeeCee \*\*–I think you’re only noticing the times the light goes off, not the vast number of times the light _doesn’t_ go off. Also, stop buying cheap watches. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-have-the-ability-to-extinguish-streetlights-with-their-bodily-emanations/389502/31 "2007-02-02T17:14:48Z")
Outside the house in which I used to reside, there is a streetlamp which for over two years now has periodically shut itself off and then relit. The time interval has been slowly decreasing. At first, it happened once every hour or so. Now, it stays on for only about two minutes. Early on, had I walked past it at the right times, it would have seemed I was putting it out. Fortunately, I would have been spared the belief this was true by the fact it was also going out when I didn’t walk by. Now that it goes out off and on all night, the lack of causation is obvious. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DeeCee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9c0ed/32.png) [@DeeCee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeeCee)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-have-the-ability-to-extinguish-streetlights-with-their-bodily-emanations/389502/32 "2007-02-02T21:59:02Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] \*\*DeeCee \*\*–I think you’re only noticing the times the light goes off, not the vast number of times the light _doesn’t_ go off. Also, stop buying cheap watches. [/QUOTE] Right. Gosh, now why didn’t I think of that??? Along with all of the people that have been with me and remarked upon it. Hmmm. :dubious: Also, you’ll be pleased to note that I now have a $500 Movado watch that I never have problems with - ooops – it’s self winding. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-have-the-ability-to-extinguish-streetlights-with-their-bodily-emanations/389502/33 "2007-02-02T22:22:28Z")
[QUOTE=DeeCee] Right. Gosh, now why didn’t I think of that??? Along with all of the people that have been with me and remarked upon it. Hmmm. :dubious: [/QUOTE] No doubt you’re being entirely forthcoming here, but unfortunately your claims do not stand up to scientific scrutiny. Humans, like all animals with a nervous system, do emit a weak electrical field. Some animals, like sharks and platypuses, are capable of sensing this field and using it to home in on prey. However, it’s such an extremely weak field, there is no possibility of it having any measurable effect on things like streetlamps and watches, which is why it takes very sensitive and specially-designed equipment to detect. If it were strong enough to affect a streetlamp some thirty feet or more above you, you’d be electrocuted by your own E-field. Since you’re here, that clearly hasn’t happened. Whatever effects you’re observing, you are not the cause of them. I’m curious, have you ever had an EEG or EKG taken? If you have, and the technician running the equipment didn’t faint or gasp in shock and awe, then chances are quite good that your electric field is no stronger than anyone else’s. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-have-the-ability-to-extinguish-streetlights-with-their-bodily-emanations/389502/34 "2007-02-02T22:44:35Z")
[QUOTE=DeeCee] Another odd thing that’s always happened is that I’m unable to wear a watch that runs on a battery. If I wear it while I relax or read, they’ll slow down. If I have one on and fall asleep, the watch stops completely until I wake up again. [/QUOTE] If it is literally true that a normal battery powered watch slows down whenever you relax or read, you probably qualify for the JREF Million Dollar Challenge. If you are interested in winning a million dollars, let me know. I am serious. If you can really do this, I feel certain the million would be yours. ---
**Author:** ![DeeCee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9c0ed/32.png) [@DeeCee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeeCee)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-have-the-ability-to-extinguish-streetlights-with-their-bodily-emanations/389502/35 "2007-02-03T00:18:06Z")
Look guys, I appreciate your replies on this, but I’m not claiming that I have some kind of electrical field or whatever that puts out lights. All I AM saying is that it happens – why? I dunno. I can’t mind-bend spoons or light matches with my thought waves or float paperclips in the air or anything like that. Have to admit though – never tried it & really have no interest in trying. The lights & watches are just observations. If I were in it for fame & glory, I think I’d have gone to some other site, don’t you? I’ve actually been embarrassed more by it all and have only talked about it with a couple of people until I saw the posts here and thought there were others with the same weird things going on. Guess I was wrong. Oh hell yeah, if someone wants me to wear a watch for a million bucks, sign me up. I haven’t had it happen in about 6 yrs (when the Movado was purchased) but for a million bucks I guess I could stap one on & see, eh? It’s not a scam, I’m not nuts, and I don’t pretend to know what the answers are - or what science says the answers AREN’T. I’m just happy to know that I’m not the only one that has those things happen. I’m not trying to force you to believe me. Maybe the only ones that really believe are the ones that it happens to, and that’s ok too. It’s your choice. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-have-the-ability-to-extinguish-streetlights-with-their-bodily-emanations/389502/36 "2007-02-03T06:39:14Z")
[QUOTE=DeeCee] Oh hell yeah, if someone wants me to wear a watch for a million bucks, sign me up. I haven’t had it happen in about 6 yrs (when the Movado was purchased) but for a million bucks I guess I could stap one on & see, eh? [/QUOTE] [Here you go](http://randi.org/research/index.html). Just don’t let **Peter Morris** see this. 😉 In any case, regardless of your observations, the only force in nature capable of the effects you describe is the electromagnetic force. Take it from one who has studied and worked with various aspects of electrical theory for the past 25 years or so–there’s no way the effects you think you’re seeing are coming from you or anyone else. I don’t think you’re nuts, but I do think you’ve convinced yourself that you’re seeing something that isn’t really there. You wouldn’t be the first; it’s happened to some pretty sharp minds throughout scientific history. Look up the astronomer Percival Lowell and what he thought he saw on Mars that wasn’t actually there. The human Belief Engine is a powerful force. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-have-the-ability-to-extinguish-streetlights-with-their-bodily-emanations/389502/37 "2007-02-04T13:19:35Z")
[QUOTE=DeeCee] It’s not a scam, I’m not nuts, and I don’t pretend to know what the answers are - or what science says the answers AREN’T. I’m just happy to know that I’m not the only one that has those things happen. I’m not trying to force you to believe me. Maybe the only ones that really believe are the ones that it happens to, and that’s ok too. It’s your choice. [/QUOTE] I did not mean to assert that it was a scam, or that you were nuts. And the JREF is not interested in \*why \*such phenomena occur, only \*that \*they occur. It is not a question of believing. Either it happens or it doesn’t. If watches slow down or stop when you are wearing them you can win a million dollars. Now, if it were me, rather than get defensive I would apply ASAP for the Challenge. In April the rules will change and getting the preliminary test will be more difficult. As it is, at a cost of a few hours of your time you stand to one million dollars richer. What have you got to lose? Seriously. What possible reason could you have for not applying? Let us know how this works out. If you need any help, let me know. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-have-the-ability-to-extinguish-streetlights-with-their-bodily-emanations/389502/38 "2007-02-05T09:40:56Z")
I’ve never admitted this before, but I have a similar ability to the street light snuffers. When I am in a forest, any trees that happen to fall make a loud noise. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-have-the-ability-to-extinguish-streetlights-with-their-bodily-emanations/389502/39 "2007-02-05T17:32:43Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] I’ve never admitted this before, but I have a similar ability to the street light snuffers. When I am in a forest, any trees that happen to fall make a loud noise. [/QUOTE] Don’t be so full of yourself. It could be someone else in the forest, someone you don’t know about, who is causing the trees to make a sound. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-have-the-ability-to-extinguish-streetlights-with-their-bodily-emanations/389502/40 "2007-02-05T20:43:51Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] I’ve never admitted this before, but I have a similar ability to the street light snuffers. When I am in a forest, any trees that happen to fall make a loud noise. [/QUOTE] How do you know they don’t make a loud sound when you are not around? 😃😃 How do you know that they don’t fall and NOT make a loud sound, and you just don’t notice?? Quite appropos of nothing, just how often do trees fall down while you are in a forest?? 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-have-the-ability-to-extinguish-streetlights-with-their-bodily-emanations/389502.md?page=1)