# Flashing in Phoenix **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 10, 2012, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flashing-in-phoenix/615388 "2012-03-10T16:50:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flashing-in-phoenix/615388/1 "2012-03-10T16:50:03Z")
No, not _that_ kind of flashing! The kind [caught on a news broadcast](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/10/flashing-phoenix-lights-a_n_1336382.html). I found the traffic cam’s location [here](http://www.abc15.com/generic/traffic/realtimemaps/traffic_cams/traffic-cams-map). (Choose the I-17 Radio Button and then S of Northern on the "Select-a-location drop down menu.) Here is the Lat. Long. ( 33.545794,-112.112303 ) Paste in a google maps query and it should bring you there. I also used an address: 7500 N Black canyon Phoenix AR and various street view tools to get a feel for the area. Assuming the camera is faces N-NNW and that the flash is off to left by a few more degrees and extending a line on a map, it looks to me like the flash was in the neighborhood of [ASU/west campus](http://campus.asu.edu/west). ( 33.545794,-112.112303 ) I’m guessing the high energy laser prank at the pool party went awry when that crusty old dean caught his secretary, D-D Kupps, and Düüfhoser _in flagrante delicto_ in the cabana by turning on all the lights in the complex. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flashing-in-phoenix/615388/2 "2012-03-10T16:56:51Z")
UFO? Weather balloon? Ball lightning? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flashing-in-phoenix/615388/3 "2012-03-10T17:11:41Z")
Yeah, it looked like a laser to me, too. ---
**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flashing-in-phoenix/615388/4 "2012-03-10T18:51:51Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > UFO? Weather balloon? Ball lightning? If you watch the video, it’s NOT a weather ballon. It’s a quick flash. If it was a UFO it was in the process of becoming a UCO. It really looks like it’s coming from the ground and it’s a quick burst. I think by looking at the camera’s location you can tell that the flash comes from the NNW. Looking on the map there’s a mall and ASU. I think the Mall is almost straight N of the camera and it looks to me like that camera isn’t facing N, but rather it’s trained on the road itself and so it’s pointing N-NNW. Given that, I think the flash came from the direction of campus. With the video quality and the time of day, it wouldn’t have had to be a bright flash. And something unreported on a campus makes more sense than something unreported with the utilities. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flashing-in-phoenix/615388/5 "2012-03-10T19:04:21Z")
I’m guessing a transformer blew up (the kind used on utility poles, not the Optimus Prime kind). When I was a kid there was a big ice storm that pulled down a bunch of the power lines, and I remember sitting on the porch with my dad and watching a bunch of similar flashes in the sky for the same reason. ---
**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flashing-in-phoenix/615388/6 "2012-03-10T19:42:36Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > I’m guessing a transformer blew up The story includes these details: > [@](#): > > The two electric utilities that serve metro Phoenix say they didn’t have any reports of electric transformer explosions that might explain the flash. > > Damon Gross, a spokesman for Arizona Public Service, says a blown fuse on a transformer can produce a flash, but he said the utility had no such report Thursday morning. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2012, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flashing-in-phoenix/615388/7 "2012-03-11T21:02:48Z")
I’m not buying the laser idea. It silhouetted the buildings on the horizon, something that would not happen with a coherent laser beam. ---
**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2012, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flashing-in-phoenix/615388/8 "2012-03-11T21:46:42Z")
> [@"neat" touches in films](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neat-touches-in-films/74933/8): > > It silhouetted the buildings on the horizon, something that would not happen with a coherent laser beam. That assumes that the laser is pointed toward the camera. If what we are seeing is the result of the laser beam being refracted by, say, the floor of an indoor pool along with its chemical water content… and an unattended double D cup bikini top? Not to mention the beer! ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flashing-in-phoenix/615388/9 "2012-03-12T08:36:28Z")
Heh, a comment from the news site: “It’s Joe Arpaio’s head exploding.” I will check around as it is in my neck of the woods later today as I will have some time. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flashing-in-phoenix/615388/10 "2012-03-12T11:37:36Z")
I love the last line of the article: > [@](#): > > In 1997, dozens of people saw lights in a V-formation over Phoenix, a mystery that was captured on videotape and spurred calls for a government investigation. Because these two incidents are _surely_ related. ---
**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flashing-in-phoenix/615388/11 "2012-03-12T13:08:06Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > “It’s Joe Arpaio’s head exploding.” > . …would have been a much smaller flash. I’m still fixated on campus. I agree that a transformer exploding could explain things But the Utilities didn’t report anything. ASU West has a central plant that generates a fair amount of power. ([http://www.asu.edu/tour/west/csc.html](http://www.asu.edu/tour/west/csc.html)) I would not be surprised if they have large transformers that could short out and create a flash like that, and it wouldn’t necessarily be reported to any local authority outside the University. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flashing-in-phoenix/615388/12 "2012-03-13T06:32:07Z")
Turns out that breakers can also make quite a show. [http://www.kltv.com/story/17142289/mysterious-flash-of-light-in-phoenix-is-solved](http://www.kltv.com/story/17142289/mysterious-flash-of-light-in-phoenix-is-solved) > [@](#): > > PHOENIX (AP) - A large, fleeting flash of light that appeared in the darkened skies over the northwestern edge of metropolitan Phoenix last week is no longer a mystery. > > Arizona Public Service said Monday that a breaker on an electrical line opened, causing a big flash and a brief power outage. > > APS officials say an employee came forward last weekend and informed them of the breaker opening that caused no damage to equipment and no power line replacement. ---
**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flashing-in-phoenix/615388/13 "2012-03-13T12:44:52Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Turns out that breakers can also make quite a show. I [believe](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GiIVze2Tac) that. (9 sec. video) I’m still curious about where it was. I wonder if APS would be willing to specify? ---
**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flashing-in-phoenix/615388/14 "2012-03-13T13:22:40Z")
According to a [911 call](http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/offbeat/flash-of-light-mystery-solved-3-12-2012): > [@](#): > > [A] woman driving up 35th Avenue and Cheryl… says saw a big explosion and saw sparks coming off of a power line then the power went out. So, much [closer to the mall and quite a bit SE](http://maps.google.com/maps?q=35th+and+Cheryl+Phoenix,az&hl=en&ll=33.578158,-112.134018&spn=0.083093,0.154324&sll=33.565321,-112.128267&sspn=0.020776,0.038581&hnear=N+35th+Ave+%26+W+Cheryl+Dr,+Phoenix,+Maricopa,+Arizona+85051&t=m&z=13) of the campus.