# Late-Nite Disco Action in my Bedroom? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 23, 2009, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-nite-disco-action-in-my-bedroom/482656 "2009-01-23T16:16:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Daithi\_Lacha](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daithi_lacha/32/5430_2.png) [@Daithi\_Lacha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daithi_Lacha)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-nite-disco-action-in-my-bedroom/482656/1 "2009-01-23T16:16:32Z")
A couple of weeks ago, just after turning off the light in our bedroom and getting verrrry sleeeepy, I had what I could have sworn was a waking dream: a sharp popping noise and a bright blue-white flash visible through my eyelids, like a flashbulb or a strobe light. I surfaced immediately, but since neither my sleeping wife nor pussycats seemed to notice, I wrote it off as a hallucination. Last night, the same thing happened, but I wasn’t asleep. I had just rolled over to slumber but my eyes were slightly open and there it was again: a sharp “zap!” like static discharge and a strobe light flash. Since we haven’t installed a disco in our bedroom, I can only assume the television is the culprit. What is happening here? The television had been off (standbye mode, not off-off) for maybe twenty minutes in both cases. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-nite-disco-action-in-my-bedroom/482656/2 "2009-01-23T16:40:26Z")
Don’t be alarmed, but you might have Exploding Head Syndrome (not making this up!) [http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview/id/134753.html](http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview/id/134753.html) [http://forums.wrongdiagnosis.com/showthread.php?t=2440](http://forums.wrongdiagnosis.com/showthread.php?t=2440) Seems like quite a few people experience things like this. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-nite-disco-action-in-my-bedroom/482656/3 "2009-01-23T16:53:59Z")
I get this too but without the popping sound; it’s like a camera flash going off. It’s only started happening within the last few years, and only rarely, but it’s definitely not a TV in my case. The first time it happened I was pretty spooked—I thought there was someone in my room photographing me! ---
**Author:** ![Daithi\_Lacha](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daithi_lacha/32/5430_2.png) [@Daithi\_Lacha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daithi_Lacha)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-nite-disco-action-in-my-bedroom/482656/4 "2009-01-23T17:07:31Z")
It’s funny, because Lady Lacha & myself were just discussing auditory hallucinations at bedtime just the other day. I get them a lot; this could just be another one for my collection. I was afraid the tv was going to implode. ---
**Author:** ![BetsQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@BetsQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BetsQ)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-nite-disco-action-in-my-bedroom/482656/5 "2009-01-23T17:27:46Z")
Perhaps you should get your eyes checked. Seeing flashes of light can be a sign of [retinal detachment](http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/retinaldetach/index.asp). ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-nite-disco-action-in-my-bedroom/482656/6 "2009-01-23T17:31:24Z")
I get this, without the noise, when I’m really, really tired and just drifting off to sleep. Like someone beaming a flashlight onto my eyelid/s. ---
**Author:** ![Daithi\_Lacha](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daithi_lacha/32/5430_2.png) [@Daithi\_Lacha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daithi_Lacha)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-nite-disco-action-in-my-bedroom/482656/7 "2009-01-23T17:35:02Z")
> [@BetsQ](#): > > Perhaps you should get your eyes checked. Seeing flashes of light can be a sign of [retinal detachment](http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/retinaldetach/index.asp). Well, I don’t fall into any of the high-risk group; I don’t even wear glasses. I’ll keep an eye on this (so to speak), though. It’s about time I had an opthomological exam anyway. ---
**Author:** ![BetsQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@BetsQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BetsQ)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-nite-disco-action-in-my-bedroom/482656/8 "2009-01-23T17:35:47Z")
Here’s another thread: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=462805](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=462805) ---
**Author:** ![ashenRiot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/65b543/32.png) [@ashenRiot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ashenRiot)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-nite-disco-action-in-my-bedroom/482656/9 "2009-01-23T17:45:29Z")
Wow, I get the bright flash, without noise, too. Used to freak me out, especially when i lived alone. Good to know I’m not the only one! ---
**Author:** ![Freejooky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba8739/32.png) [@Freejooky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freejooky)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-nite-disco-action-in-my-bedroom/482656/10 "2009-01-23T17:48:37Z")
Happens to me almost every night. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-nite-disco-action-in-my-bedroom/482656/11 "2009-01-23T17:56:39Z")
Not saying the rest are wrong but do you have a flannel blanket? In the winter mine sparks so bright with static electricity that in my dark room it looks like a lightning storm. I swear I could read by it. It took me a long time to believe that that was what it was because I seemed to only ever see it out of the corner of my eye. Then again it might be all in your head. ---
**Author:** ![Daithi\_Lacha](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daithi_lacha/32/5430_2.png) [@Daithi\_Lacha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daithi_Lacha)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-nite-disco-action-in-my-bedroom/482656/12 "2009-01-23T18:42:08Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > Not saying the rest are wrong but do you have a flannel blanket? > > In the winter mine sparks so bright with static electricity that in my dark room it looks like a lightning storm. I swear I could read by it. It took me a long time to believe that that was what it was because I seemed to only ever see it out of the corner of my eye. > > Then again it might be all in your head. No, no flannel. Actually, I’m in South Florida and although we’re having a bit of a cold spell now, the first episode occured before I had put a blanket on the bed. We just had a sheet & comforter; it was that warm. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![FalconFinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@FalconFinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FalconFinder)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-nite-disco-action-in-my-bedroom/482656/13 "2009-01-23T19:46:23Z")
I’ve had the same thing happen with the static charge from a blanket. No noise that I recall, but the lightning bolt flash freaked me out! I didn’t know what it was until one time I lifted the blanket up for some reason and actually SAW the bolt and then realized that’s what had caused the flash I’d seen before. ---
**Author:** ![ashenRiot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/65b543/32.png) [@ashenRiot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ashenRiot)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-nite-disco-action-in-my-bedroom/482656/14 "2009-01-23T21:01:58Z")
> [@Daithi\_Lacha](#): > > No, no flannel. Actually, I’m in South Florida and although we’re having a bit of a cold spell now, the first episode occured before I had put a blanket on the bed. We just had a sheet & comforter; it was that warm. 😃 No flannel blanket here either… So. Fla. here too. I don’t own anything flannel. ---
**Author:** ![Daithi\_Lacha](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daithi_lacha/32/5430_2.png) [@Daithi\_Lacha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daithi_Lacha)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-nite-disco-action-in-my-bedroom/482656/15 "2009-02-22T09:28:16Z")
So it happened again Friday night, and I didn’t let it bother me. And then it happened last night - AND MY WIFE SAW IT, TOO! So it IS the television and it’s NOT me and I’m NOT crazy i’m not i’m not i’m not! So back to square one: why is our television strobing like this? Also, I think it might happen after we’ve been watching a DVD in the bedroom. We watch, we turn the TV off, lights out, ten minutes later – zztFLASH!!! What goes on here? ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-nite-disco-action-in-my-bedroom/482656/16 "2009-02-22T10:12:47Z")
Sorry…I’ll stop taking pictures it it bothers you. But really, I see the bright light flashes before I fall asleep sometimes. Usually not ofteh, but at least once a month or so. ---
**Author:** ![HongKongFooey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c4cdca/32.png) [@HongKongFooey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HongKongFooey)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/late-nite-disco-action-in-my-bedroom/482656/17 "2009-02-22T14:01:23Z")
It sounds to me like one of the electrolytic capacitors in the power supply is discharging after you turn the power off. They usually cause problems on start-up but they do fail with age quite often. If that High voltage faults will cause the _screen_ to flash blue sometimes but that would appear while the tv was on.