May 25, 2004

ZzzzZZZzzzap. See what happens when a power company rigs up a failure on a 500 kV power line.
posted by rolypolyman 20 years ago
  • RP-- Another beauty! (Reminds me of the electric- fence -overrun -by- the -mindmonster sequence in 'Forbidden Planet"! But I'd warn everyone who watches to TURN DOWN THEIR AUDIO!
  • WHOA! That's the kind of thing I always dismissed in movies as cheap, overdone special effects. Had no idea electricity could arc like that. Great post!
  • I could feel my hair stand on end just by watching that vid. The way the arc goes out reminded me of a soap bubble... *POP!*
  • CCCOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!
  • Diz - SNAP! Not a double-post snark, I'd like to point out - different url and the subject matter would be a bugger to search for.
  • Strange; two different sources with different details about the clip. "The video was taken at Eldorado Substation in Boulder City, NV." "This is a clip ... at Southern California Edison's Lugo substation near Hesperia, Calif." I smell a rat!
  • If a rat got in the way of that arc, I'd imagine there would be some sort of smell. I didn't notice the different details. Good spot. I hope it's not a fake, rather just good old interweb Chinese Whispers type stuff. ("Oooh, I don't know the details of where this came from, but everyone'll think it's fake if I don't include the details; I know, I'll put in a load of fake details!")
  • Looks like a really big Telsa coil.
  • Interesting clip, but...whats with the page design?
  • That is the coolest video in the history of ever. whats with the page design? Apparently it's a very patriotic arc video.
  • Speaking about patriotic page design, I have been looking for a page that was highlighted in MeFi perhaps in early/mid 2002 which was absolutely loaded with so much patriotic and "put a boot in your ass, it's the American way" stuff that it was about to collapse under its own weight (and had an eagle at the top and a MIDI to boot). Anyone remember the URL? The other day I spent an hour trying to find it with no luck.
  • rolypolyman, are you talking about the one where the pickup truck was painted with the flag and the eagle and GWB and a soldier? I think it was in the post 9/11 era ... Mefi's down right now or else I'd search for it.
  • mickey - yes, I'm pretty sure that was the one.
  • Success! Haven't found it yet on Mefi, but here's a link to America's Truck. Check out the photo gallery.
  • Unfortunately that's not it... this page had badly written HTML and was severely overloaded with patriotic stuff, plus a MIDI of "Boot In Your Ass". If I find it tonight I'll post it. It was definitely on MeFi in 2002.