Abstract
IT is now generally agreed that the majority, if not all, the atmospherics encountered in radio communication originate in lightning flashes. When the storm is close to the receiver, it is possible to identify the stronger atmospherics with the neighbouring flashes. In a recent communication, Mr. P. F. Fyson, Langherne House, Rushwick, Worcester, claims to have observed that the atmospheric crackle produced on a broadcasting receiver was heard before the lightning flash which caused it was perceived visually. If this difference in the perception of the two effects is real it obviously needs verification by other observers it would appear on first consideration that the human eye is rather more sluggish in its operation than the ear; and Mr. Fyson suggests that this may be due to the time required for the chemical change in the retina to affect the optic nerve. An alternative explanation, however, may be found in the fact, which has arisen from recent research on lightning, that an intermittent electrical discharge appears to precede the actual main lightning flash. It is possible that this discharge may be invisible and yet may be capable of producing audible effects on a wireless receiver. These sounds may thus be heard a very short time before the visible flash was observed.
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Lightning and Atmospherics. Nature 138, 278 (1936). https://doi.org/10.1038/138278c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/138278c0
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