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(meteorobs) (Human) antennae
At 03:19 PM 4/23/97 -0400, Thomas Ashcraft wrote:
>I have attempted some ELF-meteor experiments myself and have negative
>results. I do believe that ELF receptions may be possible though but they
>may require larger fireballs to generate enough radiation to be detectable.
> I feel that ELF experimentation is worth pursuing as it may shed light on
>the question of whether or not a human can "hear" or directly sense a
>fireball. In certain instances, some humans can directly receive different
>sorts of radio emissions including ELF events.
Hi, Tom. This lead me to an interesting question about ELF and
electrophonic sounds - one of my favorite topics lately, it seems... :>
For some reason, I had never considered the possibility that electrophonic
sound might actually be the result of DIRECT reception of radio waves by
the human body!
I'm familiar with some pop-culture references to direct human radio
perception. (Anyone remember the Partridge Family episode where the girl
keyboardist kept messing up on-stage? She'd just gotten a new filling, and
was picking up local radio stations... ;>) Anyway, I've now perceived
immediate sounds from TWO meteors in my life, one in the 70s, and one
associated with a -7 fireball during last November's Leonids. Meanwhile
however, George Zay has observed for probably tens of thousands of hours,
and has NEVER heard a sound he would attribute to electrophonics... I don't
believe Norm McLeod has either, and his record is certainly in the many
tens of thousands of hours.
My point: my mouth is filled with metal (bad dental care as a child - I'm
not too proud to admit it :>). I'm not sure about George, but I know Norman
is a regular brusher. Could there be a verifiable correlation here?
A somewhat whimsical question, as I would doubt that the human body would
be LARGE enough to make an effective detector for ELF or VLF. Still...
Smilin' Lew