"On the night of the 28th of August, 1859, skies around the world lit up with spectacular displays of light. In some places the heavens glowed red, as though reflecting a massive wildfire..."
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LearningTranscript
00:00This video is sponsored by The Magnus Archives.
00:16On the night of the 28th of August, 1859, skies around the world lit up with spectacular displays of light.
00:27In some places the heavens glowed red, as though reflecting a massive wildfire.
00:33Elsewhere, broad bands of white light were seen dancing across the night sky.
00:39For almost a week, skies around the world glowed so brightly that it was possible to read a newspaper at midnight.
00:48Everywhere, people gathered and gazed upwards, terrified and awestruck in equal measure.
00:55The vast majority had no idea what they were witnessing, and could only assume that it was a portent of the end of the world.
01:07Reports exist from many different countries of the strange phenomena that could be seen during the week which followed the 28th of August, 1859.
01:18In Boston, the sky glowed red to such a degree that many who witnessed it believed that there was a fire burning over the horizon...
01:26...at least until the red transmuted to a vivid green.
01:31Elsewhere, witnesses reported seeing columns of light moving across the sky, and spoke of multicolored rays and arches forming, coalescing, and disintegrating.
01:44One account in the San Francisco Herald ran as follows.
01:49The whole sky appeared to undulate something like a field of grain in a high wind.
01:56The waters of the bay reflected the brilliant hues of the aurora.
02:01Nothing could exceed the grandeur and beauty of the sight.
02:06The effect was almost bewildering, and was witnessed with mingled feelings of awe and delight by thousands.
02:16Such was the brightness of these lights that many people rose from their beds, thinking that dawn had arrived.
02:24A group of masons in South Carolina got up and started work on a job site before realizing that it was still the middle of the night and going back home.
02:35In Virginia, a railroad conductor, angered by the sound of larks singing as though it was morning when, in fact, it was only just 1am,
02:45got out his pistol and shot three birds dead so that he could get back to sleep.
02:52At the same time, in Ohio, the sight of the night sky illuminated like a Christmas tree proved too much for one 16-year-old girl.
03:02Over the course of the week-long event she became increasingly agitated, believing that the strange lights heralded the end of the world.
03:11She was ultimately committed to an insane asylum.
03:17At the same time as the Heavenly Light Show was sending the general population into a frenzy of fear and wonder,
03:25telegraph operators around the world were also experiencing bizarre and unexpected difficulties.
03:31Something was wrong with their equipment.
03:34In some places telegraph operators received electric shocks and burns when they touched their telegraph keys,
03:41or witnessed sparks and arcing from telegraph wires.
03:46Elsewhere operators discovered, much to their surprise, that they could unhook their batteries and still continue to transmit messages.
03:56Operators on the American telegraph line between Boston and Portland,
04:01after briefly marveling that they could work without batteries,
04:05went about their business sending the messages of the day as normal, batteries disconnected.
04:12Newspapers during the week of the event were dominated by accounts of the lights in the sky and the disruption of the telegraph system.
04:21In some cases this was all that could be printed, since interruption of telegraph services meant that no news dispatches from the wider world had come in.
04:33All in all these events defied explanation, leaving many to speculate that they were signs of the coming apocalypse.
04:43The actual explanation was rather less catastrophic, and would be uncovered by the report of a British amateur astronomer, Richard Carrington.
04:53On the 1st of September, 1859, he was in his private observatory on his estate just outside London, busily monitoring sunspots.
05:05Sunspots are dark patches often seen on the surface of the sun,
05:10and Carrington had devoted a great deal of time to tracking their movements,
05:14as he believed that their importance was only just beginning to be understood.
05:20While he was busy with his work, Carrington witnessed something unusual.
05:26Two patches of intense white light appeared on the surface of the sun, flared briefly, and then disappeared.
05:34Intrigued, Carrington made a drawing to capture his observations,
05:39something he would later send to the Royal Astronomical Society as part of a complete report.
05:46Although he didn't know it at the time, Carrington had just witnessed two in a series of solar flares.
05:54Solar flares are violent events on the surface of the sun,
05:58which are almost always accompanied by the ejection of a huge quantity of energetic particles.
06:05Of course, the sun constantly emits a solar wind of such particles.
06:11Usually we are completely protected from these by the Earth's own magnetic field.
06:17This field stops radiation from the solar wind from harming us, and prevents it from degrading the atmosphere.
06:25Only a tiny amount of the material delivered by solar winds can penetrate our atmosphere.
06:32Because of the orientation of the Earth's magnetic field, this is most likely to happen at the North and South Poles,
06:40something which results in the phenomenon we know as Aurora Borealis, or the Northern Lights.
06:48During solar flares the sun releases much more material than usual, a huge belch of magnetized plasma.
06:58When this is directed towards the Earth, Aurora Borealis becomes visible far beyond the poles.
07:07The solar flares witnessed by Carrington had just sent another massive dose of magnetized plasma on its way towards Earth.
07:15That evening the terrifying and awe-inspiring lights in the sky would be seen again around the world.
07:23It would be some time, of course, before Carrington's report allowed the flares and the bizarre activity in the skies to be linked.
07:32When they finally were it was decided that the event should be named in his honor... the Carrington Event.
07:41Carrington would have every reason to be pleased to be remembered in such a way.
07:47After all, the Carrington Event made headlines around the world, and while it caused some disruption it was far from deadly.
07:56At the time it must have seemed a bizarre but momentous scientific discovery.
08:01Not something that would pose any real danger to the world at large.
08:08The significance of the Carrington Event, however, should not be missed.
08:13In 1859 electrical technology was relatively basic, with the telegraph system the only piece of technology in widespread use that was reliant on electrical power.
08:26Since then much, much more of the world's infrastructure has come to be dependent on electricity.
08:34Which begs the question... what would happen should a Carrington-level event occur today?
08:42Unlike in 1859 it's fairly likely that we'd have some warning when a geomagnetic storm might affect the Earth.
08:51Systems currently in place should allow us at least one full day to prepare,
08:56and the long-term effects of the event would be very much dependent on that preparation.
09:03A quick and coordinated response would involve taking any systems that might be damaged by the event offline for its duration.
09:12In this best-case scenario, then, a Carrington-level event would mean a week of severe disruption the world over... but only a week.
09:23On the other hand, there is the worst-case scenario wherein we fail to prepare,
09:28or where we don't have sufficient warning of an incoming Carrington-level event.
09:34This would result in some of the most extensive blackouts ever seen,
09:38a simultaneous loss of power, loss of communications, and the failure of most modern technology.
09:47Planes would be grounded, hospitals left in the dark, traffic control in cities absent,
09:54card-based transactions would be impossible, refrigeration would fail,
10:00banking services would be offline, supply chains would crumble.
10:05The world at large could be thrown back hundreds of years in terms of technology.
10:12And this wouldn't necessarily be just for the duration of the event.
10:17If power grids were not taken offline to protect them before the event, permanent damage could be caused.
10:25Given the scale of some power grids, experts estimate that it could take as long as 10 years
10:31to completely recover from a worst-case scenario Carrington-level event.
10:38Finally, it should also be stressed that it really isn't a question of if, but when.
10:46Estimates vary, but it is thought by many that a Carrington-level event
10:51might strike the earth on average once every 150 years.
10:57At the time of recording it has been more than 160 years since the Carrington event.
11:05We are, by some measures, overdue.
11:10If you enjoyed this, or any of my stories, you'll almost certainly enjoy The Magnus Archives,
11:19a horror fiction podcast that was kind enough to sponsor today's video.
11:25The premise of The Magnus Archives is simple.
11:29Each week features a different case file from the archives of The Magnus Institute,
11:35an ancient, London-based organisation dedicated to researching the paranormal and the unexplained.
11:42These are my favourite parts of each episode.
11:45The stories range from dark and creepy to the odd bit of monster horror,
11:50and they're presented in a way that makes them feel unnervingly real.
11:55In addition to that, there's also an ongoing story which grows week by week,
12:00following the experiences of several Magnus Institute researchers as they digitise the archives' collections,
12:07attempting to verify each story as they do.
12:13It's extremely well made, superbly creepy, and it's just reached its conclusion after more than 200 episodes,
12:21which means that you can binge the whole thing from start to end if you feel like it.
12:27I was genuinely thrilled when The Magnus Archives asked if they could sponsor a video,
12:33and I'm not the only one who thinks they're an excellent podcast.
12:38The show has won multiple awards and has a huge, dedicated fanbase.
12:44If you're into horror fiction at all, this is definitely something worth checking out.
12:50To find out more, subscribe or listen for free,
12:53search for The Magnus Archives wherever you listen to your podcasts,
12:57or visit www.rustyquill.com.