The Carrington Event | A Short Documentary | Fascinating Horror
"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..."
As always, THANK YOU to all my Patreon patrons: you make this channel possible.
https://www.patreon.com/fascinatinghorror
SOCIAL MEDIA:
► Twitter: https://twitter.com/TrueHorrorTales
► TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fascinatinghorror
► Suggestions: hello@fascinatinghorror.co.uk
MUSIC:
► "Glass Pond" by Public Memory
#Documentary #History #TrueStories
As always, THANK YOU to all my Patreon patrons: you make this channel possible.
https://www.patreon.com/fascinatinghorror
SOCIAL MEDIA:
► Twitter: https://twitter.com/TrueHorrorTales
► TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fascinatinghorror
► Suggestions: hello@fascinatinghorror.co.uk
MUSIC:
► "Glass Pond" by Public Memory
#Documentary #History #TrueStories
Category
📚
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.