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This article was originally written for a paranormal magazine called The Paranormal Journal, it became known as The Underground Files covering ghosts, ufos, cryptozoology, and government conspiracies amongst others. I no longer write for the magazine and it is no longer in existence. Solar Flares Hitting Home Satellite systems and power grids could be in peril. A massive bubble of gas, a solar flare, hit the magnetic field of Earth on Wednesday, 29 October 2003 but is likely to have its biggest impact in the Far East and Alaska. Scientists said the charged particles, a cloud like substance, were unleashed at high speeds by a hyperactive Sun and are known as coronal mass ejection (CME) and were travelling at about 5 million miles per hour. “It arrived at six this morning (6 am GMT) and was going much faster than people thought,” Dr. Mike Hapgood, a space expert at the Appleton Laboratory in England, told Reuters. The gaseous cloud that dumps energy into the magnetic field that surrounds the Earth, creating a geomagnetic storm, is unlikely to have much impact on Europe. Yet Hapgood and other scientists suspect the CME produced an amazing aurora, or light show, over Alaska and the Far East, as well as creating some radio communication problems. “The higher up you are… the bigger the effect you see,” said Dr. Lucie Green, a solar physicist at the Mullard Space Science Laboratory in England. Fortunately, there are not many large power grids in the far north so energy disruptions would be low, scientists said, although out in space it could cause interference with satellites and spacecraft. “There were some problems starting yesterday because of the effects that precede the arrival of this shock wave from the sun. Satellites would certainly be affected and that may persist over several days,” Hapgood said. CMEs come around every few days but the one that arrived on Wednesday is one of the strongest. It was described more as a nuisance than a danger to human life; they disrupt mobile phone signals and can cause major headaches for power, satellite communications and navigational companies. “If you’re very unlucky these things can cause power grid failures but it is very rare,” Hapgood said. The effects of a CME can last a few hours or a few days. In 1989, a CME affected power grids in Canada. “That was the wake up call. I think most of the power companies are aware of these problems. If they know it is coming they can take precautions,” Hapgood went on to say. Green believes Canada could experience more problems because it is so far north and its power grids stretch east to west, which happens to be the right configuration to be affected by particles that hit the earth. Wednesday’s massive CME was propelled towards Earth by a huge solar flare that erupted Tuesday. It was classified as a G-5, the strongest category, travelling much faster than other CMEs. The scale of it and the fact that it was heading towards Earth is what makes this one special. “There is a whole period of activity on the Sun that is driving this. It may continue for a week or two so we may get more of these events coming from the Sun,” Hapgood said. Solar Flares Hitting Home written by Bill Barber |
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