weird.

[jarrod]

the weather is perfectly calm & we just had a 3-5 second black out. even the street lights went out. the guy who delivers the newspapers came in right after it happened & said he saw a blue light in the sky right when it happened that definately wasn't lightening.

jf

 

[Brian King]

Transformer blew up would be my guess. It happens.

Brian King

 

[jarrod]

well that just isn't any fun.

would the power come back on immediately after that?

jf

 

[Carol]

The two events don't sound related. A bright blue streak in the sky on a clear, calm night is most likely a meteor. They are the easiest to see when the night sky is clear and still. This is the time for meteor showers, and if you're in KC now, you're in a good part of the country for observing them. My ex (an atmospheric scientist) used to go out to Arizona to try to observe them.

The Geminid and Ursid meteor showers happen every December.

Here's some info:

http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9009335

A power outage that lasted about 5 seconds and was then immediately restored sounds more like human error.

 

[Jade Tigress]

Oh c'mon you guys! It was aliens!!!

 

[jarrod]

Oh c'mon you guys! It was aliens!!!

thank you!!!

sheesh, you people with your..."science".

jf

 

[Carol]

thank you!!!

sheesh, you people with your..."science".

jf

Captain! I'm an engineer, not a conspiracy theorist... :rofl:

 

[jarrod]

like any good trekkie has trouble reconciling those two things!

jf

 

[Sukerkin]

Well, given that my job these days is creating control systems for power networks, what happened sounds like it could be a couple of things:

1) An SGT (Super Grid Transformer) blew and the control system fired of an autoclose on the hot-standby (or closed a bus coupler or section), thus restoring the power after the breaker closed

2) A short-lived power surge tripped a breaker and the DAR system successfully reclosed it after the configured delay

To lose the whole power supply that way tho' is indicative of a system topology that's not very secure. Losing one transformer should not cause a blackout. Mind you, from what I know of the American grid system, you make heavy use of low kV pole transformers. So what could have happened is that your local one briefly lost a phase but recovered (unusual but it does happen, especially with DART protected systems).

 

[Tez3]

Well, given that my job these days is creating control systems for power networks, what happened sounds like it could be a couple of things:

1) An SGT (Super Grid Transformer) blew and the control system fired of an autoclose on the hot-standby (or closed a bus coupler or section), thus restoring the power after the breaker closed

2) A short-lived power surge tripped a breaker and the DAR system successfully reclosed it after the configured delay

To lose the whole power supply that way tho' is indicative of a system topology that's not very secure. Losing one transformer should not cause a blackout. Mind you, from what I know of the American grid system, you make heavy use of low kV pole transformers. So what could have happened is that your local one briefly lost a phase but recovered (unusual but it does happen, especially with DART protected systems).

Woo! I love when you talk dirty lol!!. . . . . . If only I understood!!

Definitely aliens imo.

 

[MA-Caver]

Oh c'mon you guys! It was aliens!!!

I'm with Pam... t'was Aliens!

 

[jks9199]

Transformer blew up would be my guess. It happens.

Brian King

Well, given that my job these days is creating control systems for power networks, what happened sounds like it could be a couple of things:

1) An SGT (Super Grid Transformer) blew and the control system fired of an autoclose on the hot-standby (or closed a bus coupler or section), thus restoring the power after the breaker closed

2) A short-lived power surge tripped a breaker and the DAR system successfully reclosed it after the configured delay

To lose the whole power supply that way tho' is indicative of a system topology that's not very secure. Losing one transformer should not cause a blackout. Mind you, from what I know of the American grid system, you make heavy use of low kV pole transformers. So what could have happened is that your local one briefly lost a phase but recovered (unusual but it does happen, especially with DART protected systems).

I'm personally siding on the transformer blew or something caused a few power lines to arc and the system redirected around it after a few seconds.

Want a fun experience... Try being directly beneath a transformer when it blows! LOUD BANG followed by a shower of sparks... I said some unprintable things and someone actually called in to dispatch about what I said! (Some of the sparks actually melted a chip into my cruiser's windshield.)

 

[jarrod]

your little "theories" are great & all, but let's remember that the simplest answer is usually correct. aliens.

jf

 

[Jade Tigress]

your little "theories" are great & all, but let's remember that the simplest answer is usually correct. aliens.

jf

:rofl:

 

[stickarts]

Oh c'mon you guys! It was aliens!!!

Thats what I was going to say!