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