Magnetophosphenes are flashes of light (phosphenes) that are seen when one is subjected to a changing magnetic field such as when in an MRI. This changing field causes current within the retina or visual cortex resulting in the illusion of light. In one series, 8 out of 1023 people having an MRI experienced flashing lights.
Magnetophosphenes have been proposed as an explanation for ball lightning.
References
- "ReviseMRI.com : Magnetophosphenes".
- Weintraub MI, Khoury A, Cole SP (July 2007). "Biologic effects of 3 Tesla (T) MR imaging comparing traditional 1.5 T and 0.6 T in 1023 consecutive outpatients". J Neuroimaging. 17 (3): 241–5. doi:10.1111/j.1552-6569.2007.00118.x. PMID 17608910. S2CID 44619313.
- "Technology Review: Blogs: arXiv blog: Magnetically Induced Hallucinations Explain Ball Lightning, Say Physicists". www.technologyreview.com. Archived from the original on 2010-05-13.
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