Static Bursts Over Oceans/Deserts - Possible New Finding

[OpterOnyx]

Through many years sitting and staring up at the night sky over the ocean and the desert, I possibly may have discovered a phenomenon, that surprisingly, cannot be found on the internet in any form. During the entire night at both locations, where the air is full of salt/sand particles, I believe that winds constantly grinding these particles in air cause micro explosions, which in turn looks like barely visible bursts of light at night, like flashes of lightning without a streak of said lightning. It happens usually every night, throughout the night, just barely noticeable, but once it is noticed, it starts to become very annoying. These flashes of light occur even when there are no clouds to be seen above or anywhere in the distance. If my finding is correct, I am dubbing said occurrence as static-ning. If this phenomenon hasn't been touched on yet, it is hard to see how it hasn't. Unless it specifically just occurs on the beaches around Emerald Isle in North Carolina and around the regions of Albuquerque, New Mexico, I can't see why.

 

Long live the idea of static-ning.

Edited June 21, 2015 by OpterOnyx

[Moontanman]

I know the sand often sparkles at night when you step in it, in some places it distinctly squeaks as well. Maybe such glowing sand whipped by the wind could do this?

 

I used to live in the mountains and often at night under clear skies the tops of mountains would flash and glow, we called it heat lightning, not sure what caused it, could be a similar effect. I currently live near the coast in NC and spend a lot of time on the beach at night, I've never seen what you describe but I'll keep my eyes peeled to see if i have been just missing it...

[Acme]

Possibly blue field entoptic phenomenon or phosphenes.

 

Try recording the scene with a camera sensitive to infrared. (Many Sony HandiCams have this feature.) If you see the effect but the camera doesn't then it's probably a physiological effect and not physical.

[Endy0816]

I've heard of static in relation to sand storms before. Might at least get you started.

[StringJunky]

Just a guess. Floating sand particles (Silica/glass) may be scintillating in the moonlight.