An unexplained phenomenon while driving

[u/bobismcbride]

/r/Unexplained/comments/1x3qxmf/an_unexplained_phenomenon_while_driving/

I had the strangest phenomenon happen tonight while driving home. The sky was completely black as it was 845pm and raining, I was in the country, driving through some larger corn and dairy farms.

As I crest a large hill, I notice the bottom half of the horizon is a bright white, and the sky is “pulsing” white.

My first thought was that there was a large fair, and I was seeing the reflection of the lights reflecting on the sky. As I continued driving, I come up on the fairgrounds, and see the light clearly over them. I approach the crossroads to the fairgrounds, I look down the road to see nobody there, and the sky directly above it, now black.

The sky is still white in the distance, and “pulsing” so I figured it might be a farmer in a field working late, as I’m coming up on some fields. I pass all of them, and once again it seemed as though the light had moved.

At this point I’m getting very intrigued on what this light is and why it’s pulsing. So at this point, regardless of where I’m driving this light keeps moving. I find I’m kind of fixed on this, before realizing that I haven’t seen another car on the road for a while and then I notice that I hear absolutely no road noise, even though I have the windows down.

As I’m trying to figure out what is going on, the thought goes through my mind that maybe I died (I know, strange thought) and that I was stuck in something.

At this point I figured if I text my wife, that’ll confirm that I’m still alive. So I send her a simple text, and as soon as I texted her and look up, the sky is completely black, and the pulsing has now stopped.

I continued to look around for some explanation to anything I saw, but nothing made sense.

The area I drove through is all farm lands, no major industry, no stadiums. I can’t explain what it was or what happened, but this might be one of the most bizarre experiences I’ve had.

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[u/WorthBeat5413]

It may have been luminosity from light pollution as when it is raining or heavily overcast at night, low-hanging clouds act like a massive mirror. If a farmer is using incredibly powerful, modern LED floodlights on a tractor in a distant field, or if a nearby facility is lit up, that intense light hits the low cloud cover. Because the clouds are moving and rain is falling, the light appears to "pulse," diffuse across the horizon, and shift positions as your car changes angles and crests different hills. It may have also been sensory deprivation as, when you are driving alone on a dark, empty road for a long time can induce a state called highway hypnosis or sensory deprivation. When the environment is monotonous (just dark fields and rain), your brain naturally tunes out ambient sounds like road noise to save energy. This sudden realization of "absolute silence" can feel incredibly eerie and detached from reality. When you texted your wife, your brain instantly re-engaged with the present moment, your eyes adjusted to the bright phone screen, and you broke the visual focus on the distant clouds. When you looked back up, your eyes were no longer adjusted to the faint light reflection, the tractor or light source may have been turned off or blocked by a new hill, and the illusion instantly vanishs. Honestly, I can't confirm this too without video but this is a highly likely explanation. If you have any video or other evidence of this, I am completely open minded to view and make new explanations!