Spooky CCTV footage...

[cptwhite_uk]

The guy who normally runs the CCTV cameras is currently on holiday to the responsibility for checking any events/footage has fallen to my collegue.

The cameras have motion sensors fitted and automatic tracking so should something be picked up the camera highlights an event in its log and moves to centre on the area of activity. We have cameras covering every area of the company grounds and inside the factory.

At 12.30 am a few nights ago an event was logged in the cameras recording history, so we load up the footage from this time to see what it's picked up.

The camera is in it's default rest position and is from inside the factory. The view captures the confectionary machine in the top right corner which is fitted with a 300mm fluorescent bulb at the top/front to highlight all the contents. This is the only lightsource in the footage. Everything appears normal until the light suddenly gets brighter, then brighter, then really really bright (about x5 to x10 it's normal luminosity for about 30 seconds before suddenly turning off, then after a short period of time returning to normal).

This is strange for a number of reasons. A fluorescent tube should only be able to emit one brightness of light, that's how they're designed, if you feed more current through them they just blow out, too little and they turn off).

After the event and having examined the bulb there is no damage to it (burning or scorch marks), the fuse in the unit hasn't blown (ruling out an electric surge to a great degree) and everything is working as normal.

We've called the technician in for the vending machine and he can't explain it.

To make things even more spooky the camera flagged the event just before anything had actually happened, as if it was expecting something to happen. After the event the camera has mysteriously stopped working.

Both the camera and the vending machine are on seperate electrical circuits.

I'm hoping to download the footage and post it up later this evening, very spooky. Theories anyone?

[Lucio]

Could be fairly simple.

The CCTV system could have an auto adjust feature on the brightness, to try and pick out more detail if the motion is detected in a "dark" area.

So there's a small rodent or something moving in an already dark frame, CCTV goes "hang on, movement there, better enchance the light level". With the bulb already being really quite bright it'll just overwhelm the sensor, because the dark area will seem to be not getting bright enough no matter what the camera is doing.

[srichards27]

im a firm believer in the supernatural, but i think that is just some kind of technical error. as you said your self its impossible for those kinda bulbs to get brighter.

[streetster]

fluorescent lights can get really bright if you feed too many volts through them, ie a voltage surge/neutral fault... but not sure why nothing else in the building was affected... youtube the footage

[Brucelles]

Yeah. What Lucio said.

[cptwhite_uk]

I'll youtube the footage when I get home. However here's something I've noticed having looked at previous nights.

The brightest condition of the bulb appears to be the default, this is seen on all other nights. As suggested it probably appears over bright due to an auto-bright adjustment feature built into the camera, hence the vending machine gets washed out and appears overly bright in the video.

Having viewed recording prior to the event log, everything is as normal (ie bright) and the event log is triggered by a sudden drop in light from the vending machine (possibly power fluctuation/drop). What then happens is the bulb returns to it's normal brightness level in stages (whether this is the bulb changing brightness or the camera auto-adjusting cannot be confirmed, but I suspect it's the camera malfunctioning and nothing ever changed with the vending machin's light).

The picture then returns to it's default 'bright' image for 30 seconds before going completely black, then going 'dull' for a few seconds, then the camera stops recording.

I suspect it's just a glitch in the camera which caused this, but just viewing from the event onwards does look quite strange!

I'll post a link around 5pm.

[Jay]

I used to work in a few Hotels. One was an old hospital that had been converted into a brand new hotel, it was fantastic. The only real part of the building that was from the old hospital was the gym and swimming pool.

One night the night watchman / bouncer dude spotted, on the CCTV monitor, a woman standing on the pool, he was a good mate of mine and the next day he showed me the footage. It could have easily been a fault in the system as HDD recorder some times, for no reason, seemed to overlap two feeds (its happened to me a few times) but it was odd and she was there one second and gone the next.

[Clunk]

Once, I saw a hooded monk like figure, clanking chains and making a woooooooooooohh sound.

Anyway, it turned out to be the homosexual man from next door in fancy dress.

We all saw the funny side once he had been released from custody.

[Agent]

The added fact that the camera broke shortly after suggests it was faulty in some way to me?

[hamd01]

Without a doubt the bright light was caused by your camera dying....or more likely the camera lense. It was obviously letting too much light in.

[pollaxe]

One of the things I do at work is check overnight cctv footage. There is a monitor in one of the rooms that does much the same thing - suddenly lights up, gets really bright and then dims away again.

I've always half-hoped to get a glimpse of something 'weird' but as I'm really not convinced about the supernatural anyway then maybe I'd miss it if I saw it too.

[cptwhite_uk]

Here's the video who anyone who's interested

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmu0XO0-xro

[SilentDeath]

Thats just the camera dying. Does the camera have an auto aperature lense? since that is probably what has broken.

[cptwhite_uk]

I've no idea I just work there That was my conclusion though Although everyone else in the office has attributed it to "Burt" the ghost...groan.

[Clunk]

It's probably just a Sprite.

/runs...