Most likely it was a plane. Hell, I've had an eagle blot out the sun before.

Yep, I've had a plane shadow cut across the road while I was driving, I'm willing to bet this was the cause.

I remember the first time that happened to me, it freaked me out for a moment. I thought "no way could a plane's shadow block the sun for so long." But seeing a plane's shadow move across the ground can alter that perception as well.

According to this article, "The average cruising speed [of a commercial jetliner] is between 550 and 580 mph". That's between 806 and 850 feet per second. A Boeing 777 is between 209' and 242' long. So the shadow of the fuselage a Boeing 777 traveling at cruising speed should take roughly a quarter second to pass over any given point on the ground. A quarter second is more than enough to notice, and perhaps enough for your retinas to react, perhaps causing the "flickering" effect the OP described. A Boeing 777 is a very long plane, but planes don't always fly at cruising speed, either. Especially if the OP was anywhere near an airport.

Solved. I liked the idea of the Matrix flickering, though. But the first time a plane flew directly over me, I thought for sure it must have been a huge UFO or something. Sucks that the explanation was so banal, but accepting that banality is a huge part of the experience of the phenomena of life around us, is part of having a skeptical mind. I don't think any of us here would be reading /r/conspiracy if we didn't have a skeptical mind.

So was it two planes then? You wrote that there was a quick flicker followed by a longer one.

heh- it's funny, i live near an airport, in fact just a couple miles from the ... what's it called, glide path? before i even read op's text, just from the title, i was thinking airplane shadow.

i'm also a few miles from a boeing plant, so i get the heavy military helicopters flying low & making my roof creak. one of these days, i will paint "fuck off" on a bedsheet & staple it to the roof.

what else? A glitch in the Matrix?

This was my first thought.

I don't know man, there needs to be a black cat. Maybe.. "the other friend that also is a redditor" is a synonym for 'cat'?

And somebody running with a camera at night.

It must have been swamp gas covering a weather balloon in an optical light fracture of a camera....

Nothing happened Truman

This is weird, but keep in mind that our perceptions often lie to us. A brief complete change in the lighting could appear to be pitch-blackness, especially if your pupils are undialated. And besides the state of your irises, your consciousness decides autonomously what to show you and how- this is why I don't go in for UFO theories, even when corroborated by a group. Memes are powerful influencers of perception.

The sky hologram went out for a second, don worry bout it

I am staying with friends and this happens here all the time, no one noticed it before I started pointing it out, it happens for a fraction of a milisecond but it is very frequent. I looked online and saw lots of people with same/similar experience looking for answers. Here is one of the forums I came across http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=451850

edit: in the iink they discuss white flashes, I have experienced both brief white flashes at night and flashes of darkness in the day time. No one can figure out what it is, but some have theorized static electricity from dry air...

Plane. I've had that happen before

Do you live near an airport? My parent's house is a mile from an airport and I've experienced this before from planes making a landing approach, where they are flying low and slow. The double flicker could be explained by a wing and then the tail section.

How fast would an airliner 12 miles out be going when coming in for a landing? Probably not that fast. 12 miles is really not all that far, when you're dropping from an altitude of 20 - 30 thousand feet. See my calculation of the duration of a plane's shadow in the comment above.

if you can give us your approximate location we might be able to make better guesses

Nice try, MIB.

Could have been a blimp. Large, move slow enough, opaque.

Normally Im very open minded but, seriously? Probly clouds or any of the other suggestions put forth.

This actually happened. I personally experienced it.

"A mysterious day when the sky became dark as night during the middle of the day. The explanation by local officials was that a forest fire had occurred in Canada - but none were ever recorded on this date for Eastern Canada."

Black Sunday - September 24, 1950

Can you give us an idea of how dark it was when the light flickered out? Would you describe it as shadow light (as in an above ground parking garage, for example), moonlight, or complete darkness?

In that case the suggestion that it was a UFO is equally ridiculous.

Ok then, you seem to have the answer. A ufo caused the sun to stop shinning in your neighborhood for a split second. Clouds? hell no, plane? hell no.

Did not happen at 4:20PM on 4/20 either.

Sounds like a Blimp that was at the correct angle from you, and altitude to block it out. Blimps move slow most of the time

The planet Venus.

Glitch in the matrix.

But seriously, something probably covered up the sun for a brief moment. Since nobody else is talking about it, the event was very localized.

Clouds?

I live by an airport, and when planes use one of the alternate landing strips this happens. That's probably what it was.

Nope i just hear strange long hums.

Welcome to the Truman Show!

You've probably seen an airplane shadow. I recall seeing them a few times, and the flicker is weird.

even god has to change the lightbulbs sometime.. no seriously it easily could have been a plane or a bird

Helicopter, plane, blimp, hot air balloon, the moon, a cloud, smoke, hang glider, parachute, flock of seagulls; or more likely a vast conspiracy involving the bilderbergers, knights templar, martians, jews, illuminutty, freemasons, indentured masons, and concrete pump operators.

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You seem to be well-qualified to head up the retard medal program.