The 1997 episode that sent over 700 Japanese children to the hospital

On the evening of December 16, 1997, Japanese television aired the Pokémon anime, episode 38, titled "Electric Soldier Porygon."

Halfway through, there was a scene: Pikachu unleashed an electric attack, and red and blue colors alternated rapidly on screen, flashing for several seconds.

As soon as the program ended, hospitals across Japan began receiving calls. Children were dizzy, nauseous, convulsing, vomiting; some fainted. Final statistics showed about seven hundred people were taken to the hospital, most of them elementary and middle school students; most went home that same night, while a few children were hospitalized.

The television station subsequently pulled the episode, and the Pokémon anime went on hiatus for four months. The Ministry of Health and Welfare convened experts to investigate; the conclusion was: rapid red-and-blue flashing triggered photosensitive epileptic seizures—some people were naturally photosensitive, while others were frightened by seeing others collapse and subsequently felt unwell themselves.

Later, Japan established rules for TV programs: within one second, images cannot flash more than three times, especially red.

This episode has never been rebroadcast on Japanese official channels to this day. Electric Soldier Porygon itself hasn't appeared in the anime for many years.

Speaking of it, there doesn't seem to be anything scary: no monsters, no ghosts, just a flashing light. But for those children in front of the TV that night, and their parents, that was frightening enough.

#Paranormal #网络转载 #世界奇闻