It's easy to dismiss the phenomenon as being far-fetched, a coincidence, or being linked to simple defects in certain street lamps. End-of-life mercury or sodium street lamps go into cycle mode. The lamp switches on and off cyclically throughout the night. If not replaced, it will simply burn out and not relight. The cycle mode of street lamps at the end of their life can explain why a lamp can turn off on its own and a little later turn on again. However, lamp cycle mode at the end of its useful life cannot fully explain the phenomenon of SLIders.

Why would a street lamp go out in the presence of one person and not another? In the same evening, a SLIder can see that it has affected several street lamps during its passage. Why him and not the other people who passed just before him?

The explanation of the phenomenon cannot be limited to chance or a technical defect in the lamps.