In article ,
Mike Tomlinson writes:
In article , David Hansen
writes

However, since the 1960s 25kV AC has
been used and all lines will be/have been converted to this.

Thank you.

Since the body is mostly water, that's gonna be a hell of a current. In
that clip, there's a bright reddish flash surrounding the body as he
touches the wire. I wonder: is that a camera artifact, or would someone
there have actually seen it?

The body just acts to start the arc flash-over outside the body.
The arc is much lower impedance than the body so most of the
current flows in the arc, not through the body. The arc is very
high energy -- usually into the 10's of MW, and being at point
blank range, that will probably be fatal even without any
electrocution current.

This is same effect as the pop and bright flash you sometimes
get when a filament lamp dies. The filament breaks and initially
creates a spark between the ends. The arc is much lower impedance
than the filament, so the two ends of the arc rapidly run in the
opposite direction down the filament until it's completely shorted
out, which is what causes the bright flash and blows a fuse (in
the lamp base or consumer unit).

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]