There’s 110 volt current in your electrical outlets. It ups to 220 volts going to appliances like stoves, hot water heaters and dryers. When you get to commercial and industrial installations, you find even higher voltage.

Electricians dealing with very high voltage must take special precautions. In the photo, this A Plus Electric tech is hooking up a new machine drawing from a 480 volt circuit with the power on. There is risk beyond brushing up against the wrong wire. An arc can jump to the human body simply by being nearby. The result? Serious injury including severe burns or worse.

So, there are times when electricians look as if they just landed from a UFO. But it comes with the territory when they work intimately with high voltage situations.