I hear it. In my case, I suspect it is a trained response rather than a mysterious neurological phenomenon. [1] Motion picture sound effects synchronize distant events such as explosions with the sound of explosions. When I am looking at a screen simultaneous audible and visual experience is what I have come to expect based on experience. A delay when watching a screen would seem unnatural.
One reason I expect it is a unique response to images on screen is that I don't find anything odd about the thunder coming well after the lightening in the real world, but a six second delay would be odd in a movie.
[1]: other than the mysterious neurological phenomenon of the human brain constructing mental experiences from sensory input.
I'll propose a theory: very loud, low frequency sounds actually create small vibrations in your eyes, and most brains have learned to pipe this sensory input to the auditory cortex. So, the shake in the GIF triggers a "sound" through your eyes.
That's also my theory. I can do it at-will by tensing my jaw muscles and I hear a "thudding" vibration sound. (Although I wouldn't have known what the name of the muscle is until your post.)
I suspect it's due to people tensing their lower jaw in anticipation of a loud sound. I can do this at-will, and I hear something that I would describe in similar terms. I also triggered/heard it the first time I watched the animation (and I don't think I did it deliberately, although I was expecting it to happen).
My theory is that it's due to the jaw muscles vibrating when they tense, so an entirely physical sound conducted through the jaw/skull; rather than a neurological sound. I expect if you stuck a sensitive enough microphone in my ear, it would be audible.
Maybe this GIF is causing this reflex to fire. In the absence of the loud anticipated sound, your brain may be interpreting the flexing itself as a sound.
ah. thanks! very cool. I also 'hear' a 'boom/crunch/heavy thing dropped" sound when it lands, almost for sure due to the camera shake confirming to my brain the (absurd given the distance and mass!) expectation that the ground moved. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia
How is it a firefox request for https://i.imgur.com/ga7w2z3.gif ends up returning html, from which I extracted that gifv link, but a python request directly for https://i.imgur.com/ga7w2z3.gif ends up with the correct resource (sha1: f1f24ca2629ed88ee430eba90429fef2a4abc560)?
Uh, the TV licence covers people who watch live TV broadcasts in the UK (including watching the internet simulcast of said broadcasts and using the BBC's iPlayer catchup service).
If your household isn't doing any of that, you don't need a TV license. The license is basically a tax on watching TV that funds the BBC. What more explanation do you need?
One reason I expect it is a unique response to images on screen is that I don't find anything odd about the thunder coming well after the lightening in the real world, but a six second delay would be odd in a movie.
[1]: other than the mysterious neurological phenomenon of the human brain constructing mental experiences from sensory input.