  We show that the mean-square displacement of a charged oscillator due to the
zero point oscillations of the radiation field is unique in the sense that it
is very sensitive to the value of the bare mass of the charge. Thus, a
controlled experiment using gravitational wave detectors could lead to a
determination of the electron bare mass and shed some light on quantum
electrodynamic theory. We also speculate that the irregular signals of
non-gravitational origin often observed in gravitational wave bar detectors
could be caused by stray charges and that such charges could also adversely
affect LIGO and other such detectors
