An old style flash bulb?
Are you really too young to remember them?
I'm not really sure they would be very effective without the BANG, though.
http://www.meggaflash.com/
The 330 sure sounds bright, 140,000 lumens /second
Burns for 1.75 seconds.
I have a different suggestion, however. Let me point you in a different direction.
http://www.cyberscholar.com/ceknowho...&DivID=4&Let=p
Flash powder is (Well, kinda.) legal, but it is the main ingredient in M80/M250/M1000 BOOM type firecrackers, which don't happen to be legal in my state, so it varies.