Likely, you have less than good neutral connection at the service entrance box or the utilitie's transformer. In the US the service supply is from a 220vac center-tapped transformer. Half the circuits in a house are supplied 120VAC from neutral to one end of the transformer's secondary, and the other half are supplied 120VAC from neutral to the second end. If the house neutral to transformer's center tap is lifted, the devices on the two circuits appear in series and become a voltage divider. If both circuits are equally loaded, each will see 120V. But if not, the circuit with the lowest resistance devices (more heavily loaded) drops proportionally less of the 220V across its devices. The circuit with a higher resistance (less heavily loaded) drops more. So, when you short out one circuit, most or all of the 220V appears across the other circuit. The bulbs on the other circuit see a supply voltage much greater than 120V, get brighter, and then burn out. I saw this in my parents house. Ken