This is such an odd question to ask, but this is what I was told and do not know where to go next. I had a power problem where when I turned on my computer my living room lights would flicker(computer was plugged into one of the outlets on the light circuit). Then one day they just went off, as well as the rest of the outlets attached to that circuit. We tried changing that outlet as well as all of the other outlets and nothing changed. So then I called a professional as the only things we new were done. The professional came in and told us he was not sure why the lights would not work but he said he got power to the outlets. After he went out the door I tried plugging my lamp into one of those outlets and it would not turn on. I called the professional back right away. He came back and plugged the same lamp in and tried to tell me that the lamp was bad. I told him I disagreed. He then plugged a clock into the same outlet and nothing. Then he plugged this gadget into the wall and found that there was power there but claims it is running in reverse. I would love to call in another professional but do not want to get took again and pay for something that I should not have to. Is it possible for power to run in reverse and if so why?

Just to clarify, it is not running in reverse, but the tester indicated "reverse polarity".

Without getting too deep with explaining why, the problem is a loose connection, possibly a shared neutral or just a neutral connection in the circuit, can be at any outlet or junction box.

Call in another professional, hopefully a better one, as the first clearly did not know what his tester was telling him, and he did not know what to look for.