Let me be clear it's an issue in VANILLA minecraft 1.8 multiplayer via DIRECT CONNECT.
By flashing, I mean the chunks disappear and reappear rapidly (4 to 5 times/s), and it effects the corresponding sky potion of that chunk too. Some of the chunks will start flashing after a few minutes after creating the game.
It's a direct connect LAN game, and I'm the host. (it doesn't happen right away so I didn't test them in singal player mode) . The issue first appears when I updated my version to 1.8.1 pre release 2(before was 1.8 formal, then 1.8.1pre-1), however, switching back to the older version doesn't solve the problem.
The flashing chunks are not always connected. The flashing chunks are not always the same-they can change overtime. Standing on the water will have a larger chance to cause flashing, and the disappearance is more serious.
It doesn't happen when the chunks are loading( it happens less when you're loading new chunks!), it starts flashing after it's loaded.
(My trouble shooting)
Changing render distance(or reloading the chunks with w/e method) will make the problem disappear for a few second to a few minutes, but it will come up again. And the longer you play the game, the faster it comes up, and the disappearance becomes more dominant.
Completely re installing Minecraft, updating Java and grahpic card driver does not solve the problem. Effected version includes Minecraft 1.8 through all prerelease versions of 1.8.1 until the latest pre-4. I also tried Optifine and its every single options of changing rendering, but it didn't work(the chunks will reload and behave normal for a few seconds or minutes before flashing again.)
However, 1.7.10 is free of the issue though.
Not sure if this is associated with my specific world save, but the player that I'm playing with plays just fine. The file is oversized or it can't be uploaded.