Ball Lightning?

Ball Lightning?

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11 Responses

  1. Mysteryshopper says:

    Re: Ball Lightning?
    I am so jealous that you’ve seen ball lightning TWICE! I’ve never seen it once. Regarding your revolving sphere, your calm attitude is unusual for someone faced with something unknown. Have you ever seen anything similar on TV or in a movie?

  2. judylugg says:

    Re: Ball LIGHTNING
    Before I go any further it is actually ‘ball LIGHTNING’
    The word lightEning means making something less heavy or shedding light on.

    I obviously have seen film and TV programmes concerning many similar type subjects but none of them have contained anything remotely resembling what I saw.

    I have seen REAL ball lightning on several occasions both here and in Florida, USA, when accompanied by other people and I can categorically state that what I saw on these TWO occasions was NOT that!

    I have throughout my life seen many things, including departed loved ones and other unrelated spirits so am never afraid of anything of that nature – I am just SO curious as to what these two sightings were and if anyone else has seen anything like it, as no matter whom I ask or where I look I cannot find anyone who has seen anything like this.

    Actually ball lightning looks like a ball of fire, either yellow, white or fiery red and as such is readily recognised – it usually bobs about and rolls, often following lines of energy, eg. electricity wires – I have seen it vary in size from the size of a ping-pong ball to about that of a beach-ball; there is normally an extremely loud explosion accompanying the disappearance of the phenomenon. It usually leaves an ‘after impression on the retina as it is so bright.

    Florida, USA is the lightning capital of the USA and ball lightning is a VERY common occurrence there, so I am not unique by any means. I have seen it in the UK on two occasions, once when I was eleven years old, during an extremely violent, night-time thunderstorm, when THREE houses in the street, including mine, were struck by lightning – I saw a large white ball of lightning roll across my bedroom ceiling even though I was UNDER THE BEDCLOTHES – this actually followed the TV aerial and imploded the television set – the explosion accompanying it was like a bomb blast

    The second occasion was on my grandfather’s farm when an oak tree in a nearby field was struck and the ball lightning rolled across the ground away from the tree. The noise again was terrific when it exploded and although this was in day-time the light from the ball lightning lit up all the surrounding area.

  3. Ian Topham says:

    Re: Ball LIGHTNING
    [quote=judylugg]Before I go any further it is actually ‘ball LIGHTNING’ The word lightEning means making something less heavy or shedding light on.[/quote]

    I’ve corrected the title spelling.  My fault, sorry.

  4. Hellboy says:

    Re: Ball Lightning?
    Hello Judylugg,

    I must say, you have had some fascinating experiences with ball lightning.

    It would seem as you say that the alleged phenomena is more prevalent in the US than in the UK.

    Judyllugg wrote: [quote]Florida, USA is the lightning capital of the USA and ball lightning is a VERY common occurrence there, so I am not unique by any means[quote]

    I was not aware that Florida was the ‘Ball lightning’ capital of the US. I do know someone from Texas who has seen similar things on quite a number of occasions. The person in question called them “Plasma spheres,” for quite obvious reasons. However as far as I am aware, the strange thing was the spheres where not always accompanied or preceded by stormy weather.

    In your opinion, do you think the apparent higher incidence of ball lightning in the aforementioned area? Maybe a function of higher temperatures/humidity, with Florida being so close to equatorial regions?

    Albeit the existence of ball lightning is still the subject of debate and conjecture amongst scientists and researchers.

  5. Mysteryshopper says:

    Re: Ball Lightning?
    [quote=Hellboy]Albeit the existence of ball lightning is still the subject of debate and conjecture amongst scientists and researchers.[/quote]

    Scientists don’t dispute that ball lightning exists. However, it is not clear exactly what it is yet.

  6. Hellboy says:

    Re: Ball Lightning?
    [quote=Mysteryshopper][quote=Hellboy]Albeit the existence of ball lightning is still the subject of debate and conjecture amongst scientists and researchers.[/quote]

    Scientists don’t dispute that ball lightning exists. However, it is not clear exactly what it is yet.[/quote]

    Really, is this the majority of scientists in the field or just a small minority?

    If the former is true could you please provided me with any relevant info/ links.

  7. judylugg says:

    Re: Ball Lightning?
    Hi Hellboy,

    I did not say actually say that Florida is the BALL lightning capital of the USA – I said it is the LIGHTNING capital, having more actual lightning strikes per day than anywhere else in mainland US.

    I do know that one of the main reasons for Florida’s high incidence of thunderstorms is the very high humidity there and the high day-time temperatures, causing what are known as ‘thunderstacks’ to form ( they actually look like great extremely high stacks of white or pale grey cloud with a type of anvil shape at the top). They reach up as far as 50,000 feet, I think. When they become top heavy enough they ‘fall over’ thus causing precipitation and thunderstorms to form. You are right in that Florida is also known as a sub-tropical zone, being fairly close to the equatorial regions.

    I suppose that ‘plasma spheres’ could be a good description of the ball lighting which I have seen. – I looked up the definition in the Oxford English dictionary:

    PLASMA:
    a gas of positive ions and free electrons with approximately equal plus and minus charges.

    It does seem to fit , I think but I am not a physicist so do not truly know.

    Anyway it still does NOT fit the TWO sightings I described of the slowly revolving small sphere.

  8. Mysteryshopper says:

    Re: Ball Lightning?
    [quote]Really, is this the majority of scientists in the field or just a small minority?[/quote]

    There doesn’t seem to be much recent stuff on ball llghtning but the Royal Society published a report on it in 2001. See http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn1720-ball-lightning-scientists-remain-in-the-dark.html for instance (you don’t get much more mainstream in science than the Royal Society). See also http://rsta.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/360/1790/107.abstract

  9. Hellboy says:

    Re: Ball Lightning?
    Thanks for that, I will have a proper read when I get the time.

  10. BaronIveagh says:

    Re: Ball Lightning?

    While the positively electrical debate on ball lightning is fascinating, I think we’re getting off subject here, since she’s stated that what she was asking about was not that, and the crystalline effect she’s describing do not match any description of our friendly little electrical orbs that I know of, though I can’t rule them out, either.

    I really can’t say what they WERE unfortunately, it sounds like a remarkable experience to have seen though. In the end, there’s simply too much we DON’T know about the world. I’m still scratching my head over a flying light case in Western PA. Thing was the size of a basketball, and not in the sky, as it passed between the building I was in and the trees around it (about 30 feet) and was as bright as a spotlight. It orbited the building twice and then flew away. Was it ball lightening, or something else? I don’t know.

    Sorry I wasn’t able to shed any light on your case, but I’m hoping that it brings the discussion back to the subject at hand a bit.

    Summum Nec Metuam Diem Nec Optima

  11. judylugg says:

    Re: Ball Lightning?
    BaronIveagh!

    Thank you, thank you – you have realized what I actually said that my sightings DO NOT match up with what is colloquially lumped together as ‘ball lightning’.

    Just hope someone someday says they have seen the same thing

    Dum spiro spero