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Ball Lightning

rynner2

rynner2

Gone But Not Forgotten
(ACCOUNT RETIRED)
Joined
Aug 7, 2001
Messages
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A photo of this mystery phenomenon has just surfaced: Article Here

Ball lightning is often described as showing signs of intelligence and awareness, but this isn't mentioned in the suggested theories in the article.

On a lighter note (possibly...) does anyone else see a reptilian creature in the pic, top right? The pic also reminds me of the monster in 'Forbidden Planet'.
 
ball lightningrynner

rynner...I am very interested in this phenomenon, and did see ball lightning during a thunderstorm when I was a kid. It took the form of a reddish-orange ball, about the size of a football floating along silently about 15 to 20 ft. above the ground. It vanished suddenly but without any noise. I have a short "paper" that I wrote a couple of years ago about similar objects that I can send to you if you wish, I think it might be too long for the bulletin message board...brian
 
Ball lightning reacts very erraticly when falling from the sky. This is often mistaken for intelligence.
 
Ball Lightening

Brian and Rynner.... I too saw ball lightening as a kid. It was bright yellow, about the size of a football and hovered about 4 feet from the ground. It appeared in our playground during a storm. I guess I was about 7 or 8 years old at the time and I ran straight towards it but it went "POP" before I got to it. I had a yellow blob before my eyes for a while afterwards, so it must have been pretty bright. Duration would have been about 15 seconds. This would be around 1958-9.

Also friends of mine claim to have seen ball lightening go through the roof of a house. They said it was traveling very fast when it hit. I can remember the house being repaired and even today there is a circle of different coloured tiles on that roof so something went through it for sure. This would be sometime in the sixties.

Forty2
 
I have two transparencies of bright blue orbs (at long range) obtained about ten years ago during time-lapse photography during a thunderstorm. These balls were more akin to the lightning they appeared with - i.e. were evidently very short-lived, and appearing with streaks of lightning. Their colour also differs to most reported for the kind of BL discussed here, which often appears to be yellow-orange-red. I'm pretty certain they're not artifacts of the photography.
When I can locate the images amongst the thousands of transparencies I have, I will send them in to FT for everyone to evaluate.
 
I experienced the effects of ball lightning while living in Nigeria, although I didn't see it.

Our bungalow had a corrugated metal roof and one afternoon I heard an almighty bang on the roof and all the electricity went off. Going outside, I saw that all the neon security lights around the house had been blown out of their sockets.

The lady who lived next door saw what had happened, a ball of lightning hit our roof, bounced over their wall and hit the ground, leaving a sizeable hole in the earth. From there it bounced off to parts unknown.

It was quite a shock and took a couple of stiff gin and tonics to calm my and my neighbour's nerves.

Carole
 
Just found some technical stuff from the Royal Society
http://www.pubs.royalsoc.ac.uk/
(Select 'News', then click the Press Release link.)
Or try this (Grrr, I hate sites with frames!)

Looks like interesting research. Does this mean ball lightning ain't paranormal any more? Time will tell!
 
Has anyone stuck a CD in the microwave?

Try this, stick a cd in the micro wave for about 5 seconds, shiny side up (plastic side down,metal side up, the bit the laser hits is a plastic cover). Sparks like a bugger, makes damn fin e tea coaster as well (thank you AOL for your many cd's through the door). But try sticking one in a saucer of water and watch what occasionally forms in the centre. I dont know if you can call it ball lightening but its a ball of something. Ireckon it has something to do with the gas which is formed when microwave and cd collide , ionising the air I believe. That and moisture (it can take a few goes, thank you again AOL for the MANY cd's we seem to get, thats why I think moisture is involved) from repeated attempts as the water gets evaporated off.

I'm not taking responsibilty by the way if anyone does manage to blow thier house/microwave/entire family up or any damages to anyone because if you do this you do this of your own free will to give anything a whirl once. JUst in case someone tries to sue me for maiming or something like that. In fact... DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME, I AM A FOOL WHO THOUGHT IT WOULD BE FUNNY TO SEE WHAT HAPPENED IF........ you get the idea. If you dont believe me, I got the idea off of the net, some blokes being doing this for years. That and making pop tart flame throwers.

:eek!!!!: :confused:
 
Re: Has anyone stuck a CD in the microwave?

Graeme_H said:
Try this, stick a cd in the micro wave for about 5 seconds, shiny side up (plastic side down,metal side up, the bit the laser hits is a plastic cover). Sparks like a bugger
Click to expand...

Well we now know who has a LOT of extra time on their hands.........:D
 
I see (fort times a day or so back) that scientists have finally acknowledged its existence and come up wifh some complicated theories for explanations. About time!! I've been interested in light balls for a long time
. A few days before we had an earthquake down here there were reports & a foto in the local paper of ufo sightings. They all lined up along the fault line. I have theories too, but not so erudite and ignored by people i've sent them to. c attachmnt.
 
Tubal Cain said:
Hey rynner, your website has been infested by Martian Sand whales, did you know? ;)
Click to expand...
I thought it was a sand worm from Dune...

[Ryn edit, 2005 - defunct link deleted]

Another thread which my or may not be connected to Ball Lightning is Project Hessdalen
 
Ball lightning.

Has the question of ball lightning finally been solved, sounds logical,check here, what do you think?
 
You beat me to it, P! I was going to add this to an earlier thread.

This may explain certain types of outdoor ball lightning, but there have been reports of BL being seen inside buildings, or even passing through windows, IIRC.

Later: Google search results give plenty of examples of BL forming indoors or even inside cars! There are some very interesting pages here.
 
Sorry about that R, I did check new posts..so anyone interested, go to Rynners thread.
 
The problem with the new theory is that there have been occasions where BL has touched someone and not burnt or killed/wounded them. And there are other cases where the BL was not said to radiate any heat. Then there are other weirder cases where BL has reportedly done alot of damage (i.e. darting about smashing holes in buildings). And there's also occasions where the BL is seen descending from above, so it's formation near to the ground after a strike may not always be a factor. So I still think BL hasn't been 'explained' as such, but the theory is interesting nonethless.
 
Quite! I have read reports where the ball has passed through a glass window ( a dialectric?) without leaving a mark, one in front of a class of schoolchildren and yet at other times has caused havoc and punched holes in windows etc. Maybe there's more than one phenomenon involved that look similar?
 
Some years back, my sister experienced ball lightning during a thunderstorm.
She was just watching telly at home, when the lights dimmed. She then saw a bright ball of light come from a wall, cross the lounge and exit through the wall on the other side. When it went through the wall, it made a fizzly-pop sound, but it didn't do any damage or leave a mark.
 
Yep, ball lightning doesn't seem to act in easily predictable ways sometimes, and sometimes also seems distinctly non-electrical. (There are quite a few examples in my Fortean Timeline, just between 1900 and 1925).
 
Ball lightning - is it real?

I was searching for photographs of ball lightning on the web, and it surprised me that there don't seem to be any really convincing ones. This wouldn't be strange if ball lightning was really rare, but there are so many accounts of it being observed, and some of the reports say it is quite long lasting. Given how common cameras and video cameras are nowadays, I would have expected someone to get some good shots.

So does anyone know of any good photos? Is ball lightning definitely a real phenomenon or is it just in the minds of the people who report it? I am not suggesting that people are lying - they might see ball lightning in the same way that migraine sufferers see visual effects during an attack - it is real enough for them, but can't be captured on film.
 
It's rarity perhaps explains the lack of good photos. I also don't think it's a figment of the imagination - such things don't tend to have physical effects (i.e. making holes, or marks). See my Fortean Timeline for several examples of apparent ball lighting causing physical effects.
 
photos

"there don't seem to be any really convincing ones"

What do you need in a photo of ball lightning for it to be convincing?

Put another way, what was unconvincing about the photos you saw?

A search on Yahoo for ball lightning generated nearly 50,000 hits - have you looked through those sites? How many photos is not too many?

I looked through the first half-dozen or so and saw several clear and apparently undisputed images, not to mention a link to a Quicktime video that I did not view.

Have you seen the video?
 
I haven't checked all 50,000 hits but I have to agree with Ceptimus that most don't look convincing. The best shots are of DIY ball lightning made in the micro wave.

As CCTV and digital cameras become more common then it is likely that we might see some better examples.
 
Again

"most don't look convincing"

What do you mean?

What is not convincing?

how many photos have you seen?

Do you think they are not actual photos?

(The photos of MW lightning are not photos of ball lightning. Does it surprise you that the "best" photos are the ones taken in a controlled atmosphere or that photos of unpredictable atmospheric phenomena are taken from a distance in conditions of poor visibility?)

Do you expect actual photographs of these natural phenomena to be as clear as those taken under 'laboratory' conditions?


Since it is only "most" that "don't look convincing", what is the difference between those and the ones that do look convincing?

How many convincing photos have you seen? How many will be enough?

Do you think it is not actual lightning?

What would it take in a photograph of an electrical phenomenom to convince you that it was a photograph of an electrical phenomenom?

Have you ever seen ball lightning occur?
If not, see questions above. If yes, see questions below.

What should a photo of this phenomenom look like?

How are the photos you see dissimilar to the actual phenomenom?

Your responses will be appreciated.
 
Re: Again

Rube said:
"most don't look convincing"

What do you mean?

What is not convincing?

how many photos have you seen?

Do you think they are not actual photos?

(The photos of MW lightning are not photos of ball lightning. Does it surprise you that the "best" photos are the ones taken in a controlled atmosphere or that photos of unpredictable atmospheric phenomena are taken from a distance in conditions of poor visibility?)

Do you expect actual photographs of these natural phenomena to be as clear as those taken under 'laboratory' conditions?


Since it is only "most" that "don't look convincing", what is the difference between those and the ones that do look convincing?

How many convincing photos have you seen? How many will be enough?

Do you think it is not actual lightning?

What would it take in a photograph of an electrical phenomenom to convince you that it was a photograph of an electrical phenomenom?

Have you ever seen ball lightning occur?
If not, see questions above. If yes, see questions below.

What should a photo of this phenomenom look like?

How are the photos you see dissimilar to the actual phenomenom?

Your responses will be appreciated.
Click to expand...

First of all many sites use the same few images. This one is popular, but it is fuzzy, without context, and could be any old light or fire work taken with a long exposure.

This one is better, but becaue it was taken in low light it could still be faked using a torch and a long exposure.

The best images usually turn out to be faked or "simulated" if you read all the text.

I can't find the quicktime video - here is an animation, but that is hardly the same thing.

I have seen meteors - including one "fire-ball" - but I haven't seen ball lightning.

Really convincing evidence would be CCTV or video footage especially taken in daylight (lightening dosn't have to occur at night) or a sequence of photos with some context and no camera shake.
 
The BF has seen it.
He was 11 at the time, February or March 1974, around dusk.

It was a grey swirling ball, about 6'' across, which moved slowly across his living room after emerging from an interior wall. On its appearance it made a soft popping sound and as it disappeared through the opposite (external) wall it made a loud bang like a balloon bursting.


He was with his family (parents, older brother) in the room but only he saw it, although they all heard the bang as it left.

There had been heavy rain just before, but no sigh of thunder.

Nobody believed him when he said a grey swirly ball had just floated through the room! :D
 
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