One evening a heavy fog rolled in followed by a thunderstorm. Because of the fog you couldn't see the lightning strikes but the diffused light would flicker through the clouds in the sky. While standing at the front door looking out the window, I saw several bursts of light in the acre of yard to the north of my garage. It was something akin to giant fireflies or flash bulbs popping. Suddenly, directly in front of me, not more than 25 or 30 feet from the house (if you need more accuracy, it was between me and the crabapple tree) there was a spherical burst of lightning, probably 10 to 15 feet in diameter. I'd heard of ball lightning, but had never seen it before... or since. It was quite startliing.
Snapshot from a video showing a ball lightning burst.
It turned out to be created by CGI but is similar to
what I witnessed here in Duluth's rural outskirts.
Here are some things I learned about it by asking Bard, Google's new AI bot. What I found most interesting is the statement that there is no definitive answer as to what causes it. Based on my experience, it seemed like the atmosphere had an unusual density that night.
Ball lightning is a rare and unexplained phenomenon described as luminescent, spherical objects that vary from pea-sized to several meters in diameter. Thought [to be] usually associated with thunderstorms, the observed phenomenon is reported to last considerably longer than the split-second flash of a lightning bolt, and is a phenomenon distinct from St. Elmo's fire.
Though the exact nature of ball lightning is still unknown, there are a number of theories about its cause. Some scientists believe that it may be caused by the interaction of lightning with the Earth's atmosphere, while others believe that it may be caused by a chemical reaction. There is also some evidence that ball lightning may be caused by the release of energy from the Earth's core.
Whatever the cause, ball lightning is a fascinating phenomenon that has captured the imagination of people for centuries. It is a reminder of the power of nature and the mysteries that still remain to be solved.
Here are some of the theories about the cause of ball lightning:
- Lightning strike theory: This theory suggests that ball lightning is caused by a lightning strike that hits the ground and then travels up into the atmosphere. The lightning strike would create a plasma ball that would then float around in the air.
- Chemical reaction theory: This theory suggests that ball lightning is caused by a chemical reaction between two or more elements. The chemical reaction would create a plasma ball that would then float around in the air.
- Earth's core theory: This theory suggests that ball lightning is caused by the release of energy from the Earth's core. The energy from the Earth's core would create a plasma ball that would then float around in the air.
There is still no definitive answer to the question of what causes ball lightning. However, the theories that have been proposed are all plausible and provide a good starting point for further research.
I can't say for sure what caused it, but it was certainly fascinating. Here are some other theories about ball lightning at Wikipedia.
2 comments:
I heard a loud snap and saw a ball lightning about 8 inches in diameter in Laos, one time, less than 3 feet in front of my face. I was in the process of shutting my (brand-new) computer down after I heard thunder that sounded close.
I should have just yanked the plug out, because shutting the system down the "right way" was too slow. That ball of lightning fried the computer's power supply (plus my almost brand-new stereo). I heard the next morning that a lot of electronic equipment was fried at that same moment, in various places across town.
Another lightning story, not my own: My cousins in Twig told me that the husband was cooking spaghetti sauce one time. Just as the wife walked into the kitchen, she saw a ball of lightning appear on the cooking spoon that he was holding in front of him just ready to taste the sauce, and there was a loud snap. The husband was knocked down and out for a few minutes.
They joked back and forth about it later. The wife told me that she went into the living room to straighten it up before calling 911, and by the time she got back in the kitchen where the phone was, the husband was up and around again.
The husband said he didn't know what had hit him, but he just found himself laying on the floor. And his big toe hurt. He was bleeding out of his big toe.
One more story: One morning there was no power anywhere in the house. I got the phone book out to call the power company, and saw a reminder that before calling, I should check my breaker box. I did so, and found that the main 100 Amp breaker had shut off.
I couldn't figure what could have blown the main breaker in the entire house, and was almost afraid to turn it back on. But when I did turn it on, there was no smoke or anything, and everything worked as usual.
But after I had some coffee in me, I went out to the greenhouse, about 150 feet from the house. I had a 20-inch box fan out there, up high, to circulate the air around for more even heat. The copper and insulation from the cord of that fan was all in shreds, and the fan blade wouldn't even turn by hand.
Above the fan was a black-edged hole burned into the greenhouse plastic, about 6 inches in diameter.
The greenhouse wasn't wired on its own. There was an extension cord to run the fan, that came from the pump house just a few feet away. That cord was also shredded. The fuse box was in the basement of the pump house.
I went down there and saw that the two old-fashioned screw-in fuses were both blown physically out of the fuse box and were laying on the floor about six feet away. New fuses wouldn't help anything, as the box itself had been ruined. Where the fuses should normally screw in, they had been blown straight out without being unscrewed, and there were no threads left to screw a new fuse into.
There was a large elm tree between the greenhouse and the pump house. When I looked closer, I saw that lightning had hit high up that tree, gone down the side of the tree, jumped across to the greenhouse, burned the hole in the greenhouse plastic, shredded the cord from the fan, blew the fuses physically out of the fuse box in the pump house basement, and blew the main 100 amp breaker in the house.
And I'd slept through it all. lol
Quiz: What should you do if you're out in an open field and it starts to thunder and lightning?
Answer: Run as quickly as you can to get out of that open field. But don't go in a straight line. Zig-zag!
Great stories. Thanks for sharing.
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