What is Ball Lightning?
asks Kelly Corcoran, a student in Babylon, NY. Stories of ball lightning date back to at least the Middle Ages, and scientists estimate that at least five percent of our planet’s population have had the privilege (or, sometimes, the misfortune) to have seen the glowing, floating spheres. According to eyewitnesses, ball lightning appears as a radiant sphere, ranging in size from a baseball to a basketball. It may be white, yellow, red, orange, or blue, and is usually no brighter than a 100-watt light bulb. The glowing ball often floats 2 to 6 feet or more above the ground as it travels, sometimes spinning as it moves back and forth, here and there. After seconds—or minutes—the ball goes out with a hiss, pop, or a loud bang. Like a July 4th sparkler, ball lightning may emit an acrid smell like burning sulfur or ozone, and leave smoke behind. Most ball lightning is seen just before or during a thunderstorm, within seconds of a lightning strike. Millions have seen ball lightning float thro
Ball lightning is a rare form of lightning. It usually appears as a reddish, luminous ball, but can come in any color. Ball lightning is usually spherical in shape and about one foot in diameter. Hissing noises originate from such balls and they sometimes make a loud noise when they explode. Can you tell how far away a storm is? Yes, you can use thunder to tell how far away a storm is. Next time you see a storm, count the number of seconds between when you see the lightning and hear the thunder. Take the number of seconds and divide by 5 and that will tell you how far away the storm is in miles. For example: If you counted 10 seconds between the lightning and the thunder, the lightning is 2 miles away! Know the Lingo SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH – A severe thunderstorm (damaging winds of 58 miles per hour or more, or hail three-fourths of an inch in diameter or greater) is likely to develop in your area. SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING – A severe thunderstorm (damaging winds of 58 miles per h
Ball lightning is an extremely rare and poorly understood atmospheric phenomenon that accompanies electrical storms. It manifests as a glowing ball about the size of a basketball, but sometimes as small as a golf ball or as large as a small car. It hovers in the air somewhere between a few seconds and a couple minutes, with an average of 25 seconds, then disappears either silently or with a loud bang. Some scientists have studied ball lightning for upwards of 20 years and are still uncertain that it actually exists. The phenomenon of ball lightning is so infrequent that not a single scientifically confirmed video of it even exists, though most scientists accept its existence because reports of it extend all the way back to Ancient Greece. Also supportive is that a majority of the reports that we do have tell a rather consistent tale, instead of being all over the place as we would expect if ball lightning were merely a misidentification of more common atmospheric phenomena. When detail
From: roz fountain
28-Dec-2001 Skeptics have often claimed that ball lightning is responsible for UFO sightings, even though it is extremely rare. Now scientists say it may be linked to spontaneous human combustion. Ball lightning occurs so rarely that few photographs of it exist and researchers have had to rely on eyewitness accounts, some of them from previous centuries. The term describes small natural fireballs which very occasionally follow ordinary lightning, floating across land or through buildings and aircraft. Among the new findings are that ball lightning can be powerful enough to boil away water and burn flesh. They also suggest that water droplets, ?polymer threads? and ?metal nanoparticle chains? may form the actual lightning balls. Fireballs last around 10 seconds and the lightning balls move around, sometimes downwards, sometimes upwards, sometimes indoors, sometimes through glass. The ball often disappears in an explosion, sometimes causing damage. A newly-discovered journal describes ba
