Do you believe in ball lightning?

[Mr Skeptic]

Ball lightning is a small, roundish floating object usually 10-20 cm but can be 1-100 cm, glows roughly as bright as a lamp, is usually red, orange or yellow, lasts about 1 s to 1 min, and usually moves horizontally with little vertical motion. Roughly similar objects were produced in the lab, but no one is sure whether they bear any relation to "real" ball lightning.

 

About 5% of the population claims to have seen ball lightning.

 

Possible explanations: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ball_lightning#Possible_scientific_explanations

[HardonColluder]

I have no reason to doubt that Nikola Tesla did indeed make it in his lab . Also a team of scientists at Tel Aviv university in Israel reported making ball lightning in the lab with a 'microwave drill' a few years back . I can't find a wiki page on a 'microwave drill' . Sounds interesting though . I wouldn't be suprised if there's a fair bit of top secret research on ball lightning from directed energy weapons .

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(I think it's probably plasma debri of somekind caused by a bolt of lightning hitting the ground) .

[Moontanman]

I think it's a positive step leader coming from the ground that has been cut off from both the ground and the clouds. In other words a ball of positive plasma.

 

Or remote control alien drones...

[rigney]

Having been a quazi farm boy, miners son; I saw this phenomena more than once as a kid. Have I any idea what it was or is?, "No". But living in the hills of W.V. you got to see things many city kids can't even imagine. 'course they do too. As I remember, Ball Lightning usually happened in the early part of summer when the woods were pretty damp and warm. I just think it was a lightning strike ionizing moisture around the strike area. After seeing it a few times, none of us got too excited, except it was fun to watch and when you tried to tell someone, especially an adult that you saw it, their usual reply was; "Uh-Uh". How many times did I see it? Maybe a half dozen times in as many years. The balls? They were real enough, not dazzling bright but a reddish orange. Some looked to be the size of a #2 washing tub, down to just flecks. But never did see any little green men or space ships to go along with them though?

Edited May 31, 2010 by rigney

[Moontanman]

I saw ball lightning once, it was an extraordinary event but it lasted only a few seconds.

 

I saw a film from a security camera once that showed a ball of white light coming in from off camera, it swirled around a metal lamp poll, it was night and the lamp was lit, the glowing ball wasn't as bright as the lamp. The ball of light continued off cam with no further interaction with the metal lamp post.

 

It was claimed to be a UFO but it looked like a classic example of ball lightning. Of course ball lightning is as unknown as UFOs and using one unexplained mystery to explain another one is a bit of a stretch.

[mooeypoo]

Not sure I completely agree with this idea, but it's nontheless interesting: http://www.universetoday.com/2010/05/17/is-ball-lightning-just-a-shared-hallucination/

[Moontanman]

Not sure I completely agree with this idea, but it's nontheless interesting: http://www.universetoday.com/2010/05/17/is-ball-lightning-just-a-shared-hallucination/

 

I think there is a school of thought that asserts that many sightings of unusual things is caused by magnetic fields distorted by tectonic stress, piezoelectric effects, the two ideas could account for at least some sightings of glowing objects.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthquake_light

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Persinger

[Mr Skeptic]

Not sure I completely agree with this idea, but it's nontheless interesting: http://www.universetoday.com/2010/05/17/is-ball-lightning-just-a-shared-hallucination/

 

However, from the numbers it seems that the majority of ball lightning cases couldn't be one of these transcranial magnetic stimulation hallucinations.

[Clipper]

If ball lightning is possible then wouldn't it prove 3Dimensional math wrong?

[mooeypoo]

If ball lightning is possible then wouldn't it prove 3Dimensional math wrong?

No. Why would it?

[Clipper]

No. Why would it?

 

Because then the lightning evolves into a 3D object. It could go to show how we move, we could be a form of moving lightning. Also lightning is hot, and so is fire, and fire requires a spark to alight; which is exactly what lightning is: and fire is 'light'.

[mooeypoo]

No. You're connecting things that are unrelated. The answer is no.

[Mr Skeptic]

*Puts up a "Don't Feed the Trolls" sign*

[Moontanman]

Can we at least poke em with a stick?

[mooeypoo]

Can we at least poke em with a stick?

I don't think that will work well on the ball lightning, specially if the stick is conductive.

[Moontanman]

No no no, no poking sticks into electrical sources!