‘There have been many research programs that routinely video or photograph natural and triggered lightning,’ he said, ‘but none, as far as I am aware, has stumbled on a ball lightning.’
‘I think that this is a unique observation that is probably of ball lightning, or one type of ball lightning, said lightning specialist Martin Uman of the University of Florida, in an interview with the American Physical Society. The theory was first put forward more than a decade ago, but the new spectral analysis confirms it. They believe this means that the ball lightning caught on video was a product of the lightning bolt's interaction with the earth. The researchers also discovered that elements found in the local soil - silicon, iron and calcium - were also present in the ball lightning. However, this is the first time the phenomenon has been successfully filmed outside of a lab. Therefore, they referred to the phenomenon as 'ball-lightning-like atmospheric pressure plasmoids'. The balls were generated from high-power electric sparks, discharged by electrodes partly submerged in electrolyte solutions.Įven the researchers couldn’t be sure that what they had created was ball lightning. Air Force Academy in Colorado made and photographed bright white plasmoid balls in their lab. Until the 1960s it was not widely believed to really exist. These then recombine to form nanoparticles or filaments which, while still floating in air, react with oxygen, releasing heat and emitting the glow.īall lightning has been reported to appear during thunderstorms as a glow, ranging from the size of a golf ball to several metres across. One theory about the phenomena is the ball is caused when lightning striking the ground vapourises some of the silicate minerals in soil.Ĭarbon in the soil removes the silicates of oxygen, creating a gas of energetic silicon atoms. 'It struck our house, cut the telephone wires, burnt the window frame, and then buried itself in a tub of water which was underneath.' In a letter to the Daily Mail in 1936, for instance, a reader described how he saw a 'large, red hot ball come down from the sky. There are a number of reports of such glows injuring or even killing people and setting buildings alight. The glow appears in the air for between one second and tens of seconds. It can range from the size of a golf ball to several metres across. Ball lightning has been reported to appear during thunderstorms as a glow for centuries.
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