DiscoverScroll article

Ball lightning is a rare and unexplained phenomenon described as luminescent spherical objects that vary from pea-sized to several meters in diameter.

Though usually associated with thunderstorms, the observed phenomenon is reported to last considerably longer than the split-second flash of a lightning bolt and is distinct from St. Descriptions of ball lightning appear in a variety of accounts over the centuries and have received attention from scientists. An optical spectrum of what appears to have been a ball lightning event was published in January 2014 and included a video at high frame rate. Nevertheless, scientific data on ball lightning remain scarce. Although laboratory experiments have produced effects that are visually similar to reports of ball lightning, how these relate to the phenomenon remains unclear.

Although they are separate and distinct phenomena, ball lightning is often erroneously identified as St.

The hole in the window was found days later, and it was thought it could have happened during the thunderstorm; a lightning strike was witnessed by residents in the area, and was recorded by a lightning strike tracking system at the Division for Electricity and Lightning Research at Uppsala University. On 15 December 2014, Loganair Flight 6780 in Scotland experienced ball lightning in the forward cabin just before lightning struck the aircraft nose.

In January 2014, scientists from Northwest Normal University in Lanzhou, China, published the results of recordings made in July 2012 of the optical spectrum of what was thought to be natural ball lightning made by chance during the study of ordinary cloud–ground lightning on the Tibetan Plateau. At a distance of 900 m (3,000 ft), a total of 1.64 seconds of digital video of the ball lightning and its spectrum was made, from the formation of the ball lightning after the ordinary lightning struck the ground, up to the optical decay of the phenomenon. From the spectrum, the temperature of the ball lightning was assessed as being lower than the temperature of the parent lightning (<15,000 to 30,000 K).

The International Committee on Ball Lightning (ICBL) held regular International Symposium on Ball Lightning (ISBL) on the subject, since the First International Symposium on Ball Lightning at Waseda University, Tokyo on 4-6 July 1988.

Spinning plasma toroids can be created by means of high power electric arcs, which may explain ball lightning observations after lightning bolts.

Pyotr Kapitsa proposed that ball lightning is a glow discharge driven by microwave radiation that is guided to the ball along lines of ionized air from lightning clouds where it is produced. The Handel Maser-Soliton theory of ball lightning hypothesizes that the energy source generating the ball lightning is a large (several cubic kilometers) atmospheric maser. The theory could explain many of the strange characteristics of ball lightning.

Theoretical calculations from University of Innsbruck researchers suggest that the magnetic fields involved in certain types of lightning strikes could potentially induce visual hallucinations resembling ball lightning.

Manykin et al. have suggested atmospheric Rydberg matter as an explanation of ball lightning phenomena.

The model predicts a maximum diameter of 34 cm for ball lightning, with the lightning having a charge of about 10 microcoulombs and being positively charged, and the energy of the lightning reaching 11 kilojoules. The electron-ion model describes not only ball lightning, but also bead lightning, which usually occurs when linear lightning disintegrates.

In its final form, the model can explain all the known characteristics of ball lightning.

Meessen presented a theory at the 10th International Symposium on Ball Lightning (21–27 June 2010, Kaliningrad, Russia) explaining all known properties of ball lightning in terms of collective oscillations of free electrons. Great Balls of Fire: A Unified Theory of Ball Lightning, UFOs, Tunguska and other Anomalous Lights. 2006, "A Unified Theory of Ball Lightning and Unexplained Atmospheric Lights", J.

Quick Facts

• The International Committee on Ball Lightning (ICBL) held regular International Symposium on Ball Lightning (ISBL) on the subject, since the First International Symposium on Ball Lightning at Waseda University, Tokyo on 4-6 July 1988.
• Although laboratory experiments have produced effects that are visually similar to reports of ball lightning, how these relate to the phenomenon remains unclear.
• Pyotr Kapitsa proposed that ball lightning is a glow discharge driven by microwave radiation that is guided to the ball along lines of ionized air from lightning clouds where it is produced.
• An optical spectrum of what appears to have been a ball lightning event was published in January 2014 and included a video at high frame rate.
• The model predicts a maximum diameter of 34 cm for ball lightning, with the lightning having a charge of about 10 microcoulombs and being positively charged, and the energy of the lightning reaching 11 kilojoules.

Source material: Wikipedia - "Ball lightning". Adapted and summarized for DiscoverScroll. Original contributors are credited through the linked Wikipedia article. Read original on Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes were made from the original.