From: marcmil@microsoft.com (Marc Milanini)
Subject: Re: Mysterious Happening
Date: 21 Aug 92 01:43:44 GMT
Organization: Microsoft Corporation

Here is a plausible explanation for your testimony.

In article <1992Aug19.064901.1185@odin.corp.sgi.com> rodb@slugo.corp.sgi.com (Rod Beckwith) writes:
>Tom,
>
>As a matter of fact,something very similar happened to me thanksgiving
>night
>in 1988.I was heading up to San Francisco to a couple of friends house
>around 730ish pm.It was raining quite hard . I'm not sure exactly where I
>was ,but it was north of Menlo Park & South of S.F. I was going Northbound
>on 101. 
>
>I remember coming up on a sweeping right turn in the freeway when I noticed
>a bright glow from behind some trees that were to the front & right of my
>position. I could not see the source though. It lit up the whole area.Like
>a city does from a distance when you are on a country road with no
>lighting.This was bright,really bright.At this time I must have been a .5
>miles away.As I made it around the turn & the freeway straitened out I
>realized that it was right over the freeway.....I then noticed that there
>were 3 spun out cars in the area of where this thing was.
>
>The light source was about the size of a large beachball & was
>superbright,like a welding torch only white-white,like a magnesium fire. I
>could not really look at it directly cause it was so bright. I assumed the
>cars spun out cause this thing must have startled them.It was about 30-40
>foot in the air....with no visible source.It did not move at all. I passed
>under it & then looked back only to see it glow out.
>There was no overpass in the area,so I think that rules out a spotlight.It
>was too bright for that anyway.
>
>I called the highway patrol when I arrived at my friends house & inquired
>if there were any reports of anything strange lights seen on the freeway
>that night,he said no but that he would look into it.Igave him my phone #
>but he never returned my call.
>
>I guess it could have been ball lighting or some form of natural plasma,I
>really don't know what it was.I'm sure GLUTIOUS MAXIMUS will have the
>answer very soon though;->                       ^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^

It is very likely that you have observed some lightning in the shape
of a ball. Especially since it was raining so hard.

This phenomenon is studied by scientists, but it is almost
impossible to reproduce in a laboratory, on the contrary to regular
lightning. Basically, it is a ball of plasma, whose shape is round if
it small, but elliptic if it is bigger. I think that the largest ones
can easily reach 30 feet in diameter.

The interesting thing is that those lightning balls can have the
aspect of metal, because of the very high conductivity of plasma.
They can even display various bright colors, like blue, green or red.
Some witnesses have described huge lightning balls, in which the
surface presents some holes, through which you can see the brighter 
color of the inside, like portholes.

Some of them can last several hours, only decreasing in size very
slowly, but they are usually steady.

No joke about this please, I am trying to remain serious.

-- 
=---K8>>@@@@@@@@ Marc Milanini @@@@ marcmil@microsoft.com @@@@%%