Ball Lightning ???  Hits locally, (or my eyes need a checkup). - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: RJSV
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 15, 2024, 10:24:13 pm
content: Hello:Early a.m. Saturday, about 4:30 Pacific Time (1@:30), I was observing the big rain storm when the sky lit up, a big wide swath of smooth white, no zig zag lightning and NO sound.That was very similar to florescent lamp action, almost as if the rain cloud itself was florescing internally !The white light extinguished in separate little falters with slow reduction to dark, again.Next, another burst after about 5 minutes, this time straight overhead. Funny thing was, that overhead cloud seemed to be 'leaking' current down, down to around neighbor's chimney, crackling the whole time. Maybe 2 seconds total, and this time followed (soon), by a peal of thunder.That seemingly ground-headed 'leader' thing was kinda scary, especially for anybody caught out in the electrical storm !WTF ! Was this Ball Lightning ?

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 15, 2024, 10:26:56 pm
content: its out there I saw occur too. People that did not see it are just jealous. Plasma can some how self confine into a sphere sometimes and float around.I suggest trusting your eyes when people are telling you what is possible and impossible based on first order Physics I explanations of what plasma and electricity can do or are lolThough the ball plasma issue is a bit scary, it feels like a stargate episode, where someone is arguing with rodney about some strange occurrence.

author: RJSV
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 16, 2024, 04:59:01 pm
content: The reply from coppercone2 helps introduce the idea of having a 'halo' or vaguely visible lines of force. These things happened at a more slow scale, compared with the usual loud CLAP with brief flash.But still a quick grouping of effects, maybe 80/ milliseconds, along with 'sparky' noises.I've tried asking neighbors, about the 4:30 am bursts, (and local news).In the schetch, I show that halo, seemingly attracted to the roof top metal pipe, having an egg-shaped field in glowing white. On the paper, I used blue color to signify the white glow.Meanwhile, in this, the sky directly over our houses, was glowing during the discharge event, that lasted maybe 1 1/2 seconds.

author: RJSV
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 16, 2024, 05:10:43 pm
content: The enclosed picture shows the more extreme case, as that active rain cloud became directly overhead, sparking,...or almost it seemed.Visible were a half-dozen streamers, surrounding the neighbor's chimney (and starlight dish).It seemed as though there was no clear 'clap' or spark, more like a bunch of 'leader' ionization paths, crackling and moving around.At that point, I retreated for safety sake, as our patio cover is metal sheeting and I'm not that into (hospital) drama. Damp feet, no shoes, on concrete floor.Local news (via some Oklahoma TV station) didn't mention weird lightning, but there was a lot of rain related news.

author: RJSV
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 16, 2024, 05:11:51 pm
content: Picture.

author: Xena E
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 16, 2024, 05:14:11 pm
content: Quote from: RJSV on December 15, 2024, 10:24:13 pmSounds like sheet lightning, Rick.Kind of equalising across the cloud layer?Ground streamers before a lightning strike, some connect some don't. If you're outside in it and feel the hair stand up on your head, hit the dirt!Ball lightning can be induced inside airplane fuselages, frightening.Don't know what energy contains it, but it disperses like a burst soap bubble, it's a wonder of nature, dangerous perhaps but worth seeing just the once.X

author: RJSV
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 16, 2024, 05:34:28 pm
content: ...scared me so bad I wasn't interested in starting up my 'insomnia' easing meds (cannabis at 4 am). Too cautious to be sitting out there, under a metal porch roof.

author: ebastler
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 16, 2024, 08:42:22 pm
content: If it was localized around the chimney, it might have been St. Elmo's Fire? Google will show you various pictures, many with a pronounced linear structure, some also more diffuse or fan-like.

author: Analog Kid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 16, 2024, 09:57:08 pm
content: Quote from: Xena E on December 16, 2024, 05:14:11 pmI remember vividly something from my childhood (1960s).I was sleeping over at a friend's house in Bethesda, MD, in their downstairs rec room. There was a thunderstorm outside.Suddenly, through the open bathroom door to my left, I saw -- a lightning bolt that went from the ceiling of the bathroom to the floor. With a resounding crack.Scared the shit out of us. (Not literally, fortunately.)

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 16, 2024, 10:26:11 pm
content: I don't care what type of lightning it was. I don't want to be near it.One early Summer I was flying back from Oshkosh in Wisconsin to my home base at RST. There were thunderstorms. On ILS approach, a lightning glow surrounded my only means of staying aloft, and all of my electronics died. Never mind, I had needle, ball, and airspeed (along with the redundant gyros to look at).Thankfully, I am not sure the passengers noticed. None of them screamed. Then the localizer and glideslope soon recovered. No further incidents. More recently, I have opened the mandoor on my barn, felt the static push, decided to stay inside.I don't mess with lightning, nor would I dare stand outside and try to photograph it. A sketch is scary enough.

author: RJSV
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 16, 2024, 10:47:05 pm
content: Yes, in my situation, Saturday morning, there was the vacume cleaner plugged in, and a table saw, plugged in the wall. That and the metal sheet porch roof, having unknown grounding.I did not want a strike leader to leap from metal roof, going through my body, and continuing via my damp feet (socks) straight on the concrete floor.Consumption of sleep inducing meds can wait, I figured, at least until that giant cloud moved away.

author: Xena E
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 17, 2024, 01:47:12 am
content: Quote from: Analog Kid on December 16, 2024, 09:57:08 pmAt least you would have been in the right place if you were seated on the porcelain to shit yourself.Quote from: RJSV on December 16, 2024, 10:47:05 pmIt doesn't have to be nearby. The inspiration for the childrens story, "Bridge to Terabithia" was a girl who was killed by a lightning bolt while playing on the beach, in Bethany Beach, Delaware, on a virtually cloudless day. There was a storm in the vicinity but not overhead.If it had to happen, it would be a good way to go, as in quick!I saw a small tree being vapourised by a lightning bolt once as a kid, few bits of bark left scattered around a smouldering stump was all that was left.Wouldnt be much of a person left to clear up.X

author: Gyro
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 17, 2024, 11:59:27 am
content: Quote from: RJSV on December 16, 2024, 05:11:51 pmYou were lucky, I can see signs of an ascii discharge starting at the bottom of the chimney!

author: jimmy78787
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: December 30, 2024, 03:16:06 pm
content: If you’ve witnessed a ball lightning phenomenon locally, it could be an extraordinary sight, but if you're unsure whether it’s your vision playing tricks, a visit to Koziol Eye might be a good idea. Their expert team can perform a thorough eye checkup to rule out any vision-related issues or anomalies.

author: jimmy78787
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: December 30, 2024, 04:26:21 pm
content: NOTE: This message has been deleted by the forum moderator Simon for being against the forum rules and/or at the discretion of the moderator as being in the best interests of the forum community and the nature of the thread.If you believe this to be in error, please contact the moderator involved.An optional additional explanation is:

author: RJSV
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 30, 2024, 10:53:13 pm
content: No, the comment about vision was just a generic (and non-serious) commonly spoken aside.(Thanks to Xena E. here) that pretty much seems like it was 'sheet lightning' and have a normal loud thunder clap...just behind our hill there.Looks like moderator maybe deleted an unwanted advertisement...(good).Thanks.

author: bson
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 28, 2025, 10:31:46 pm
content: Is this the SF Bay Area? We recently had some St Elmo's Fire around aircraft on approach to SFO here, obscured and diffused by fog, producing a surreal glow.

author: RJSV
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2025, 04:01:23 am
content: Near Hayward - Oakland. Bayshore 880 corridor

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2025, 04:04:41 am
content: sometimes I wonder about concrete or porous ceramic. One thing that comes to mind is road salt soaking up into it. Like de-icer calcium chloride turning it way more conductive then it should be.I wonder if a brick house can start absorbing salt to become more like a resistor when its wet. Like a much lower value then it its. Or like a chimney soaking up nano particles of burnt material

author: golden_labels
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 14, 2025, 03:27:08 am
content: Quote from: Xena E on December 17, 2024, 01:47:12 amA lightning killed my mother’s friend, who walked not far in front of her. She managed to survive unharmed. At least physically, as the psychological scar never healed: until now she jumps hearing an unexpected thunder.Quote from: RJSV on December 15, 2024, 10:24:13 pmNobody can tell. Likely you did not.Contrary to the general perception, ball lightnings arenotrejected.(1)But they lack a well established explanation. More importantly for your situation: they are poorly defined. Well enough to be accepted and studied, but not well enough to confirm a singular instance was really a ball lightning. They’re also seen as something very rare. Which means that any observation is probably having a different explanation, unrelated to ball lightnings. Your picture not matching the type moves us even further away from considering that to be a ball lightning.Don’t see that as a bad thing. People love telling fantastic stories and portray experiencing uncommon occurances. But ask yourself: how many times did you hear such stories and on the back of your head you had a silent, sarcastic “yeah, sure mate, good story”? Instead, consider you seen “just” a very curious phenomenon. You don’t need to classify it as something extraordinary, you don’t need to gild it with fancy classifications or explanations, you don’t need to make it more mysterious.Appreciate it as it really was.If it’s not interesting enough without glitter added, it’s not worth being a subject of stories.I recommend seeing Feynman’s the beauty of the flower video. Understanding, even if that means rejecting poor explanations, doesn’t take away the beauty. I did experience many curious and perhaps frightening events in my life, and accepting “mundane” explanation doesn’t make me appreciate them any less or make them any less interesting stories.(1)They’re in fact a good case study of the distinction between the unexplained and pseudoscience.