The lightning ball can be described as an atmospheric electricity phenomenon. This term refers to a phenomenon that can have luminous power ranging from pea-sized to spheres several meters in diameter. Although the ball of lightning is often associated with thunderstorms, it can last longer than a split second lightning strike. Many old reports say that the ball of lightning can eventually explode, sometimes even more deadly than sulfur.
Until the 1960s, many scientists argued that the ball of lightning was not real, it was just an urban legend, despite reports from all over the world. Laboratory experiments have succeeded in creating effects that are very close to the lightning ball in appearance. However, how this phenomenon is related to a natural phenomenon is not yet fully explained.
Hypotheses about the lightning ball have been put forward for centuries. However, scientific data on natural lightning balls are scarce as they are sparse and unpredictable. The existence of the lightning ball is based on reported eyewitnesses and inconsistent findings. But due to inconsistencies and lack of reliable data, the true nature of the lightning ball is still unknown. The lightning ball event, which included a high-definition video released in June 2014, revealed the first formed light spectrum.
Lightning Balls Seen in History and Their Deadly Consequences
The lightning ball phenomenon has been observed and reported by many people in history. These reports are explained by the fact that a large electric charge collects in the form of a spherical ball and moves rapidly towards the earth. According to the Anchimayen mythology in the Mapuche culture, the lightning ball is depicted as an object with the power of lighting. People, on the other hand, describe the ball of lightning in various ways; they state that it is both large and small, dangerous and harmless.
A study conducted in the 1960s reported that 5% of the world’s population witnessed a ball of lightning. Another study analyzed 10,000 lightning ball status reports. These reports indicate that the existence of lightning balls is a phenomenon noticed by humans. However, much is still unknown about the formation and nature of lightning balls and more research is needed.
The Lightning Ball that Completely Destroyed the Church
On October 21, 1638, a chain of events took place during a major thunderstorm at a church on the Moor Widecombe in Devon, England. During the heavy storm, a fireball with a diameter of 2.4 meters hit the church and almost completely destroyed the church. In this incident, four people lost their lives and approximately sixty were injured. Large stones from the walls of the church were thrown towards the ground and the wooden beams. Allegedly, the fireball hit several windows and pews, filling the interior of the church with a foul smell of sulfur, dark and dense smoke.
The fireball allegedly split into two parts. Part of it crashed into the window and went out, and the other disappeared somewhere inside the church. Explanations were made for the sulfur smell and fireball, such as that the fireball came from the devil or the fire of hell. Later, two people playing card games on the church seat were thought to have been exposed to God’s anger and these two people were held responsible for all the events.
Lightning Ball Revealed in Experiment
Georg Richmann decided to conduct an experiment to prove that lightning was a deadly force in 1753 in Saint Petersburg, Russia, when he created a tool similar to the kite equipment Benjamin Franklin had proposed the year before. Hearing the storm, he and his engraver wanted to capture this event for posterity and started running towards the house. However, while in the middle of the experiment, the lightning ball appeared. Starting to move down the rope, the ball of lightning struck Richmann in the forehead and killed him. Richmann had a red stain on his forehead and his clothes were burnt.
Lightning Ball Seen On Board
In 1809, a British magazine reported that during a storm three fireballs appeared and attacked the British ship HMS Warren Hasting. The crew watched as a fireball descended, killing a man on deck and setting the mainmast on fire. When a crew member went to retrieve the fallen body, he was knocked unconscious by the second fireball and suffered minor bruised burns on his body. The third man died when the third fireball made contact. After the incident, the crew felt a constant and disgusting smell of sulfur.
Other Lightning Balls Recorded
On April 30, 1877, a ball of lightning entered the Golden Temple in Amritsar, India, and rose up from the doorway, causing an event called Darshani Deodhi. There were several people who witnessed this event and it was recorded.
On November 22, 1894, an unexpectedly long ball of natural lightning appeared in Golden, Colorado, as a result of artificial loading of the atmosphere.
In June 1907, the Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse in Western Australia was struck by a ball of lightning. Lighthouse keeper Patrick Baird was in the tower at the time and was unconscious. His daughter Ethel recorded this event.
Pilots during the Second World War made an effort to explain an unusual phenomenon known as lightning balls. The pilots stated that they observed balls of light as they drove along strange routes.
On August 6, 1944, in Uppsala, Switzerland, a ball of lightning passed through a closed window, leaving a five-centimeter circular gap behind it. Local residents witnessed the event, and the lightning strike was recorded by the tracking system in the electricity and lightning research department at Uppsala University.
On June 10, 2011, during a strong thunderstorm, a ball of lightning, along with a two-metre long tail, burst through the window of the Liberec Emergency Service in the Czech Republic. The ball of lightning rolled two or three meters from the glass, hit the ceiling, and then fell to the ground. This incident frightened the officers in the control room; smells of electricity, burnt wires, and something burning. Computers froze and all communications equipment remained shut down until the night was repaired by the technician. Apart from equipment breakdown, only one monitor was damaged.
A similar incident occurred on 25 December 2014 on flight BE-6780 (Saab 2000) in the UK. A ball of lightning was experienced in the front cabin just before lightning struck the nose of the aircraft.
Research on Lightning Ball
A lot of research has been carried out to explain the secret of spherical lightning balls that have baffled scientists and observers for years. With a new study, it has been revealed that this rare natural phenomenon can be seen in heavy rainy weather. One of the most important ways to understand and explain natural events is to imitate these events in a laboratory setting. In this way, the necessary dynamics and conditions for events to occur can be studied. However, the artificial production of lightning balls is a rare event that has not been achieved in the laboratory until today.
Researchers at Amherst College in the USA and Aalto University in Finland have conducted a study that supports the theory that lightning balls are affected by magnetic fields. This work was carried out on a cold gas mass with magnetic atoms and a long-lived ball of artificial lightning was created. The researchers noted that this artificial region is affected by magnetic fields, which are also observed in real lightning balls.
Dr. “To create the electromagnetic node, we produced an artificial ball of lightning using electric currents in two reciprocal loops,” Mikko Mottonen said. This ball of artificial lightning persisted for a long time even after the lightning strike. The researchers said this work provides further insight into how balls of lightning are shaped by magnetic fields. This information can be used to better understand and study the nature of lightning balls in the future.
Dr. As Motton points out, the exact nature and formation mechanisms of lightning spheres are still not fully understood. However, this study showed that lightning balls are associated with magnetic fields, giving researchers a roadmap for further studies. In particular, future studies could help to better understand these phenomena by examining the structure of plasma inside lightning balls. This information is important for industrial applications of lightning balls, especially in areas such as making artificial solar energy source fusion reactors more stable.
