BALL LIGHTNING
REPORTS

I was playing Bridge with a group of friends in Albuquerque, New Mexico. One bridge table was in the living room by a sliding glass door which was open letting in the breeze smelling of impending rain. I was facing the open glass door when all of a sudden a large ball of sizzling, crackling light zipped into the room over our heads through a closed screen door. The ball of lightening zipped around the room bouncing off the corners of the room until it hit a ceiling mounted stereo speaker at which time it gave a loud pop and disappeared. There was dead silence in the room - everyone was pretty shaken up. Before this incident I was not aware of the Ball Lightning phenomena so when I went home and told my husband I was sure he would think I was nuts. Fortunately, he knew what it was from my description so my sanity was not in question - at least not from that incident. Jean Sleater <gvaldeg2 a cox net> Albuquerque, nm USA - Saturday, July 22, 2006 at 17:58:19 (PDT)

I was on a flight between Hawaiian islands during a very severe tropical storm in 1992. I was seated right beside the wing and was watching out the window when I saw a ball of "fire", whiteish in colour and bit smaller than a soccer ball hit the wing of the plane and bounce away toward the back of the plane in about a 90 degree angle. The plane's wing was seemingly undamaged by this and it did not enter into the metal and dissipate as i thought lightning would. I have always believed this was ball lightning that I witnessed, but did not know much about it at the time. What else could it be? Needless to say, I was a bit worried about my safety during the flight after seeing that. tracy burgfeld USA - Monday, July 17, 2006 at 14:28:12 (PDT)

My name is David and I am 50 years old. In 1962 I was living near Baton Rouge, Louisiana and was visiting my grandparent's farm in Gonzales, Louisiana. At that time they lived in a two room, tin-roofed farmhouse. During a severe lightning storm I had a memory of an unusal round glowing sphere actually enterng the room i was standing in through a window and moving horizontally across the room. It left such a powerful impression on me that many years later as a young adult, I read about "ball" lightning and think that perhaps I witnessed one. It is amazing that there are not more photographs. Dave PS - We sold the property in 2005. David Volpe Bergenfield, NJ USA - Friday, July 14, 2006 at 11:10:00 (PDT)

I have had the opportunity to experience ball lightning twice. My first experience was seeing a ball of light floating across my yard, then drifting off into the sky and disappearing. I had no idea what ball lightning was and thought I was seeing things. The second time I experienced ball lightning was when it hit my home and exploded. I was in my late teens when ball lightning hit the side of my house and I first heard the term "ball lightning" when the firefighters said that was what happened to our home. I was living in Kittanning, Pennsylvania, which is about an hour northeast of Pittsburgh. The explosion (I call it an explosion due to the thunderous boom that shook the entire home) shorted out all the electrical devices in the house as well as all of the vehicle radio's parked around the house. The fireproof insulation in the house caught fire and any metal touching metal within the framing of the home melted. My brothers and I were watching television when the lightning hit the house and we were told if our house would not have been grounded to our well the entire home could have exploded. The television's electrical system was blown out as well. I remember when we went outside after the explosion, there was a large burnt circle outline on the side of our home where the "ball of lightning" hit the house. These were the only two times I experience this phenomena. Jeff Turney <jturney a glendaleaz com> Glendale, AZ USA - Wednesday, July 12, 2006 at 10:29:12 (PDT)

On Monday, July 10, 2006 I was out for a late evening walk. At just about 11PM, distant cloud lightning began. The storm approached from the West. I took cover under the awning at a nearby convenience store/gas station that was closed for the evening as it began to sprinkle, then rain. The storm approached rapidly, with both Horizontal (cloud-to-cloud) and vertical (Cloud to ground) lightning. Streaks of horizontal lightning up to perhaps ten streaks, wide and far apart, seemingly emanating from a common location occurred several times, lighting up the sky just across the street. It began to rain harder. I resigned myself that this would not be a 5-minute storm pass. After waiting a while in hopes for the rain to stop and the lightning to subside, all the while enjoying the light show, I saw in the distance two balls of light the size of beach balls. Thinking it was not an airplane for it appeared suddenly and was VERY bright white, such as a flash of lightning would be, I watched it and watched it. The ball(s) of lightning never moved direction but did seem to wax and wane (beachball - to-basketball-to- beachball). After about 25 seconds they were gone, and less than 5 seconds later the entire sky was lighted again with more cloud to cloud lightning, revealing that there was no airplane or other airborne object where the lights had been. The rain and lightning continued for another 40 minutes or so with nothing additionally remarkable. This location is 35 miles south of the Great Lake Ontario, where the evening news had shown satellite images of thunderstorms covering the entire lake (North to South - Canada to Upstate NY). However, this set of storms came from the west, from the Finger Lakes Region. This is the first experience of such wide spread and well defined (streaks) of horizontal lightning that I have ever seen, even in experiencing some of the majestic North Carolinian storms. This is also my first sighting of 'ball lightning'. I thought it may have been my imagination, but upon researching the existence of such phenomena, found that under the conditions such as described above that it is not altogether uncommon. johnkmeunier a yahoo com John K. Meunier <johnkmeunier a yahoo com> Liverpool, NY USA - Tuesday, July 11, 2006 at 09:58:56 (PDT)

july we d52007afterthe5lightening and thuunder clap what looked like cloud came through the french window door i did not say nothing to my wife in the opposite chair it passed the tv middle o0f the room2 foot of the floor 2foot by 2foot yellowish thousands of sparkling li9ghts it touched the wifes face who had noticed it it turned sharp left through the open hall door into the hall towards the front door the electric meter cupboard clos by the meter was clicking madley everything in house ok nobody hurt nothinginhouse blown up the storm july wed 2 45pm hartley maghull, uk - Monday, July 10, 2006 at 07:37:02 (PDT)

Well when I was in elementary school. I'm 17 now. It was around christmas time so my family was all at my grandma's house. In Sulphur, Louisiana. My cousins and I were sleeping in the back room all together. And there was a thunderstorm outside.. I remember hearing lots of thunder.. and we were all scared. And all of a sudden you see a flash of lightning right outside our window. And a ball of light.. was in the room. It was floating sideways. It was white. And we all screamed. The ball of light went under the light fixture on that was on the roof and dissapeared. So we saw it for about.. 5 seconds at most. And my grandma ran in the room asking us what was wrong.. We all told her we saw a ball of light and then it disapeared.. She told us we were imagining things. Anna-Marie <lil_star0043 a hotmail com> elmendorf A.F.B, ak USA - Saturday, July 08, 2006 at 02:56:43 (PDT)

SCARED STIFF by DICK GIBSON Have you ever been scared stiff? Or experience a bazaar event, so horrific that you can’t even get your own grandchildren to believe you, much less any other adult? It all began one very dark, stormy afternoon while working at an industrial complex in Akron, Ohio. I had just finished preparing a large airplane tire to be tested on a machine that simulates an airplane runway. The ten foot dynamic wheel was riving up to a 300 mile an hour landing speed. Since this takes some time, I went to a large open door to check on the weather. Just then, I saw multiple strikes of lightning hammering a power sub-station, half a mile away. I watched in disbelief as a bright light seemed to be slowly moving along a power line in the direction of my building. Then I noticed that the light was actually rotating on top of the wire. Quickly looking along it’s route, I could see that if it turned at the next pole, that ball of fire would come toward our sub-station. As it reached that pole, the ball-lightning turned toward me and I froze! Scared stiff! Though I knew I was in danger, my feet would not move. The fear of dying, with no one to tell, forced me to break free and run for my life. As I ran through one door then another door, I was shouting, ABORT! ABORT! The men at the control panel had never heard me holler like that, so they pushed the abort button. When I arrived at the control panel, they asked what was wrong. I said, “We are going to be struck by lightning!” They looked at me as if I were crazy, but then there was a loud explosion an all the lights went out! The technicians were just about to jam that tire into the spinning wheel. If that would have happened as the power went out, the wheel could have broke loose and there would have been major damage, perhaps, loss of life. We all went to the back of the building to see the damage done to our power. The transformers had exploded and shards of metal were all around where I had been standing just minutes before. Even at the cost of new transformers, both my life and much equipment were saved. Try telling that story to your grandkids! Richard Gibson Witnesses; Ed Lowdermilk Tallmadge Lee Richard L Gibson <dicktracy44278 a yahoo com> Tallmadge , OH USA - Tuesday, July 04, 2006 at 09:23:25 (PDT)

7-3-06 Aloha, When I was about 11 years old my uncle Jim installed a new TV antenna on our rooftop in Yonkers New York. About 3 days after the antenna was installed lightning hit our house and knocked out our television and power. My grandmother went down to the basement and started screaming frantically. She ran back up the stairs and was screaming for me to not go down to the basement. Of course I had to see what was down there and when I got down the stairs I saw a lightning ball bouncing around the basement floor, walls, and ceiling. It was about the size of a beachball and was making a very high voltage static type noise. Quite intimidating and awsome indeed. I have told this story of witnessing of the lightning ball to all my close friends and family and it is something I can never forget. I am thinking possibly my uncle did not ground the antenna on the roof properly and when lightning struck it, the lightning had nowhere to ground out to. Hence we have a lighning ball! Aloha, Tommy Tommy <tommysurfs a excite com> Honolulu, HI USA - Monday, July 03, 2006 at 14:03:45 (PDT)

I just posted and forgot to add this in... (besides it would have bee very long.) Sometime around 1992 or 1993, I was in a car with 3 of my friends. We were driving down Clinton Rd. in Hewitt, NJ. (It's a 9 mile stretch of resivoir and forest mostly.) Anyway, it was night time and 3 of my friends said at the same time, "Did you see that?", "What was that?", ect. They all said it was a tiny blue ball went passed the left side of the car. I hadn't seen it and so believed that they were pulling yet another stunt on me. But, they were all a little 'freaked out' about it. And they even told other people about it and talked about it later. Now I think, perhaps, it was a BL. ??? I don't remember there being a storm at the time; though my memory of the weather is not with me. Keri Cifaretto <stargazr1977 a yahoo com> NJ USA - Monday, June 19, 2006 at 17:40:50 (PDT)

I didn't realize up until now the BL was such a phenom! Now I must tell of my sighting. I just called to ask my mother if she remembered it and she gave me the same description of it as I remembered... I thought I was about 7, but she said she thinks I was about 9. So, it was sometime between 1984 & 86. My family was on my father's boat, on Greenwood Lake (NY/NJ). We were on the NY end when very dark clouds were moving in. My Dad decided that we would try to beat it and head to where we docked - on the NJ end. We were a little more than half way across the lake when the storm overtook us. We made it to the dock and I remember running up the hill. Lightning struck something nearby. The sound was so loud. I fell; probably out of fear. I felt the hair on my arms and neck stand up and felt a tingly sensation...again maybe just from fear. But, my Mom says she remembers the sensation as well. My father's friend reached down to grab my hand and as I looked up, diagonal from me, probably 30' in the air was a hovering ball! It was about basketball size, kind of clear yet foggish with a blue and pinkish-purple color kind of move within it. I only saw it for a second or two before runnning again. So I don't know how long it lasted or if it moved around at all. I am pretty sure I remember it being near a pole, so maybe that is also where the lightning had struck just before. Keri Cifaretto <stargazr1977 a yahoo com> NJ USA - Monday, June 19, 2006 at 17:32:11 (PDT)

I was living in Manly, Australia a beach suburb of Sydney. There was a huge summer electrical storm, and I think it must have been either December of 1995 or January of 1996. I had three roommates, and we were all at the window watching the impressive lightning strikes outside. We had a pretty open view from our apartment towards the center of Sydney to the south. At one point instead of normal lightning in streaks, there was what appeared to me to be balls of fire or bombs falling from the sky on to the city. What differs here from other peoples' accounts of the ball lightning was that I seem to remeber multiple balls of fire over a period of time of maybe five minutes. They appeared to be rolling down out of the sky and really looked golden orange like fire. They didn't seem to go horizontally near the ground as other people described. They more fell in a vertical or diagonal fashion. I thought they were in the distance towards the city, but now I wonder if they were actually just the next block over, since there were some power lines there. I would say they looked to be about basketball sized. My roommates and I all agreed that it looked like a scene from a sci-fi movie but we were more amazed and curious than scared. But this was ten years ago. I would be curious to talk to those roommates and find out if they remember it the same way as I do. Sabrina Dechert <smdechert a hotmail com> MN USA - Sunday, June 18, 2006 at 08:36:08 (PDT)

My Girlfriend and I are driving along a well traveled Highway east of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.(Highway 16) We were on our way to visit in a city 3 hours east of us. We are about a hour into the trip, it was approximately 1:00 Pm. It was a sunny, clear, summer, afternoon. I was driving along chatting away when the Girlfriend asked what those lines were in the field off to the right of us, about 1/2 mile ahead. I slowed down a bit as we got closer we estimated literally 100's of these lines, what looked like mini twisters all through the field! they looked about 6-10 inches in diameter, they reached what looked like 150-200 feet in the air from the ground. They appeared to be stationary! There was many cars passing us now and no one seemed to notice or care that these were there! We have been down that highway many times since have not saw this again...can any one explain??? Dean <deangingell1968 a hotmail com> Edmonton, Canada - Thursday, June 15, 2006 at 20:21:42 (PDT)

My Grandfather often tells me of the incident he and his parents experienced with ball lightning. When I was younger I often thought that he was hallucinating or that this was some tall tale meant to draw attention. However, I believe it to be genuine since it left quite an impression on him. To the point that he gets kind of nervous just talking about it. He says one night at home (Indiana) he heard loud clattering coming from the kitchen. He says it woke up his whole family. Now these were the days (30s-40s) when people used to leave windows and doors open at night in the summer; especially in the mid-west. His father rushed to through the house and eventually everyone crept around the corner thinking it might be a burglar. The kitchen was illuminated by something. He says that while his mother was holding his hand a glowing ball rushed in front of them hitting the walls. After about 15 seconds it disappeared. I never really thought much about ball lightning, but I can say for sure that I'm a believer. Jason C. Valrico, FL USA - Wednesday, June 14, 2006 at 21:10:27 (PDT)

I wanted to tell you of my experience with what I am not yet sure of to this day. Maybe it was some form of Ball Lightening. My husband (now my ex) and I were driving through Oklahoma on the way back from visiting my family in Iowa. We were on I-35 and we're just south of Oklahoma City. It was about 1:00 to 2:00a.m. My husband was driving and I was sort of laying down in the passenger seat next to him trying to rest. I was not asleep because I don't sleep well while traveling. Suddenly I become aware that there is some sort of a bright light somewhere because it made me open my eyes and peer over the door to look outside. I was so shocked I couldn't say anything for a about 10 seconds. I was looking at a huge ball of white light that was about 100 feet away from the car but just a few feet above the ground. It was at least 15' high. When I got my wits about me I started saying my husband's name (Joe) to get his attention, but he wouldn't answer. The whole inside of the car was so bright. I looked right at him and said, "Joe" at least 3 times with no response. I didn't want to scream out because I was afraid that "this object" would go away and I didn't want it to. I was totally in awe. The last time I yelled his name fairly loud and then sat up. Then this huge ball of white light just disappeared. I had watched it for about 3 minutes. Not wanting to take my eyes off of it except to get Joe's attention. When the ball disappeared, Joe responded with "What?" I said, "Did you see that big ball of light?" He said, "What light?" I said, "Don't tell me you didn't see it. You and the whole inside of the car was lit up. You had to have seen it!!" He said I was seeing things and must have been dreaming. I went on to describe it and what had taken place. I knew darn well and good that I had not been dreaming and what I had saw was real. For the life of me I couldn't understand why he hadn't seen or had not even looked at what I was looking at. How could he not have noticed that at one minute the inside of the car was dark and the next it was all lit up? He started teasing me that it was like Jimmy Stewart seeing the invisible rabbit named Harvey. You have no idea how frustrating that was. I have shared this with someone else who had written in with a similar experience that described the very same object. I have to preface with I am not some sort of a wacko. I am a highly educated woman, former VP of a large DP company, President of the Women's Guild, Mother of 2 and Grandmother of 3 & 1/2. I haven't had any more sightings like that but I will never forget that strange object and that experience for as long as I live. Thanks. Diane Rhome, Texas loveable1704 a yahoo com Diane Fletcher <loveable1704 a yahoo com> Rhome, TX USA - Monday, June 05, 2006 at 10:26:27 (PDT)

This is about ball lightning, and goes back to 1959, the first time I "heard" it. I was just married and moved in with my husband in a very old brownstone building. We lived on the top floor, and could go out on the roof from a window. About 6-8 times each year we would hear this loud cracking discharge--like a large fire cracker. I don't remember if it was storming at any of those times. It was so loud it made our hearts pound. Once when I was home alone during the day, I was leaving one room, stepping into our large open-space living room, when just to the right of me, about 3 feet off the floor and about 6 inches from me, there was this ball of white flourescent light, that gave the same loud crack. It shot straight across the room (around 20 feet) toward a wall, and disappeared in about a second. There was no smell or marks on the wall. Although we heard it a number of times after that I never saw it again. The sound always seemed to come from the same large room, at anytime of the day or night. In order to have come from the outside window, it would have to travel across a room and out of a door just to the right of the door I came out of. There was a 12 inch panel between the two doors, and when I actually saw the light, it seemed to have come from the panel, not the room. There was no electrical outlet nearby. We moved out after two years, but at that time, I had never heard of ball lightening. Actually, I was starting to get a little bit superstitious. I believe now, that it was a form of ball lightening. Shirley A. Dyer - Sunday, June 04, 2006 at 23:20:18 (PDT)

I had the weirdest thing happen yesterday. It was very erie looking outside, gloomy. We were expecting a thunderstorm. We only got a brief shower. I went outside for a bit to see what was going on and to get some air. It was about 8:13 pm. I was looking around at the sky. Not to much to look at considering the clouds were very dark. I happen to look up and this tiny light, that was bright white, was in the sky, about 200 feet above my shops roof. It was growing in size and intensity. I had no idea what was going one. I just stared at it. It got to a fairly large size, being that it was up in the sky, it looked the size of a grapefruit. Then it got super bright, very white. Then...........BANG. It sounded like a shotgun blast. And just then a streamer went to the top of the shops roof. Well I went back in and a CNC machine is fried. It is 8:25 pm. I got in and an alarm was trigered. The CNC will not run anymore. Was that Ball Lighning???????? It was so bizzar. It is something I wont forget. Thanks, and have a great day. Neil <BLIR2287 a mpvpsl com> NY USA - Friday, June 02, 2006 at 05:37:57 (PDT)

I was rocking my son (approx.18 years ago), in our living room. A friend of ours was sitting on the couch to my left. It was storming outside and suddenly a small rotating ball of light appeared to slide down the edge of the window frame coming to rest on the sill. The time frame is fuzzy but I believe it rotated on the sill for about2 seconds the disapated with as extremely loud report. Everyone in the room jumped and my son added crying to the mix. I have never seen anything like before or since. Tim Mi USA - Thursday, June 01, 2006 at 14:48:31 (PDT)

My father and I were outside last night at around 1930 CST 05-30-06 watching a developing storm. There was minimal lightning accompanied by typical thunder. We were looking towards the east and northeast primarily while discussing weather-related memories we had from 20 yrs ago when all of a sudden a bright light flashed right above us at roughly the same spot we were both looking at which was then almost exactly northeast. It was if someone turned on a very bright and fairly focused light then turned it off. There was no lateral, horizontal, or vertical life to this burst as far as he and I could see. Total time "on" was less than a quarter of a second. There was no following thunder. We agreed that neither one of us had ever seen that before. I spoke with an acquaintance this afternoon who is well-versed in meteorology. This acquaintance mentioned ball lightning so here I am telling my experience and intrigued again in what has always intrigued me ... the marvel of nature. By the way, I have an appreciable understanding of these sorts of things due to my trade but this was a first of this sort. Misc. observations: I would estimate the distance from where we were standing to the position of the burst to be between 300-700 feet. The temperature had been in the upper 80's all day but had rapidly cooled off with the incoming storm and at time of occurrence the air temperature was probably in the low 70's. It was not raining nor had it rained yet. The sky was nearly completely overcast nearly an hour before this occurred. I had been about 25 miles to the east at around 1640 CST that afternoon and was caught in an intense but short downpour accompanied by significant hail. J. Young <jgy71 a bellsouth net> AL USA - Wednesday, May 31, 2006 at 21:54:51 (PDT)

My event of seeing ball lighting happened near the end on 2005. I was sitting at my computer and the weather was changing, you could tell there was going to be a thunderstorm. There’s a window right next to my computer so when I saw something out of the corner of my eye my head turned. I had only seen it for 2 seconds but ill never forget it. It was a ball that was white on the outside and blue on the inside. It was about 40 cm across and was about 4 meters up in the air. And it sounded like it was fizzing, like one of those fizzer sticks that light up, those ones you put on birthday cakes. It was moving pretty fast and was gone. Something ill never forget. Adam Adam Formosa <neon26 a msn com a a a > Wollongong, NSW Australia - Wednesday, May 31, 2006 at 21:54:19 (PDT)

My husband and I were walking along a lake in the Upper Penninsula of Michigan one evening about 20 years ago. We both saw a glowing ball somewhat larger than a softball, smaller than a soccer ball, making no noise. The ball came toward us at about chest height, hovered for a few seconds and then moved away from us quickly -- without noise. D K Dean <dorothykd a hotmail.takeout commercial> USA - Wednesday, May 31, 2006 at 16:08:50 (PDT)

I am a 34 year retired flight attendant from delta airlines. Years ago I saw a 30 inch by 30 inch ball of multicolored lightening start at the front of the aircraft and roll, float, all the way down the aisle and straight through me as I sat on the center back jumpseat. I was telling my family and they said that was very rare. There is no doubt that this occurred. I was not hurt in any way. I cant remember if we were in an electrical storm or not. Since I read that some doubt hese things I just thought I would share this experience. grace naze <nazeflyer a aol com> USA - Tuesday, May 30, 2006 at 22:00:18 (PDT)

We were experiencing a pretty severe lightening storm in our community this past weekend. My six-year-old daughter had two school friends over, and they were playing in our living room. We heard an extraordinarily loud clap of thunder immediately followed by a very loud "pop" which seemed to come from inside the house. In fact, it seemed to have occurred in mid air in the area where the three girls were playing. I quickly discounted what I thought I heard because it did not seem plausible, and started to search for problems at electrical outlets, etc. I also turned on our outside light to see if there had been a lightning strike outside. My husband and I were discussing the event later; we were very confused by what had happened. Our lights, cable, internet had all flickered, but all came back on in just a split second (our modem went offline, however). There was no damage anywhere, and no smells often associated with surges and overheating in home circuitry. Somewhat reluctantly, my husband told me that he could swear he saw a streak of light come right through our large picture window in the living room and end in a tennis ball size ball of light right over our coffee table (just about three feet directly in front of our fireplace.) The ball disappeared with the loud popping noise. We had to wait until today to get online due to our malfunctioning modem, but I was amazed to discover ball lightning in my search to understand what we experienced. It seems that no two phenomena are exactly alike, but our experience does seem very similar to others. We are convinced this happened in our home, and we feel quite fortunate that none of the children were hurt (although they were certainly very terrified for a moment). Denise Renfro <deniserenfro AT gmail com> Lumberton, NC USA - Sunday, May 28, 2006 at 15:08:58 (PDT)

In the summer of 1979, while flying south, at 3-5,000 feet, in our Cessna 172, over a reporting tower called ONTARIO, just north of the Los Angeles area, I noticed a ball of lightening about 2 1/2 to 3 feet in diameter, come up to the co-pilot (my) side of our plane, about 3 or 4 feet away from my window, and sit there for about 30 seconds. I yelled at my husband, who was piloting the plane, to contact the tower and ask if they had seen the same thing on their radar, but the lightening ball must have cut out the frequency, as he could not get through. It was a very clear day, and after the ball of lightening ?disappeared, I begged my husband to report it, once we made a connection again, but he wouldn't. I think he thought they would think we were crazy. Of course I thought it was a UFO. It was not until several years later, when my class was reading a story about Barney and Betty Smith, that I told my class "my" UFO story. It was then that a very bright boy suggested it was NOT a UFO, but was probably an instance of St. Elmo's fire, which it may well have been. Still, today, the memory of the instance is as real as if it were yesterday. Janet WHITE <jwhite a telus net711> Burnaby, BC Canada - Saturday, May 27, 2006 at 12:26:05 (PDT)

I was a 15 year old by at home just after a storm when I witnessed a blue ball about 8 inches across floated through the wall, hovered over the rug for a few seconds, then exploded with a flash of light after almost touching the rug. No damage was done to the wall, curtain or rug. frank <frankmaniaci a comcast net> Brooklyn, NY USA - Friday, May 26, 2006 at 17:01:45 (PDT)

I have had two up-close encounters with ball lightning & have seen it at a distance on many occasions. During the summer of 1970 I was still in school and living with my parents. They were building an addition to the house. The main window of the addition faced west with smaller windows in the north and south walls, aligned with one another. During construction I would often sit out in the new room watching thunderstorms roll in from the west. One afternoon as a storm was approaching I heard this odd buzzing sound. A few seconds later a basket-ball sized ball of lightning flew in through the north-facing window, bounced on the sub-flooring several times, then disappeared out the south window. I was surprised by the event & didn't think to go to the window to see what happened to it. Later that same summer I was walking down the gravel drive towards the mailbox, eager to get the mail before the approaching storm broke. The same odd buzzing sound appeared behind me & I felt a light nudge on my back between the shoulder blades. I turned around to see a volley-ball sized ball of lightning bouncing across the grass. It had apparently come up behind me & bounced off my back. It kept bouncing across the yard until it hit the field fencing where there was a quick flash of light & a loud "pop" & it disappeared. Many, many times I have seen ball lightning off in the distance, usually preceding a thunderstorm. Quite a few of those instances have involved lightning zipping along a few meters above high-tension cross-country electrical distribution lines. The last sighting I recall was during a thunderstorm the summer of 2004 as we were driving up state road 37 between Bloomington and Martinsville in southern Indiana. Brian Davis <kg9du.delete.this a arrl net> Indianapolis, IN USA - Friday, May 26, 2006 at 07:24:17 (PDT)

When I was about 12 years old, I was setting outside with my family on the covered porch after a severe thunderstorm. I was about 10:00pm during a humid summer night while we were looking across the street in near the creek. We seen about three glowing balls probably the size of grape fruits floating about 3 feet off of the ground very slowly. They were glowing white, slightly blue and moved at a walking space for about 10 feet and vanished. They could almost pass as people walking around with flash lights...minus the people. At the time I had no idea what it was until now. So eight years later I finally find out I wasn't imagining things. Shane Wilson Crestwood, Ky USA - Thursday, May 25, 2006 at 18:58:23 (PDT)

I am 34 years of age and was walking home 1 month ago after a long shift at work. It was about 11.30pm when a ball of lightning/plasma ? about the size of a car, flew from the sky at about a 45% angle to the ground and towards me at great speed! It shot right past my head yet didnt radiate any heat towards me, nor much sound exept for some slight crackling. It shot straight back up into the sky at the same angle it came down and dispersed into nothing. The very next day the sky outside was dark and felt like it does before a thunder storm. I was standing in my kitchen making a cup of tea when a bolt of lightning came through the window. It came through the window as if it was in slow motion straight infront of my face to the middle of the room and went right back out following the same path as if in rewind. The lightning made the same crackling noise the ball of lightning did and left the same way without leaving a trace. There was no damage to the window but I can tel you that the hair on my kneck was standing on end. I did feel rather vitalised after the events but I put that down to adrenaline. Ive never seen anything like it before and cant imagine that I would have experienced both fenomena in my life time. I feel very lucky to have experienced it. Kenneth Carson <<<<>>>> USA - Sunday, May 21, 2006 at 19:59:04 (PDT)

Blue ovoid ball lightening. Very bright. Size unknown - no frame of reference. Was about the size of my thumb viewed at arms length. Wider horizontally than it was tall. Moving horizontally through an observable 30deg arc over 3-4 seconds, in westerly direction, then faded out. Associated high winds in same direction. Clouds were moving faster, also appeared to be lit from the light below. Aprox 1-2am Mid December 2004? I do not recall the exact date, but recall the observation and conditions quite clearly. It would be quite difficult to forget it if you saw it! Ceilings overcast and low, just obscuring some nearby tall treetops, raining heavily. No audible noise above wind and rain. Did not have appearance of aviation navigation or landing lights - was much too blue. Location 2 miles WNW of KPAE airport. Ronan Murphy <rronanmurphy a hotmail com> Mukilteo, WA USA - Tuesday, May 16, 2006 at 15:39:45 (PDT)

One Sunday afternoon in Moore County, Tennessee (Jack Daniel country) in the summer of 1979 my 5 year old son and I were playing with a soccer ball when an afternoon rain storm occurred. We played in the rain until thunder and lightning started. While my son went inside the house I watched the lightning play from my garage. This was when I saw a lightning strike near my barn which is about a 100 yards or so from my position in the garage. Now the garage has a concrete floor that is reinforced with metal wire to keep it from cracking and my electrical box was located about 10 feet from my position. I am soaking wet and barefooted watching this event. After the lightning strike I saw a ball of fire that was more in the shape of a log that is about 30 inches in diameter and about three foot long. This ball of fire immediately began moving toward my house about 6 inches off the ground. It moved no faster that one would walk at a regular pace. I decided it was following an electrical wire that had been installed underground to service the barn. There was a single wire electric fence about 50 yards from the barn and I thought the fire would go away when it intersected the fence line. It continued on under the fence and when it arrived at my concrete patio it disappeared. Shortly after the fire had disappeared I experienced an electrical charge that began in my feet and started traveling up my legs at much the same rate the fire had been moving. The electrical charge was very modest but when it got past my knees I ran into the house and the event was over. I detected no noise or smell with this phenomenon. Roland Segroves roland a segrovesrealty com Roland Segroves <roland a segrovesrealty com> Tullahoma, TN USA - Friday, May 12, 2006 at 12:56:07 (PDT)

I was visiting family in Mason City, Illinois one summer back in, I believe, 1997, or 1998. My girlfriend and I were driving back up to Chicago, along I-55. We'd been driving for about 30 minutes or so when we saw the strangest thing. There was a gigantic black ball in the sky. It was surrounded by clouds. Now, I've read on here of people seeing similar phenomena, but I got the impression that they were driving under cloud cover (or under their dark circles). The black ball that we saw was in the distance. I hate to quote Star Wars here, but it was as if the Death Star (for those unfamiliar... giant, round, space station) had come into the atmosphere, but instead of grey and with obvious markings, was solid black. It looked like a solid, black orb. It did not look like the clouds were being sucked into it. I did not hear of any reports that day. I have performed searches on the internet to no avail. Anybody that I've told this story to in the past gets that 'uh huh' 'suuurreee' attitude. And of course, we didn't have a camera on us. And I no longer speak to the girl. Hopefully, someone can explain to me what once in a lifetime weather event I witnessed. Thanks for the space to rattle on. Lazarus <talisman275 a yahoo com> Chicago, IL USA - Tuesday, May 09, 2006 at 14:23:57 (PDT)

I was 7 years old and standing by the screen door in my kitchen. It was raining real hard and the lightning was loud and close by. I remember wanting to go out the screen door into my garage in order to watch the storm but my mom told me not so I just watched from the scree door. I had been standing ther just a few seconds when a ball of lightning floated along my driveway. It was a bright red and yellow swirling mix of colors that looked slightly bigger than a basketball. I know the ball was floating about 5 feet high because it passed by my basket ball goal. It moved very slowly and after about 5 seconds it vanished. When i tried telling my mom and dad; I don't think they exactly believed me so I didn't tell another soul until the 7th grade when my english class read an article about balls of lightning. Well nobody believed my story then either. I'm now in the 11th grade and recently my friend and I were discussing the wierdest things to ever happen to us. Mine of coarse was witnessing the ball of lightning. And now that I'm older, I decided to research this phenomena and thanks to this website and others I don't feel so crazy about what I saw and neither does my friend. Don Vierling <donnyvierling05 a sbcglobal net> USA - Friday, May 05, 2006 at 23:02:15 (PDT)

In about 1995 I was at my brother's house in Austin, Texas to have dinner. A HUGE thunderstorm was brewing so I went into his living room to watch. From inside the house, I saw a volleyball-sized ball of lightning roll horizonatlly from the side of his house to the front, where it struck a tree. About 5 or 10 minutes later we all went outside (it was totally clear!) to survey the damage. One limb had been mangled. Other limbs were scorched and smoking! No one but me saw this and I'm sure they didn't believe me! Connie Webb <conwebbonweb a aol com> Austin, TX USA - Thursday, April 20, 2006 at 14:47:11 (PDT)

My dad and i lived in a crapy two bedroom trailer on the far south side of janesville near the airport. with feilds all around us and the trailer park only had one road, we could see the sky pretty clearly with the exception of some tall trees. The late evening being very quite and peacefull we both sat out on the porch talking before bed. When my dad says "peanut you have got to check this out." To my amazement the sky repeatedly lit up with steaks of lightening. Not regular verticul strikes but horazontal stikes that seem to sore across the sky and have a bouncing motion to them. So we hop into the "old nova" and drive out to the highway in front of the trailer court to get a better view. After more then two hours of us chating about what seam to be balls bouncing across the sky, we called it a night, feeling as though nothing else would happen although it seemed to strange to be nothing. Now looking back at it we both wish we had taken pics or had owned a video camera because it was just as exciting or actually more exciting then the fire works at fourth of july. So the next day at school (7th grade)i asked my science teacher if he too seen the neat lightening show and he says yeah ball lightening, pretty cool huh. And proceaded to tell the whole class how people dont even think it is real because it is rarely seen. He also asked if anyone else had seen it with the response of no, he came and told me he was glad that at least someone seen it and i may never see it again. belinda demrow janesville, wi USA - Wednesday, April 19, 2006 at 22:11:38 (PDT)

This report of ball lightning happened at 5:15 in the afternoon on easter sunday. A storm was just finishing passing through and the lightning had subsided. my mom and i thought it would be safe to take our dog out on a walk. the dog ran about 10 feet in front of us and my mom and i were looking around and suddenly we saw a glowing orb about three feet in front of us. It was the size of two of my fists together and it was about four feet from the ground. At first my mom looked at me thinking i had thrown a firework at the dog. Meanwhile i was staring at the ball lightning, jaw dropped knowing what it was, due to a physics class i had in high school. We heard a crackling sound, and it dissipated as if it were a flash grenade. The ball lasted in the air just a few seconds 5-6 if i had to guess. After that it was a bight flash, almost a sudden thud against my chest and the loudest boom of lighting i have ever heard. I've been telling everyone i know that i have seen ball lighting and have described this incidents many a time. Our dog was afraid to go outside the next day, and still is afraid to go out the front door. Daniel patterson <danielpattyson a hotmail com> roscoe, IL USA - Monday, April 17, 2006 at 17:17:28 (PDT)

we were in russia in our summer house during a vicious thunderstorm and all of the windows on our porch were open and we were out there drinking tea. all of a sudden a disk that looked like coiled golden tinsel floated in through the window. it hung in the air and it felt like it was looking at all of us. my aunt said "don't move". and because it was so scary nobody questioned her. after about 10 seconds, it floated right back out of the window and disappeared. apparently ball lightning is attracted to motion so my aunt saved us all, if you ever see ball lightning, dont talk or move, just freeze, any vibrations can attract it to you and seriously hurt or kill you. watch out! lana USA - Monday, April 17, 2006 at 07:35:50 (PDT)

This just happened to me today, April 16, 2006, Easter Day. We were having a very bad thunderstorm, rain coming down very very hard, then suddenly it started to hail, pounding our car with 1/4 to 1/2 inch hail balls. I pulled over into a parking lot, as visibility was bad. So we waited there until it slowed enough to see. When the hail had begun to slow, but not stop, I looked out toward the west, and saw what appeared to be a lightning strike, but it was different. The area around it glowed green, and in the middle was a glowing ball that seemed to shake a bit, in that area, and it glowed above and below the ball, then it went away. In a few minutes, in almost the same area, there was another one, just like the first - like a big green ball. It was very creepy. Then just after the 2 balls disappeared, the hail began to slow more then stop, and we noticed a very acrid smell and alot of smoke coming from the direction that the ball lightning had been. I was really creeped out, I just turned around and went home! I assume that the lightning struck something but I was too afraid to go look and see!! Martia <Mbookworm1968 a yahoo com$$> Joliet, IL USA - Sunday, April 16, 2006 at 12:35:20 (PDT)

Well last night (would have been morning of april 8th) I saw something strange that i assume must have been ball lightinging. I was spending the night at my boyfriend's house and since it was a warm night the windows were down. I couldn't sleep because the couch was horribly uncomfortable, and around 4:00am a storm started. It was mostly wind and rain. I didn't hear much in the way of thunder or see many flashes of lightening, perhaps a little but nothing compared to many of our GA storms. At any rate, my boyfriend woke up, so I finally sat up and watched some of the storm. Just out side of the window a strange green light appeared with absolutely no sound. It seemed like some one turning on a dimmer switch as it slowly gained in intesity. It was BRIGHT green, much like a traffic signal, and it was so bright i was sure my boyfriend had seen it as he went to the back of the house. He said he saw nothing. I assume it was lightening or some electrical phenomena because the streetlights seemed to have gone out for about a minute or two, then came back on. There are power lines outside of the house, which ball lightening could have traveled or hovered on, and the source of the light seemed to be about 10-20 feet above the window. It was so strange mostly because of the colour, silence and duration of the light (10 seconds). Another factor might be that the house is at the top highest point in Lawrenceville. It occured right before 5am because i heard the church clock on the square chime the hour as i tried to get settled back down to sleep. ~HALLEY Halley <miscy_hellion a hotmail com> Lawrenceville, GA USA - Saturday, April 08, 2006 at 07:16:02 (PDT)

i was traveling from las vegas to st paul in a small jet......i think a falcon 20 and we were flying between two storms racing bad weather to get to st paul. i was seated in a jump seat between the two pilots. when the window developed st elmos fire...... it played on the inside of the windscreen for a couple of minutes. I asked the pilots what it was and they explained it was st elmos fire..... i was amazed, they remarked that it was very aggesive st elmos fire and no sooner than they said that the sparks joined together into a perfect ball right at my face level straight ahead of me at this point i dont know if i moved or the ball made an arcing motion past my left shoulder and dissapeared through the door to which my jump seat was attached. both pilots were shook up by what had happened and tried to down play what had happened. max newroth <muskokamax a lycos combbbbb> new york, ny USA - Thursday, April 06, 2006 at 21:18:47 (PDT)

This happened about 9pm March 31, 2006. While standing in my dinette and looking out the window during a thunder storm, I saw about an 8 ft blinding white ball of lightning. It came down about 35 yds away in my neighbor's yard on their hillside. There was a violent explosion and then it disappeared. I jumped and screamed. I waited for a tree to fall but nothing happened. The next day when I went to look for where it hit, there was about an 8ft blackened area in the grass. It wasn't remarkable--sort of like a grass fire area. I love to watch lightning and have never seen anything. I live right next to Table Rock in AR with MO across the lake. M Pillar Holiday Island, AR USA - Wednesday, April 05, 2006 at 15:43:58 (PDT)

I had never heard of "ball lightning" before, and I only did after coming into contact with it! In 1997, I was in my bedroom during a storm. At one point a huge ligthning/thunder crashed outside, and the flash of light caught my attention. When I looked up, what can only be described as a fuzzy ball of electricity, (about the size of a basketball) floated slowly to the middle of my room. When it got to the middle of the room near my television it popped sparkled and fizzled out!!! It did not damage to my television thought. I know it REALLY did happen because my mother was in the other room saw the sparklers as it popped out. I tried telling people at work about my experience, and they thought I was on drugs or something; then I started looking on the internet and realized it was a real thing. I knew I wasn't crazy! Oh, another way I would discribe it to someone is it looks like those novelty glass balls that when you touch them it cause sparks to gravitate to your fingers, that is what it looks like. Chris Cincinnati, Ohio USA - Sunday, April 02, 2006 at 16:12:36 (PDT)

I am 15 and 1/2 years old. It was November of 2003, I think, when I had an experience with what I now think to have been ball lightning, but I do not know. It lasted for at least 10 minutes, if not longer, and as far as I can tell, ball lightning sightings last only a minute or so. There was a strange, warm electricity in the air that night, kind of like the feeling you get around laundry straight from the dryer clinging together. The night was still and hot, which was odd, because it was November, and there was not even a trace of thunder or lightning or rain. Usually we have crickets chirping all through the night, but they weren't chirping that night. There was no noise whatsoever-- very eerie, uneasy feeling. It was around 10:00 or 11:00 at night and I couldn't fall asleep. I wasn't really paying attention to anything, but my eyes were wide open. Suddenly I sensed a presence of something (like the feeling you get when someone's right behind you) to my left and I saw a golden light with a diameter no larger than that of a quarter. It floated in midair. I have a loft bed, so it's about four or so feet above the ground. I was sitting up, and it floated at about my eye level. It was about three feet away from me, but it kept floating back and forth, back and forth in a sort of figure 8 pattern, gradually getting closer to me. It made no noise. This went on for about 10 minutes, and then it just suddenly disappeared. I have a computer in my room, but it was off. I had no lights or electronics on that I can recall. We do have a telephone wire just outside my window. Just about half a year ago, in September or October, I think, of 2005, my sister had an experience with something that was, perhaps, also ball lightning. I don't know at what exact time it was, but it was sometime in the night, probably around 11 or 12. The night was still, and there was no thunder or lightning or rain. She said the ball was about three feet in diameter, and was bright yellow in color. Sparks shot out of it, and there was a crackling sound. This went on for about half a minute, and then it disappeared. After about 10 minutes or so, it came back, and this time it lasted about a minute and a half. What was so funny about it was my sister's dog sleeps in her room, right in the middle of the floor. It hovered only three or so inches above his head, and he didn't wake up-- he was snoring through the entire thing! Does anyone have an idea about what these things were? I'd appreciate it if anyone could tell me. Marie Long Beach, CA USA - Wednesday, March 29, 2006 at 19:25:53 (PST)

At approx. 9:10 tonight, 3.25.06, I went on my 2nd floor balcony to get some fresh air before retiring. There were some clear areas of sky between numerous clouds. I suddenly noticed multiple balls of gray to greenish light moving quickly in counterclockwise rotation within a horizontal cloud that was beginning to disperse.~~Because I'd seen similar phenomena several years previously while alone (expect w/2 brief incredulous witnesses), I called my downstairs neighbor, who confirmed that she also was seeing them, but tried to attribute them to several things that didn't make any sense, so I quickly hung up & continued monitoring them periodically for another 40 minutes. At one point they all met in the middle, dispersed & returned to the middle, & kept this rhythm for a while. When I last checked near 10pm, they'd disappeared entirely, along w/the particular row of clouds they were in proximity to. None of the clouds to the east of them were affected. I was looking north, and the formations were at approximately 11 o'clock in the sky.~~In my first sighting of similar sight in 2000, the balls of light were in pastel colors and seemed to move in a less coherent pattern.~~Another time the balls of light were larger & whitish. Magi YOUNGTOWN, AZ USA - Saturday, March 25, 2006 at 21:30:32 (PST)

Sorry, I forgot one strange lightning incident. In 1977 I had just gotten married and lived in the Navy Point Section of Pensacola. I was (still am) a Ham Radio operator and had a nice CB radio as well. My wife was also a CB operator, so I had to have the best antenna in the area to keep her happy. I had a 1/4 wave ground plane on top of 40 feet of pipe, and the whole thing sat on top of the flat carport roof. While I was at work one day we had some really bad T-storms move through the area. The wife called me at work, all excited, and told me she thought that the antenna had been hit by lightning and there was some strange things going on in the house. I told the boss and he said I could go check it out since business was slow. When I got home the wife was going crazy, she would not go back into the house. As I went through the front door I smelled ozone and burnt electronics. I went into the kitchen to check the fuse box (the wife had followed me inside) and saw sparks dancing around the metal fuse box. I then went into the radio room and saw smoke coming from behind my CB radio. As I got closer to the radio, I noticed a blue glow on the bottom window sill, like St Elmo's fire. No noise, just a strange blue mist centered around where the antenna wire came through the window sill. I backed out of the radio room and went back into the kitchen where the wife had decided to make a pot of coffee using an old silver percolator type pot. When she went to plug it in, a spark jumped from the wall socket to the prongs on the pot cord, about a foot. The wife ran out of the house screaming! I thought maybe she had grounded out the static charge in the house from the lightning, so I went back into the radio room. The blue mist was gone, so I carefully tugged at the antenna wire. It came out of the back of the radio with no effort and was burned in half near the connector. I unplugged the radio and picked it up. It was warm like it had been on for a while. I heard some noise like a loose screw was inside, so I took off the cover and saw that almost all of the electronic components had literally been blown off the board, that was what I heard rattling around inside the case. Fortunately I had the sense to ground everything, I think that is why the house didn't burn down! Jack Lewis <jblewis007 a cox net %^&%^&%^> Springfield, VA USA - Monday, March 20, 2006 at 21:59:21 (PST)

Both of my ball lightning occurances took place in Pensacola Florida. The first was in 1969, at a friends house where a separate garage was connected to the main house by an enclosed walkway. Leaving the house to go to the garage you had to go down a short flight of steps (3-4) across the enclosed walkway of which one side was glass, and into the garage. My friend and I were in the kitchen, heading toward the garage when there was a bright flash from a lightning strike that was very close. The thunder actually cracked some of the glass in the windows of the walkway. There was an wraught-iron hand rail down the steps and it started to ring like it had been hit with a hammer. As it was ringing, a ball of very bright light about the size of a basketball formed at the top of the railing. it moved slowly down the railing and floated off about waist level down the walkway. It got about half way to the garage and made a 90 degree left turn and struck the glass in the window where it made a loud nose like a firecraker, the dissapeared. The next time I saw ball lightining was driving down Mobile highway jsut north of Pensacola in the Belview area. As we crossed a small bridge over a creek, I saw two balls drop out of the bottom of a cloud. They looked like they were made od tinfoil and both of them trailed sparks. They went into the tree line next to the road as we passed. A few days later, I went back to where I saw them go into the tree line nad found a small slask pine tree that had exploded about eight feet from the ground. Pine trees are very sappy and moist, and I have seen them before after they have been hit by lightning. They look like trees that have been blown off by artillery during a war. Jack Lewis <jblewis007 a cox net &*&*&*&*&> Springfield, VA USA - Monday, March 20, 2006 at 21:21:32 (PST)

I was walking from my uncle's house to my nana's house at night and I was with my daddy. All of a sudden, I felt a little heat and saw a light from down below. I looked down and I saw what looked like a hula-hoop of light around me and my daddy, two separate circles. They were connected with a perfect line, about three feet long, and were bright yellow. I also heard a buzzing sound. It lasted about twenty seconds. My daddy saw it, too. He thought it had something to do with the heat in our bodies, like a heat lightening. Peter Drackett <peterdrackett000000000000 a yahoo com> Winter Park, FL USA - Saturday, March 18, 2006 at 18:44:40 (PST)

I was walking on Main Street downtown at around 1pm. It was raining and all of a sudden I saw a ball of light that was intense yellow/white in the center and electric blue around the edges, a bit larger than a basket ball. It was in front of me about 8 feet and about 6 feet off the ground. There was an incredibly loud crack and it disappeared. Lightning had also struck two trees a bit further along to where I was going as well as down a side street from where I was. I feel lucky to be alive! Anne Brattleboro, VT USA - Monday, March 13, 2006 at 19:30:42 (PST)

Sometime in the late spring of 1963my mother and I sat at the kitchen table during a thunderstorm. As we talked we heard lightning strike very close. We looked out the window and noticed that it had struck one of the neighbors large pine trees. Something made us look toward the kitchen door and we saw a reddish-orange ball of fire about the size of a volleyball enter through the screen on the door. It then made a 90 degree turn and appeared to travel directly towards me. I moved the chair back out of the direction of travel with such force that I broke the cabinet door when I hit it. The ball bounced off the window glass, moved past my mother on her side of the table,(not as close as it was to me), turned 90 degrees and left the house through the same screen that it had entered. The whole experience lasted no more than 3 or 4 seconds. Upon inspection of the screen we found no physical damage to it. I was 13 years old when this happened. No one believed us when we told them. I did not know what it was until I saw a program on lightning on the Science channel. Now I know that I experienced something most people will never experience. Terry Jackson Dubuque, Ia USA - Wednesday, March 08, 2006 at 15:52:25 (PST)

My mother was a very loving,rational and religious person.If she had one fault,it was her irrational fear of lightning storms.She would hide in closets until the storms past.She would literally developm"goose bumps" when there was a loud crack of thunder.One day,I asked her why she was so afraid of a storm,and she told me of her experience with ball lightning:She was brushing her hair during a storm when a ball of lightning drifted through one window,past my mom, and out another window.She was never the same afterwards.She became more religious and became eerily psychic for the rest of her life.This happened in 1941. My mother died in 1986. mj lechman <maclech a aol com> yorktown, va USA - Sunday, March 05, 2006 at 19:21:08 (PST)

it was sometime in about august 2001 in barton city michigan some time after darka frind and i were sitting in a house durring a large thunder storm i was in a back bedroom while holding a lighter as so to see which had gave the room an orange glow, when the lighter got hot and went out the room was still lit up but this time it was glowing blue. so i looked out the window and noticed a large circle of blue and white plasma floating still in the yard about three feet above the ground.it had a diameter of probably about twelve to fourteen inches. it had two streamers coming off it which were probably about four to six inches long. i had stared at it for about two seconds until it turned into a large flash of bright light immeadiatly followed by a house shaking thunder.at this time i went out to the kitchen where my frind was and inside the house there were three foot long beams of blue and white plasma coming out of the walls.there were two different beams each apearing about two minutes apart the first one come out of a closed door in the hallway and went into the wall on the otherside only visable for about five seconds then disapeared causing the lights to go out for a second and then come back on as this would happen you would hear a noise like somebody had flicked a lightbulb, there was one more plasma beam that followed, it had went from the wall to the celing in the corner of the kitchen and disapeared with the same effect. josh wnuk <knashman a hotmail com> barton city, mi USA - Sunday, March 05, 2006 at 07:27:29 (PST)

Ball lightning - When I was a young boy (probably 4 or 5) I was in the living room watching TV one evening. My sibs were already asleep on the floor, my Dad asleep in his chair. It was dark outside. I don't remember what the weather was at the time. I saw a glowing ball of light emerge frome the TV, and slowly move away from the set and toward me. (I think it actually emerged from the screen, then floated down nearer to the carpet, but I'm not sure anymore.) It was t most a few inches above the carpet, not touching it, and maintained a constant height above the carpet as it approached. It made no noise, and I don't remember any smell or any other sensation besides visual. Though as round as a ball, it was not quite of uniform appearance. The "edge" appeared a bit ragged, sort of like wispy fog moving over the surface. It had variations in intensity across its face, and these areas moved or shifted. So it appeared "alive" - like a living ball of light. The Northern Lights is the only other thing I've seen since that has that sort of shifting appearance. The room was lit mainly by the TV set, so the room was rather dim; the ball wasn't really all that bright - clearly visible, the brightest thing in the room, but certainly not hard to stare at at all, a subdued sort of light. I don't think the light was a particularly warm sort of light either (i.e., not warm like light from an incandescent bulb). The ball was less wide than the TV screen - 12" wide at the most, I'd say. I backed away, crab-like, from it as it approached, but I wasn't scared exactly, more wary and fascinated. I didn't take my eyes off it. It seemed to me that it rolled slowly as it approached, but that could have been illusion caused by the "shifting" appearance. It was less than 10' from the TV when with a pop it exploded/disintigrated. The whole experience certainly lasted less than one minute. I told my dad and my sibs. My dad didn't contradict my story. (He was an electrician; perhaps he knew something about ball lightning., or perhaps he was humoring me.) It was many years later that I first heard that there was this thing called ball lightning, which was a satisfying discovery - I KNEW I had seen it! Gary Reynolds <llama AT mountain net> Edmond, WV United States - Thursday, March 02, 2006 at 21:57:39 (PST)

When I was very young, between 6 and 8 I think, we lived in a farm house on a hill about 4 miles South of Sidney Illinois. We were watching TV one evening during a storm. This was late 50's or 60. Of course we had an antenna on a mast. During the storm there was a loud clap of thunder. Suddenly a ball of light/fire appeared behind the TV, which was in a corner. It "rolled" across the south wall of the room and disappeared behind a sofa. I'd guess it was about 18" in diameter. But it's really hard to say for sure since we were all sitting there petrified as this thing rolled across the room. It left no visible signs of damage. Dale Sinder Urbana, IL USA - Wednesday, March 01, 2006 at 19:17:01 (PST)

Approximately 25 years ago I was watching a thunderstorm from my bedroom window. It was dark, no rain, I was about 14 y/o at the time. I saw directly across from my window, about 60 yds away, a bright 'ball' of light appear. I can't remember any sound associated with its appearance though my window was closed. It hung in the air unmoving for maybe 1-2 seconds before it flashed away east in a straight line. I remember telling my parents of the sight and being quite in awe of the experience. It wasn't until a year or so later that I first heard of the phenomenon of ball lightning that I then realised what exactly I had seen that night. Kevin Edwards <kev_e335 a hatmail cam> Dunfermline, Fife Scotland - Monday, February 27, 2006 at 15:36:30 (PST)

This happened to me at about age 10 now 66. We lived on a farm out from Conyers ga. There was a severe thunderstorm happening at the time.i was on the front porch and it got so bad i turned to go inside .Just before i got to the door a ball of orange fire the size of a basketball came thru the screen door.I tried to tell my family but they would not belive me.After several weeks the screen crumbeled and fell out,Then i had belivers. ball lightining belivers.The hole was the same size as a basketball. George johnson <brick_96 a hotmail com> live oak, fl USA - Monday, February 27, 2006 at 14:53:42 (PST)

Around July of 2002, I was sitting at the large picture window at my parents house, watching the thunderstorm. They live on a large hill, near the south end of town. I heard a loud booming noise, which was accompanied by a large flash. I assumed it was lightening hitting something that was out of my line of sight. About 2 seconds after this large noise, I saw a light blue, almost bright white, ball, maybe the size of a soccer ball, travel down the street, about a foot or so above the ground, bounce past my house, and then abruptly fizzle away. Of course, being the curious teen that I was, I ran out to investigate. The pavement felt slightly warmer than usual. There was a sense of static electricity in the air as well - the hairs on my arms were standing straight up. Besides my eyewitness, you may never have realized that a glowing ball of light just traveled down my street. L Ridgefield, CT USA - Friday, February 24, 2006 at 05:31:51 (PST)

One night in July or August of 1977, I was working at a gas station in Fort Washington, Maryland as a particularly intense lightning storm broke out. It was a typical summer storm, high heat and high humidity clashing with a very cold front that moved in with abrupt violence. Unlike most storms I've been in, the front was directly overhead when the storm broke out, and the lightning was crashing down very near by. I was scared to leave the shelter of the canopy of the station because the lightning was extremely intense,and many strikes were within a half mile of me. As I stood there watching the storm, lightning struck directly across the road from me, perhaps fifty or so feet away. It was the usual flash and a very loud bang, but out of the lightning strike floated a brilliant white ball. I'd read about ball lightning, and surmised what it was, so i was very excited to actually see what was thought to be a rare phenomena. The ball, perhaps between a large grapefruit and a soccer ball in size drifted very slowly in a wavering path for about twenty-five feet, never more than five feet off the ground. After no more than five or six seconds, the ball abruptly exploded with a bang that was far louder than the original lightning strike. It also produced a physical shock wave which I could feel. I've always hoped to see ball lightning again, but I haven't been that lucky. Dean Perry <dperry11(at)charterdotnet> Victorville, Ca USA - Thursday, February 23, 2006 at 22:09:48 (PST)

Back in Jan 23, 2000 I posted here, I found my post and glad to see it still online. " I was just 6 years old,in 1977 and lived in Colorado Springs CO. During a lightning storm, I was out walking around looking at the lightning as it had just started to sprinkle. As I looked up, there it was. A very bright, shiny, perfect ball of lightning! It was approximatly Basketball size and was moving to the left. It did not make any noise that I remember. It seemed about 50 or so feet off the ground. It travelled about 4-5 seconds and dissapeared. When it did, I heard a loud bang and ran inside!!! I'd seen ball lightning!" Jim Mahlon Cronk <mahlon1 a gmail com> Tucson, AZ USA - Tuesday, February 21, 2006 at 21:41:43 (PST)

In August, 1993, the height of thunderstorm activity in New Brunswick Canada, my sister, Diane, was washing dishes in our log cabin. It was late afternoon and the air was heavy, though there was no storm yet. She heard and felt a disturbance in the air around her in the cabin and watched as a blue ball about eight inches in diameter, came in through an open window in the main room, entered the kitchen where she was, and made an almost perfect right angle to exit through the open kitchen door. She describes an "ozone" smell and says that every hair on her body was perpendicular to her skin. I make this report as a third party because my sister does not have access to a computer. I believe her. She has no previous knowledge of, nor experience with, what I believe must have been "ball lightening". Jane Hook Winnipeg, Manitoba previously of New River Beach, New Brunswick, Canada Jane Hook <janehook a shaw ca> Winnipeg, MB Canada - Tuesday, February 21, 2006 at 18:45:12 (PST)

BALL LIGHTNING This is a very old sighting, but reading here I realise it is an absolute classic. In the early 1970's I managed a mid-size factory in Nottingham, England. The summer of 73 was very hot, and one day one of my workers,Lizzie, a jolly lady in her sixties complained to me about the heat. She always wore slacks, and I asked her why she didn't try wearing a skirt in the hot weather. She told me that she never did, because her legs were badly scarred by burns. She told me the following tale, which I wrote down soon afterwards. "When I was a little girl we lived in the Meadows." (This was a working-class district with many row houses seperated by tiny courtyards.) I was home with my little brother, my dad was away fighting(1914-18 war) and my mum was at her sister's house round the corner. There was a sudden summer thunderstorm, heavy run and loud thunder. Suddenly there was a huge flash and a bang, as if lightning had struck right outside our house. The front door (they were never locked in those days) flew open, and a ball of fire came into the room. It was orangey, about the size of a tennis ball, and sizzled, like frying bacon. My brother and I watched as it moved slowly into the room, I could see his hair was standing on end, and I am sure mine was. The ball came right close to me, and then started to drift towards the Kitchner stove. IAn old make of iron cooking stove) When it got close to the stove, it suddenly flew into the fire and went bang, blowing the hot coals over my legs. I ended up spending Christmas in hospital." I knew Lizzie well, and am absolutely certain this tale was true. alan. Alan <lubetkin1934 a yah %%% hoo co uk> London, UK - Tuesday, February 21, 2006 at 09:39:44 (PST)

I am nearly 54 years old now. This event occurred many years ago, when I was about eight or nine years old, to my best recollection. We were living at the time in the small coal-mining community of Carpentertown, Pennsylvania, located approximately 40 miles east of Pittsburgh. I was home at the time with my older brother, Joseph (nicknamed "Sonny"), and our eldest sister, Corinne. My other three elder sisters, and parents, were not home at the time. As I recall, they were out shopping in the nearby town of Mount Pleasant. It was on a Saturday, and I was happily enjoying "Summer Break" from grade school, playing outside in our large backyard. On this particular day, it was quite hot earlier in the day--probably in the mid-eighties Fahrenheit--and very muggy due to the high humidity. But by late afternoon, around three o'clock or so, the sky had already clouded over heavily with tall, billowing clouds, and a gusty wind began to blow. The outside temperature dropped appreciably with the sun n