BALL LIGHTNING
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IT WAS ABOUT 20 YEARS AGO WHEN MYSELF AND 2 FRIENDS WERE SITTING ON MY FREINDS STEPS OF HIS HOUSE, THERE WAS NO STORM OR BAD WEATHER, WHEN ALL OF A SUDDEN WE ALL LOOKED UP AND SAW A BRIGHT BLUE BALL , ABOUT THE SIZE OF BASKETBALL THE BALL WAS JUST A PULSING LIGHT, I CANT REMEMBER IF IT MADE ANY NOISE, IT FOLLOWED THE POWER LINES ALONG ABOUT 150 FEET IN FRONT OF US, ODDLY ENOUGH THESE ARE THE SAME POWER LINES THAT TOOK MY FRIENDS FATHERS LIFE SEVERAL YEARS EARLIER, IT SEEMED TO GET BRIGHTER AS IT WENT ALONG THE WIRES ALMOST LIKE IT WAS FEEDING, WE ALL STOOD AND LOOKED AND NOONE SAID ANYTHING,THEN IT JUST KIND OF TOOK OF AND DISSAPEARED, I CANT REMEMBER IF IT TOOK OF INTO THE SKY OR JUST FADED, BUT WE WERE ALL POSITIVE OF WHAT WE SAW, DON MAROTZKE <POURVEX2 a AOL coM> ROSEMOUNT, MN USA - Monday, December 25, 2000 at 20:22:01 (PST)

My brother and I saw ball lightning together from our kitchen window about 15 years ago. We lived along the eastern shore of Lake Michigan so thunderstorms were common during summer. Where we grew up, the fetch across the lake is 85 miles yielding intense lake effect storms both in summer and winter. We saw the ball lightning during the day which is part of the reason why we were so sure of what it was. The ball looked as if it was the size of a grapefruit at first, a second later it was radiating several bolts(3-4meters in length each) in different directions. The color was brilliant white like burning magnesium. The ball had originated about 10m above the ground among the branches of a huge oak tree in the yard. A piercing crack was heard instantly and I remember the windows rattling. One or two tree branches were struck sending splinters of wood to the ground. Out of the hundreds of electrical storms that I have witnessed,I saw ball lightning only once,it is truely rare but very real. At present, I teach meteorology to middle schoolers and my students love to hear my lightning stories, especially since I now live in the Northwest and we rarely see lightning of any kind! Laura Stanton <jfandls a uswest.net> USA - Sunday, December 17, 2000 at 00:16:06 (PST)

In 1969 two friends & I were sheltering under an awning at a service station in Tenterfield, Northern N.S.W. during a severe electrical storm. We were looking towards some gum trees about 30 metres distance when we noticed four very bright white globes float down. We only saw them initially when they were several metres above the trees. The largest struck a tree, splitting it in two & causing it to catch fire, despite the torrential rain. There was a very loud clap of thunder & a great rush of air, which nearly blew us off our feet. Since then I have read that such phenomena doesn't exist, however I can still vividly recall that event. Paul <pbarry1 a dingoblue com.au> Berry, nsw Australia - Thursday, December 07, 2000 at 02:37:57 (PST)

My girlfriend and I were driving home one night this summer. It was around 7:00 or 7:30, humid and cloudy. I don't remember there being a storm that night though. Anyway, as we pulled into our neighborhood, two bright balls of greenish-yellow light formed just outside of the passenger window, about 3 feet off the ground. They matched the speed of our car almost exactly. After moving with us for about 100 feet, they veered away to the right and vanished about 20 feet from our car. They moved perfectly in sync with each other, and the one closer to us was slightly bigger than the other. We were pretty creeped out, but after learning about ball lightning, we feel pretty lucky to have experienced it! Jim Spivey <jspivey a eden.rutgers.edu> Toms River, NJ USA - Wednesday, December 06, 2000 at 15:28:50 (PST)

I remember two experiences with ball lightning. The first occurred when I was 5 or 6 around 1956 in Ohio. I was in the kitchen when I saw a bluish-red fire ball perhaps 2" across floating through the house. Curious, I chased after it. It was moving at the speed of an adult's walking pace. It followed a straight path through the living room and passed through the glass door with myself running behind it. I also ran through the glass door breaking the glass around me! It went straight into a tree hitting and destroying a bird's nest in it's path. Then it was gone. I was scolded by my parents for breaking the glass door and was not believed when I told them the story of the bluish-red ball I was chasing. The next experience occurred at our new home in Ohio in the mid-sixties when I was a teenager. My mother and I were standing in front of the kitchen sink. The kitchen window was directly over the sink. A red fireball came through the glass about 1-2 " across. My mother screamed that it was a fire-ball and to stand still and not move. She also told me not to speak. It was right in front of our faces. It moved to the right of us toward the cabinets and then moved in front of us again and left towards the fridge. Then it went in front of us again and went back through the glass window and out of sight. I was paralyzed with fear, most likely from seeing the fright in my mother's face thinking perhaps one of us might get burnt. We smelled an odor in the kitchen after. When I asked questions she told me not to tell anyone and wouldn't speak about it ever again, not even to this day. It was also immediately afterwards that my previous experience came to mind. I tried to tell her but she wouldn't listen to me. There had been storm activity around in both incidences. linda ma USA - Tuesday, December 05, 2000 at 09:59:51 (PST)

My uncle, myself and my brother were walking just after dawn in Feb of 1971 when as we approached a neighbor's house to borrow ammo for duck hunting we saw a large shimmering blue sphere fall from about 4 to 5 thousand feet. It was noiseless and bright but not blinding. About two hundred yards away it appeared as big as 5 meters or so in dia. It fell slowly and about five meters from the surface of the dead calm water it split into six or so amaller identical spheres which then travelled 90 degrees to the inital vertical trajectory and dissapaited in a few seconds aftre travelling a hundred meters or so from the would be point of impact. No noise and a controlled fall and not a ripple in the water. Also another time a friend and I were outside at ten in the evening in October and saw a half rainbow in the dark. It started at th eigh point and spread toward the ground then faded from the high point to the ground. Anyone with ideas or something similar???? Tony Ryan <tonyryan a china com> Turk's Cove, NF Canada - Tuesday, December 05, 2000 at 18:01:45 (PST)

Just a brief ball lightining report. The year was 1998, and I was travelling through Plains, Montana about 11 at night. It was a clear night in a very flat area surrounded by mountains. The ball lightning appeared as a bright white light approx. 3-7 miles in front of us and danced across t he sky for about 12 second. The light travelled across the sky from left to right with violent vertical leaps. Joe Ashley Kalispell, MT USA - Saturday, November 18, 2000 at 15:59:07 (PST)

In the summer of 1964 (I was 15 years old then)and my mother and I had gone to the basement to collect some washed clothes. It was a bright, sunny day, by the way. As soon as we got to the basement we both turned toward the washer (with the small basement window directly above it) WHEN a bright, white, glowing ball about the size of a 50 cent piece came through the glass, bounced on the washer below, continued it's FAST journey to our metal table, bounced off that and back to the washing machine. With our mouths agape, my mother had moved toward the washer at the time the "ball" hit the metal table and when it bounced back to the washer, it bounced off that and attached itself to my mother's small finger! It stung her terribly so she shook her hand until the ball of light finally flew off into a corner and disappeared. All this and the glass in the window never even broke! Without a doubt this is an experience which my mom and I shall NEVER forget! Pamela Hinkle <mh092754 a gateway.net> Akron, OH USA - Monday, November 13, 2000 at 15:22:54 (PST)

I know you're going to laugh at me when I say this, but I think that I've made ball lightning! I have a stuffed seal, and insomnia. On cold winter nights, when I can't sleep, I tend to get really, really bored and often amuse myself by making static electricity by rubbing the seal on my head. I will hold the seal close to my hand, and watch the little lightning bolts hit my fingers, until I fell asleep. Well, after a while I noticed that if I held my hand just the right distance away, I could make tiny (I mean tiny- needle point sized) Points of greenish light form on my fingertips. I can only make this happen about once in twenty tries, but it does help me go to sleep. Charlie S. <mathomhouse a skybest com> Myrtle, VT USA - Friday, November 03, 2000 at 20:22:41 (PST)

This happened in Oct. of 1972. I was sick with the flu, my mom was just getting over it, so I was sitting watching TV in the family room, my mom was in bed taking a nap. My dog was in bed with her, as usual. There was a seemingly normal type of thunderstorm going through, nothing really special. About 5 minutes after it hit it's peak, I looked over to the left, where the hall went down to the bedrooms. It got really bright for a few seconds, then there was a big POP noise, and my dog ran out with his ears pinned back! I went into my mom's room. It stunk really bad, like about a hundred soldering irons smoldering away. I turned on the lights, and mom's TV was smoking. It was junk. My mom said this fireball came out of the back of the TV and hovered a couple of seconds and then exploded. We talked for a few minutes and figured she and my dad would be buying a new TV for their bedroom after he got home. I took the junk TV out to the garage to get the stink out of the house. Then I went back to the family room to watch TV again. My dog got up on the couch that was about 6 ft to the right of the family room TV , and went to sleep. About 15 minutes later, the storm got wound up again, and there were a couple of close by strikes. All of a sudden, the TV picture went pure white, and then this ball of fire came out of the wall mounted A/C unit that was above the TV. It kind of floated about 6 ft in the air making a loud sizzling noise kind of like if you ever heard grease splatter from water getting into it. It was a little bigger than a softball, kind of bluish with orangeish red "fire" burning on it. The TV went black and the fireb all exploded into several "pieces" that seemed to just dissapear when they hit stuff. This time it sounded more like a shotgun being fired than just a loud POP. One of the pieces "hit" about a foot over the dog's head! Needless to say, he was outta there, and went under the kitchen table where he stayed a long time. The TV was blasted, the tuner was one of those turret type, and the gold plated contacts were welded together, so you couldn't change the channel if the TV worked anymore anyway! That TV had always had problems with the audio amp circuit. Now it didn't have one, the fiberglass PC board was left, but the copper traces and the parts were either gone, or burnt into powder. Oh well, we we looking to get a new TV anyway, that one had been a lemon. I called my dad and told him we needed to buy two TV sets, he couldn't seem to understand what happened. He made some remark about me blowing up one once ( I did, by accident). He decided to come home and see what happened. He looked at the little one in the garage, and then we went in to look at the big one. I had the parts sitting on the kitchen table. The dog was still under it. He went and talked to my mom, and after dinner, we went out and bought two new TV sets. The replacement for the bedroom TV lasted for over 20 years, the replacement for the big one lasted less than two. It got blasted by "regular" lightning. I didn't see that, but the dog got to see it! He was a mess in storms for the rest of his life... Barry <Bumologist a pipeline com> Toledo, oh USA - Thursday, November 02, 2000 at 04:21:49 (PST)

I have experienced 2 cases that I would believe would definately be "ball lightning" and a 2 other cases that could well be something else. I am a strong spiritualist and have had many paranormal and psychic experiences in my short life. Last year (99) My friend asked me around to his house, he was talking about how he had seen lightning on his television set, I thought that perhaps he was just seeing things on the screen as he was heavily into drugs, so we sat down in front of the television and he switched it to a plain blue screen. We must've sat for about 15 minutes while I was trying to understand what he was seeing. He kept on telling me to wait. After about 15 minutes, 2 small marble shaped balls formed along the top of the set (not the screen the actual television) they moved towards the centre on the screen where they met forming a larger ball which stopped for a second and then shot straight to the ground in an image that you would typical see in a lightning storm (zig zagged kind of lightning). The ball(s)were white in colour quite bright but no so much so that they would hurt the eyes. I believe there was a small amoumnt of reflection onto other objects. There was evidence of harm to the television set or to the ground or even to us. I did not ask him many times he had seen this, but this was obviously not the first time he had seen it. I don't recall the weather. Later on that year with the same friend we were walking along a bike path late at night, it was very dark and a basketball shaped ball of white light flew past us, it appeared to be very close to us and disapeared almost immediately after we had seen it. The night was clear no cloud cover. Another phenomeon that could be considered ball lightning occured that year when about 5 of us decided to sit on the roof of my friends house to watch the stars. There was a break in conversation when all of a sudden a "ring of light" was seen around us. I recalled seing many different change lights, others saw only one colour. We were all facing different directions and agree that the light could be seen on all sides. I saw mainly blue and purple (I believe) light. The experience lasted about 5-10 seconds and I recall not being able to hear the sounds of the busy highway nearby during the experience. The previously mentioned friend was walking over to the house and was several streets away but does not recall seeing the light. The weather was slightly cloudy but still clear enought to see the stars Sorry to write such a long message. Just one more. One night about 4:30 am I could not sleep and was gazing out of the window. On the horizon I saw two very large flashes of white light that originated from the ground. The weather was fine and clear. The balls were very large so large that I would dissmiss the possiblity of car lights. I thought that perhaps an explosion had taken place, but later there was no news of an explosion. I watched for some time but it did not occur again, and have looked in same place since but it has not reoccured. In my experience I would move that this is more than 'lightning' as it does not seem to be necessarily linked with storm activity, I believe that it most definately has an intelligence of some form. Thanks for hearing this. Steven Mclachlan <stevenmc a eisa.net.au> Melbourne, Australia - Saturday, October 28, 2000 at 08:34:50 (PDT)

IN THE MID 60'S, MY SISTER AND I WERE CURLED UP IN A BIG CHAIR ON A SATURDAY MORNING, ENJOYING A MOVIE ON TV. IT WAS DURING A THUNDERSTORM. WE HAD A CLEAR VIEW IN TO OUR KITCHEN. WE HEARD AN ODD NOISE AND SAW OVER THE STOVE, A BALL OF "FIRE" DANCING AROUND. IT WAS VERY BRIGHT, AND LOOKED TO BE FIRE. IT STOPED AFTER 20-30 SECONDS.WE RAN TO THE KITCHEN, IT WAS GONE! HOWEVER, A SMALL CHAR MARK WAS ON THE CEILING OVER THE STOVE.IF IT WASN'T FOR THAT, NO ONE WOULD HAVE BELIEVED US. Jane <JSPRAYBERRY a CS coM> Milford, mi USA - Wednesday, October 18, 2000 at 19:22:37 (PDT)

I lived in Bermuda for 10 years (1969 - 1979). One of the most fascinating sights I ever saw was "ball lightening." Living on the north shore (Shelly Bay), I had an unobstructed view of storms at sea and over the "fish-hook" end of Bermuda (Somerset County / Dockyard). One night I saw a huge, bright "ball", slowly falling (extremely slowly, I should say!) toward the end of the island. It was extremely large and made me think I was watching a plane crash, although the shape (very condensed into a large circular blob) and it's brightness (ultra bluewhite -- like lightening) made me think it couldn't possibly be a plane. As the ball descended, it hit land and a bright diffusion of light occurred -- almost as if exploding on contact. I called the police to report my observations, and they, in turn, informed me that they had received numerous calls and believed it was "ball lightening." My first and ONLY experience, thus far -- but definitely exciting and worth seeing again!! Very unique and once again another wonder of Mother Nature!! L. B. Willard <linwdtsf a aol com> Virginia Beach, VA USA - Wednesday, October 18, 2000 at 16:34:16 (PDT)

As a child in Oneida, New York during the early 1970's, my father and I would sit on the front porch to watch the lightening and rain during any given thunderstorm. One afternoon during one of our "outtings", a bolt of lightening struck the oak tree in the front yard and a glowing white/blue ball came flying from the side of the tree and flew past our porch heading towards the backyard. My father ran to the edge of the porch to follow the direction this object and told me later that the "ball" seemed to pass directly through our detached garage. At this point, unfortunately, he lost sight of the brightly, glowing ball, but we speculate that it may have travelled up the road to disperse itself at a nearby neighbor's home, which caught on fire about the same time and sadly, burned to the ground. Of course, the last comment is only speculation, but I am pleased to have had the opportunity to view this wonderful phenomenon. I also wonder as to how this object could have passed directly through our garage and left it unscathed. Apparently, ball lightening is as diverse in it's strength as normal lightening. Brenda S. Tolley Tampa, FL USA - Wednesday, October 18, 2000 at 10:15:14 (PDT)

In reading these reports, it is quite striking to note that two different types of ball lightning are being reported. One type seems to be of low energy, and is reddish in color, while the other seems to have a higher energy, and is greenish white to bluish white in color. This confirms the impression I had from speaking to my Father and my Aunt, who had encounters with each type of ball lightning. My Father was in the woods, on a clear, moonlit night, with only a lantern for light. This was in Kentucky, in the late summer, about 1930 or so. In front of him, a reddish light sprang up, which maintained a constant distance from him. He called out, thinking someone was playing a joke on him. There was no answer, so he became worried, and yelled that if he did not get an answer, he would shoot. Still no reply, so he shot at the light, at first aiming to miss, but sent the next bullets directly at it. There was no reaction from the light. He kept the last couple of bullets in reserve, and began walking towards home, quite nervous about this light, which kept a constant distance ahead of him. This continued, until they had traveled a considerable distance out of the woods, and down a country road for about half a mile. About the time he came up to the first house in that direction, the light suddenly shot off across a field, and vanished in the woods on that side of the road. He went up to the house, and asked the people sitting on the porch if they had seen the light. They laughed, and told him it was the moon he was following, which rather disgusted him, as whatever he saw was most certainly not the moon or its reflection in the grass. My Aunts encounter was very different. During a violent storm, she saw a bright light coming in the front window. When she went to the window, she saw a brilliant greenish white ball rolling around the front porch. She watched it move around for a few seconds, until it suddenly exploded, leaving no trace. She told me the noise when it exploded was very loud. I think ball lightning is a combination of chemical and electrical activity, and the color depends on the gasses involved. Probably, the reddish - low energy type is a methane - oxygen reaction, combined with a static charge of a few thousand volts, whereas the white type is a few million volts, with nitrogen/oxygen combustion taking place at the core of the charge. It is my intention to experiment in this area next summer, using a tesla coil and some small containers of various gasses. Paul Davis <davisp1953 a yahoo com> Memphis, TN USA - Monday, October 16, 2000 at 05:18:23 (PDT)

My mother told me this story, so I can't elaborate on anything other than what she told me, This would have happened in the mid to late 20's. She told of a ball of lightning bounceing between the houses in through the closed kitchen window, and going down the drain of the kitchen sink, colapseing the lead drain pipes flat. She also said it didn't make a sound, as in thunder. Mike Zielewicz <Mzielewicz a aol com> Linden , Pa USA - Thursday, October 12, 2000 at 17:25:17 (PDT)

While driving south on I-275 through St. Petersburg, FL during a severe thunderstorm on 8/24/00 at approx. 9:15pm, I saw a giant lightening strike about 5 miles ahead of me. The strike itself lasted for what seemed about 5 seconds. When the bolt disappeared, a very bright blue/green light was eminating from the ground where the stike occurred, bright enough to light up several square blocks within the city and the clouds and rain above. At first I thought it must have been an electrical fire of some sort, perhaps an electric co. sub-station. Then the light seemed to move slowly upward toward the sky again and fade out. It was by far the most unusual natural event I've ever witnessed in my life. As I started telling people of the event, I heard of the phenomenon called lightening balls, and consequently, found this page when I went to research it on the web. I was on my cellphone with my girlfriend at the time and the cellphone cut out when the lightening struck. All the street lights and the power within the surrounding city section went out at the same time as well. There were several dozen other motorists on the interstate at the same time that would have had nearly the same view as I did and were all travelling very slowly (~15mph) due to the torrential downpour. I was hoping maybe someone else would find this page and would let me know that they did witness it as well. Glen Cooper <lighteningball a glencooper com> Tampa, FL USA - Friday, August 25, 2000 at 10:13:24 (PDT)

It was a dark and stormy night( no, really) I wass sitting on my bed studying and all of a sudden I looked out my window and I saw a soccer size ball of fire, then thew largest boom I have ever heard. One of the lights outside my bed room flashed a bright white light and poped, then it was off. I swore that my neibors house got hit, and it did!My mom was down stairs and she was watching TV, the Tv gave off a bright white light and then it blew out. I went over to my neibors house the next day and the destruction was incredible! Their house was a mess and their wires were shredded! That was a very expensive storm. Susan DeCoista <sweethuney085 a aol com> Moosup, CT USA - Friday, May 19, 2000 at 09:41:14 (PDT)

I am and adult female and in Sept. of this year 2000 I got up at about 430 am to let my dogs out and in the trees behind my house was this light flickering like a fourth of july sparkler and there was also a smaller dimmer one too, it was very dark and it wasant raining or stormy. I have never seen anything like it before. they shined for at least a minute or better. sharon russell <shsuru a aol> bonita springs, fl USA - Saturday, October 07, 2000 at 16:43:06 (PDT)

Well, I was young (youger than 6 but I don't know my exact age) when I saw this phenomenon. We lived in Taiwan, and my mother and I were going somewhere at night. I don't remember if there was or had been a storm. We were on a moped or bike and we both saw a blueish ball, whirling about half a short block away, and it was...eerie. My mother and I both thought it was a ghost or something. Needless to say we were both pretty frightened. It bounced, but in a floating sort of way. I could see circu lar movement within the ball itself, so it wasn't like a static circle just moving around, there were "tails" off the "flame," like a mini-sun, but lighter, more translucent. mary brookyn, ny USA - Friday, October 06, 2000 at 13:41:47 (PDT)

This Spring 2000, there was a violent thunder storm. Actually it was an electrical storm, and I live in an old Victorian home that has 3 stories. I was on the 2nd floor and was enroute to take shelter from the open rooms. While I was in the hallway, a blue ball of light came through the window and traveled to the opposite window at the other end of the hall. It missed me by inches only!! It cracked and popped with such an explosive bang that I almost collapsed. I will never forget it! Millie <Pifika3 a aol com> Youngsville,, NC USA - Thursday, October 05, 2000 at 22:17:22 (PDT)

I saw a ball of what appeared to be of light, about the size of a soccer ball, that changed colors from white-red to blue-white. It came out of nowhere and zoomed up to my kitchen window quickly. My son was there too and he thought it would come through the window and he ducked. I was on the phone talking, facing the window. It stayed behind the window for about 20 seconds, flashed at me, then zig zagged away, who knows where. My phone went dead and some of my appliances were damaged. The phone line was "fried", the telephone guy said when he replaced the damaged cable. This happened quite a few years ago. That's what I can remember. I'm not sure what I saw, but it seemed to know where to stop. Behind the window it stayed, long enough for me to actually look at it for a while. So that's it. I guess I'm looking for answers to this. Maybe I'll find some answers here. Nina <dsahlbe1 a tampabay.rr com> Tampa, Fl USA - Thursday, October 05, 2000 at 20:16:19 (PDT)

About 20 yrs ago I was walking across my Parents living room late at night during a violent lightning storm. A tremendous boom sounded and I saw not five feet ahead of me an orangish yellow "ball" emerge from the reciever of a telephone sitting on a table. It floated across the room and,as if it had mass, "bounced" off the oposite wall, onto the floor, where it quickly dissapated. I've never mentioned this to anyone before. Ball lightning exists. Mark Pitts <Markapitts a email com> Richardson, Tx USA - Tuesday, October 03, 2000 at 12:43:22 (PDT)

I was walking around my basement to get my Science Book so i could study. I am taking photo science in the 12th grade so i needed to study for mid terms. I saw a large glowing fireball type object hovering in the middle of the basement. I tried to touch it but it exploded in my face and my clothes ignited and I stoped droped and rolled and barley got out of there with only second degree burns. If anyone out there has ever had a similar happening please email me. Thanks George Bobish <big_f_lirt a yahoo com> Chicago, IL USA - Monday, October 02, 2000 at 08:21:54 (PDT)

As a friend and I were enjoying a relaxing day picnicing by the Delaware river (in the early 90's, maybe late 80's ) a strong storm approached west of our location. Our vehicle was parked about a half a mile away, so we decided to sit the storm out on our huge inner tubes(we had brought for floating in the river) Hanging out was not the best of ideas, we realized, when we found the storm producing amazingly loud thunder and several giant bolts of lighting in the distance. As we sat on our tubes experiencing the dramatic temperature change and driving rain, a ball of bright white light about 12 inches around, and about 20 feet off the ground came shooting from left to right infront of us(about 12 feet away.)It seemed to come from the direction of the loud claps of thunder, as it moved it decended slowly and at about 6 feet off the ground it dispersed with a loud crack (it seemed to pop like an over inflated balloon) and it was gone. We continued to sit the storm out (kind of frozen there, with the question of, "Did you see that?" being exchanged.)The storm seemed to "roll" around us,. over the hill and back again. That experience is one I'll never forget, I still tell the story when a summer storm with that magnatude approaches, even if my family thinks I'm a little strange. I enjoy reading others accounts of this remarkable work of nature................... God Bless B Grabin <byg7 a ptd.net> E. Stroudsburg, P.A. USA - Thursday, September 28, 2000 at 10:19:07 (PDT)

At about 9:00 p.m. on a Saturday evening in late June, 2000 a friend and I were watching a spectacular lightning display which was part of a line of thunderstorms of the "monsoon" season in Tucson. We were standing on a high terrace at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum which is on the western slope of the Tucson Mountains west of the city. We were looking south down the Avra Valley toward the Altar Valley and the Arizona-Mexico border watching the multiple lightning strikes on the horizon. We were both looking at the horizon when we saw the upper two thirds of a bright green sphere of light on the southern horizon like a setting sun against a black sky. It remained there for 10 to 15 seconds although it seemed longer because we were both transfixed by it. When it faded away we turned to each other and said "Did you see that?!" We confirmed that we had each observed the phenomenon exactly alike. We asked others nearby if they had seen it but no one else had. Later when telling my family about it my nephew said it might be ball lightning. I have read a number of articles and other descriptions, but the light we saw seems much larger and further away than those described. Any other suggestions about what it might have been? Cynthia Williams <CLouWho26 a aol com> Tucson, AZ USA - Wednesday, September 27, 2000 at 16:30:48 (PDT)

This happened in the late sixtys in Rolla Missouri. I was upstairs in a house looking out the window at night when I saw a ball of bright light about 3 feet off the ground. The light moved across the yard and went in between the houses next door. It resembled a "Roman candle" but moved slower. I would estimate its speed around 15 mph. I was about 8 years old at the time, but I never forgot what I saw and could never explain it to anyone. Then I heard about the "Ball lightning" and I now know that what I saw was it. I do not recall if the weather was stormy or not, but us kids were out playing just before I saw it so it must have been not raining at that time. Jack <bugs_34 a hotmail com> kansas city, mo USA - Tuesday, September 26, 2000 at 20:57:06 (PDT)

The western half of Colorado is generally dry and where I live it is especially dry. Thunder showers are pretty rare, occuring most commonly in the late summer. When there is a good thunder storm around I usually find a safe place to sit and enjoy the show. Last August a very strong storm came through with lots of lightning. While watching a lightning strike I saw something amazing. The bolt hit several miles away and immediately after it hit the ground I saw a bright blue flash appear from the ground and rise upward. The flash was spread out over a large area and domed up to the point where the lightning hit. I started to look away and then realized this is not what lightning does. So I stared at it for at least a minute or two just to be sure I wasn't imagining it. It began to fade almost immediately, but stayed visible for at least two minutes or more. I mentioned the storm and the unusual sighting to a co-worker the next day and they said they saw the 'flash' also. Somebody mumbled something about an electrical transformer being hit. All I know is that as far away as the flash was and as bright as it was from my view, it would have been nearly blinding to someone near the spot it happened. If you are familiar with this type of phenomena I would like to hear from you. Bruce <bklk a rmi.net> Grand Junction, CO USA - Wednesday, September 20, 2000 at 14:28:16 (PDT)

Reading the reports in this site, I was surprised at the fact that so few people have seen ball lightning, and I don't know how can someone say it doesn't exist, they probably haven't ever been here. I live in a coast city in Israel, my house overlooks the beach and the sea. Every year, around December and January, thunderstorms happen almost daily, and in the last year I personally witnessed ball lightning three times, amongst other electrical activity above the sea. I have seen ball lightning in the form of bright-blue spheres about the size of a softball hovering around the beach and flashing out of existence, though I haven't ever see it form. They never last more than 5-8 seconds. What amazed me the most about this phenomena, is how it appears to be semi-intelligent. It avoids obstacles when hovering, sometimes stops in one place as if to examine something. I have been really close to it only once. It was in December of 1999 when one of the smaller spheres just flew through a closed window into the living room, I can't imagine how it got through the glass. I was watching TV when it flew in. I was quite terrified of it and just froze. It hovered about 2 feet above the floor for a few seconds and vanished. If I recall correctly, it emitted a faint humming sound, and when it vanished I could feel a certain smell in the air, like burned sulphur or something like that. Though I'm used to seeing them from distance, this one was rather frightening. I would like to know if they harm people, although it's relatively common here I've never heard of someone getting hurt by it. If you know whether they're dangerous or not, please email me. I'm expecting to see them this year too, as usual. They got me fascinated. Leon <murzun a yahoo com> Ashdod, Israel - Wednesday, September 20, 2000 at 11:39:40 (PDT)

In 1936, when I was six years old, I stayed for a few days with friends of my family in Refugio Canyon, Santa Barbara County, California. I think that it was a stormy day, but I am not sure that I remember correctly. My hostess had fallen asleep in a chair by the fireplace in the living room. I was sitting near her on a couch by a big window with a view of her yard and the canyon down to the ocean. I saw several (how many? I don't remember) yellow balls of light rolling along the lawn toward the window where I was sitting. They disappeared. Shortly after that, three yellow balls of light rolled from the chimney onto the hearth of the fireplace. They disappeared quickly, also. I do not remember any odor or sound accompanying them. I was very frightened and did not tell my hostess about them. In fact, I didn't tell anyone until a few years ago when I read about some and then was sure that I really had seen them. Elizabeth Erro Hvolboll <kaixo a aol com> Santa Barbara, CA USA - Tuesday, September 19, 2000 at 20:19:45 (PDT)

Last August, my first stay in USA, I was in Phoenix, AZ. Nearly every late evening lightning storms, which are rather rare in my country. One evening, I stood in front of the house,not far from 7th street,watching all that amazing lightnings, I saw a small blue ball of fire, some two inches in diameter, spreading sparks, following the power (or telephone)lines along the street. I could follow it for appr.5 sec. untill it was out of sight because of neighbouring houses. It disappeared without a trace, no damage, no sound, no explosion. Peter H. van der Weerd <phweerd a casema.net> The Hague, The Netherlands - Friday, September 15, 2000 at 03:26:15 (PDT)

On the 29TH September 2000, at five o?clock in the afternoon I was about entrying in my bathroom. It's about 2*1.5 mts, and it has no windows, just a skyligth in the cellar from were plenty of light came during the hole day. The bathroom is also between two rooms, each one with a window wich was oppened this afternoon, so a current of air was formed. Just before geting into, I saw a shining and bouncing ball of blue-white light, floating just in the middle of the bathroom. The height in wich it was floating was about 2/3 meter from the floor, and the diameter was a litle more than 1/2 meter. In about 2 or 3 seconds it blowed up, making a quite strong noise, like a firecraker. The ball was already there when I looked inside the bathroom, so I can't know for how long It has been floating there. At the same time, the fuses from the house have blown. Ines de Vega Rodrigo <Ines_de_vega a yahoo com> Sta.Cruz de Tenerife, Spain - Thursday, September 07, 2000 at 18:30:17 (PDT)

I was at a beach (part of the outerbanks) near Morehead City in the summer of 73. I woke up to a really bad thunderstorm coming off of the ocean. The lightening was very violent at times but the odd thing was the lightening was not the normal "forked" lightening. Each strike was a ball of reddish/orange fire coming down with the bolt behind it. Each strike was a ball of fire splashing into the water. To say this was mesmerizing is an understatement. Kathryn Griffin <sprtsfishn a aol com> washington, nc USA - Sunday, September 03, 2000 at 12:06:10 (PDT)

My boyfriend and I were lying in bed one night, awake, when suddenly we noticed a very bright yellow light outside our window. My first thought was that someone was taking a photograph of us, then it happened again, this time the light seemed to move from the left to the right then it all went dark again. We checked outside, their were no outdoor lights on and the neighbours were out so it could not have been them. It was a strange experience. It happened to us again a few months later in the same spot, this time the light seemed to come from underneath our window and then move rapidly towards the end of the garden. We did not see the "ball" that everyone else reports as our thin curtains were drawn. We cannot, therefore, be sure that what we saw was in fact ball lightning. There does not, however, seem to be any other explanation!!! Hayley Young <no_carrots a yahoo.com> Leicester, UK - Thursday, August 24, 2000 at 05:59:09 (PDT)

I saw a ball of light in the reflection of my bedroom mirror which ment the ball was at the end of my bed. It was the wednesday morning about 4am and also happened to be the day after we buried my dad who died nearly a week earlier. It was my first encounter of something so unusual that although it glowed it didnt light up th room, also it was no grape fruit this was more the size of a baseball perhaps about five inches across, I didnt see were it came from but it was drifting towards the window there was no sound I put my head under the pillow and never slept a wink all night. This happened on July 4 1989.If you have any questions I,d be happy to reply, my other email address is leah.harlow a ntlworld com leah harlow <leah a atouchofclass1.co.uk> Luton, Bedfordshire, England - Monday, August 21, 2000 at 13:10:44 (PDT)

This is a follow up concerning the possible ball lightning footage I caught on high resolution film in Italy a while back. I've had a lot of people from all over inquire about seeing it. I will soon be transferring it to Quicktime Movie format and releasing the location of the footage for anyone interested in seeing it. Ermanno Ceniccola <Contact a Ceniccola.Com> Niagara, Canada - Thursday, August 17, 2000 at 22:01:18 (PDT)

when i was asleep once i was woken up by a feeling as i can only describe as a strong magnetic feeling. it moved down my leg. i was in a sort of bunk bed and all i remember that i saw a bit of light below my bunk. then it just flew out the window. i looked outside straight after that and nothing was there! I think it was ball lightning. but i can't be sure Simon Stranks <simonskillerdevil> London, USA - Sunday, July 23, 2000 at 04:50:58 (PDT)

About three years ago I took my dog out in my backyard, she was breathing heavily (panting and appeared nervous) I was petting her to calm her down, and I noticed up in the sky 3 flying whateveraircraft that aappeared to be flyng in a v- shaped formation and seemed to defy some conventional techniques in their ability such as movements I had not witnessed aircrafts prior to this do moving forward and backward relatively and in unison without turning around I thought this was pretty strange and kept watching, I live nearby jwa airport and the 405 fwy It seemed just about every search light and helicopter around had been sent up into the air and they were all either buzzing around or beams from the airport sent one on top of the other, well all of the sudden the palm tree in my neighbors yard lit up like a ball at the very top and there wasnt any point of origin for this ball of light to have come from that I could see, and it vanished after about 3 seconds to leave a trail of smoke curling up from the top of the tree where it had been. melster <neil_norma a juno com> costa mesa, ca USA - Saturday, July 22, 2000 at 18:20:47 (PDT)

I learned of ball lightening a couple of years ago after watching a television special on the phenomena. The personal accounts were interesting, and they even showed a blurry picture of a ball lightening. But, the best part of the show was the footag e of an experiment conducted by two scientists. They theorized that ball lightening could be generated/created by using an abondoned submarine battery as the source. They only had one shot at the experiment because the batteries would be destroyed in th e process. As the experiment started and the batteries where turned on, they hid behind sacks of sand to protect them if something went wrong. Meanwhile, their camera was catching everything. Shortly after the experiment started, the batteries blew up, and they fe lt that their experiment had failed. Later, when they viewed the film, a small ball lightening flew from the explosion and bounced on the floor and across the room. How cool is that? I wish I could remember the name of the show. I believe that the show dealt with other phenomena, but I'm convinced that these two scientists were successful in creating ball lightening. If you have experienced ball lightening and want to see this pheno mena again, try to find this show (may have been on PBS?). Joe Preloznik <jpreloz a chorus.net> Madison, WI USA - Thursday, July 06, 2000 at 08:13:16 (PDT)

This site is so valuable. My original report of unusual lightforms is in your archives, the report logged on Monday, April 26, 1999 at 10:15:31 (PDT) In my account I suggested that there seems to be a large number of recorded incidents of such balls of light near or on roofs of buildings, particularly those of churches (see Paul Devereux's amazing Earth-Lights Revelation book). I would like to offer an idea, that a possibly important common link is lead metal. In the case of roofs, the lead source is in the large amounts used (here in the UK anyway) in the waterproofing of older roofs. Many reports also abound of lightforms being seen around old lead mine locations. This link to lead was first brought to my attention in Paul Devereux's book. Now I may be going out too far on a loose theory here, but another well-known source of unusual lightforms were the 'Foo-Fighters' reported by pilots during World War 2. Some of those lightforms were described as apparently insubstantial forms of light, p erhaps like the ones I saw. So where is the 'lead connection' here? Well I believe the lead, and significant amounts of it too, would have been present in the ammunition magazines for the guns. I have been advised that some fighter-planes stored the ammo in the actual wings. A full load of 20mm Cannon rounds would have many kilos of lead. Some 'Foo-Fighter' reports mention an affinity of the lightforms to stick near the wings as they paced the planes. Other areas of lighform activity have been nuclear weapon sites. I wonder if there are amounts of lead used at these locations too for radiation protection? I stress this is just a theory on a theory. That lead, or other dense metals, in a large enough density over a location may help generate certain lighforms under certain atmospheric and geophysical conditions, seems well argued for in Paul Devereaux's boo k. Perhaps the 'Foo-Fighter' incidents were assisted by the movement of the planes through the atmosphere. I do not feel it accounts for all UFO reports -some 'lights in the sky' type reports perhaps, that's all, and some 'Foo-Fighter' reports would chall enge my idea by the reported apparent 'intelligence' of the forms. I would welcome any comments or feedback on this. Lynsay, Scotland, UK. Lynsay <Lynsay_Watson a Hotmail com> Scotland, UK. - Thursday, July 06, 2000 at 06:56:09 (PDT)

Last night, I was driving down the highway in SC. In my rear view mirror I happened to see a big ball of light with a red center. It ran perpendicular to the road as it went across it at a quick speed. Sue Gray <gray a oconee.rms.slb com> West Union, SC USA - Tuesday, June 27, 2000 at 08:09:17 (PDT)

This is really weird to me and I don't know if it would be classified as ball lighting or not. My father in law was sitting in front of his computer (June 18th 2000 - earlier today) as a thunderstorm rolled through. This was the fourth storm we had had. He was looking out the window at the lighting and one hit very close. he reported seeing a white ball of light in front of him and it knocked him backwards a couple of feet and out of his chair. He didn't remember anything else except being woke up by my mother-in-law (who was understandably very upset). I was on my way over and I was about 1/2 mile from their house and remember the lighting hitting. We thought the lighting had come through the computer or something (he says he was typing at the time) but there is no damage to anything in or around the house that we could find. The computer is the one I am on now and is working perfectly. He is fine now but was shaken up pretty bad. When I got here he was awake and sitting up and the chair was still sideways in the floor. I don't know what the heck happened but it was the strangest thing I had ever heard of that close to me. Does anyone know what might have happened? They live in a neighborhood so there are houses all around and it is a one story house. I am just glad he is ok and I wasn't sitting here ... like I am now. Robert Mitchem <mitchem a hotmail.com> Hopewell, VA USA - Sunday, June 18, 2000 at 17:31:03 (PDT)

This happened when I was about three or four years old, back in the early mid-fifties. I was riding in the car at night with my family, when we noticed some lights bouncing in the field alongside the road. We pulled off the road to watch. I don't remember any unusual weather at the time, such as lightning or rain. The lights we saw were white, about six to eight inches in diameter, and made a sizzling sound. One, two, and sometimes three at a time, they would appear. Hovering, bouncing, streaking, they seemed almost playful. Some would even move in spiral patterns! They lasted maybe ten or fifteen seconds before fizzling out. This happened at the edge of a field to the south of a rock quarry in Southern California. There were some bushes in the field, but they did not get burned. I remember seeing my first fourth of July sparklers shortly thereafter, and had fun making those same patterns in the night. The effect and sound was exactly the same. Ryon <spambait a www com> Covina, California, USA - Thursday, July 06, 2000 at 20:36:17 (PDT)

WOW! I can't believe others have seen these balls. I've gone through the last 48 years thinking our's was an isolated experiece. It was during a summer, evening thunder storm in 1952 (I was eight years old) and my mom and I were standing on our front porch talking to our next door neighbor lady, Helen, and her daughter, Elaine. We lived in a duplex house and our porches were connected. From where we were standing all four of us had a clear view through Helen's front door into her living room. It's a long time ago and I don't remember who saw *it* first or what caused us to look through Helen's front door into her living room, where *it* was, but I DO KNOW we ALL saw it. An orange/red ball of fire about the size of a bowling ball shooting all around the room. I don't know if it REALLY WAS fire, but in my 8 year old mind, that's what I thought it was....a ball of fire. It was traveling a few inches above the floor and although it came close to the walls it never actually touched them or the furniture in the room. When it got close to touching anything it would reverse directions and go the other way. I don't remember how long we watched it...it seemed like an eternity...before it just vanished in thin air. I've read here that most of these lightning balls move slowly, but I think the one we saw was going fast..SHOOTING around the room, but I'm not sure. I also don't remember if there was a smell or noise connected. It's too long ago to remember everything clearly, but I DO KNOW we saw what's being described here and it's really neat to know that others have seen the same thing. Sharry Daniels <shazzybubba a aol com> Pa USA - Saturday, July 15, 2000 at 11:22:44 (PDT)

This happened when I was about 7. Me and my cousin were playing hide & seek around our grandmother's house. The only streetlight there was, lit up the front of the house. I decided to hide on the side of the house where there was no light. As I headed toward the back of the house, there about 5-7 ft in front of me, a handkerchief-size round glowing light slowly rose out of the grass, hovered for a few seconds, then walked or flew silently over to the neighbor's fence and went up and over it. I then watched it go down in the grass in the neighbor's yard and the light went out. All the time there was no noise at all and I can tell you I was scared to death. The funny thing about it is that my grandfather said that he saw something very similar as a child too. His object was walking or flying across a country road into a field, and with no noise. Very scary experience. Would like to know what it was though. Dee <dhatcher a levi com> tn USA - Wednesday, August 09, 2000 at 11:01:30 (PDT)

I had my first apartment for about 3 weeks. It was an 18th floor apartment in Aurora,IL. A friend and I stopped in to pick something up and notices the wind was blowing very hard through the LARGE old windows. We sat in the windows and watched the ligh tning and wind that was proceeding a big storm. I suddenly saw a BRIGHT round light on the ground a mile or two away. It lasted only a few seconds and was gone. I think the first one was green but I cant remember. There was five or six of these lights in different areas of my very good view in the span of 15 minutes or so. The colors varies from green to red to orange to blue. I could be wrong about some of the colors as it was 12 years ago but there were many and WERE THEY BRIGHT! Since I had never seen anything like it or even heard of it I thought it was some part of the early storm or tornado warning system. Maybe the sirens communicating in some sort of wireless light system. I know it sounds stupid but what the heck did I know. My brother still thinks Im full of it to this day.h Craig Stein <craig a craigstein.com> Dallas , TX USA - Thursday, August 03, 2000 at 23:16:58 (PDT)

In about 1958 while working on a tobacco farm in Southern Ontario Canada an experience of ball lightning was viewed by myself and two friends. During a midnight electrical storm a close strike shut off power and sent into our barn room a glowing bluish ball about 6 inches diameter. It slowly eased across the concrete floor, just like a drop of water on a hot skillet (Leidenfrost movement) lighting up the interior of a 20 x 20 foot room. We jumped up on two beds to escape and watched it for about 20 seconds. I remember a sound like an electrical hum (put your ear against a wooden power pole out in the country). One of us finally got up the nerve to cross the room, open a door to the large barn room and it slowly floated into the barn and vanished with a bright flash. We found the place where it had entered when lights came on. It had split some wood siding and burned out of a power plug. Since that time I have experienced many things, one being an employee in a nuclear reactor. This was a 5 MW research pool reactor at McMaster U. in Hamilton and the first time I saw Cherenkov radiation at the pool bottom I knew that the ball lightning I had witnessed as a youth was of the same energy source. The blue light caused by electrons loosing energy in water was the same and ball lightning should be able to be explained by a bright physicist by now. It is a physical phenomena which cannot be disputed. Hopefully one day we can harness some of this atmospheric energy for our use. Martin Vandenbroek <mav a ece.ucsb.edu> Lompoc, CA USA - Tuesday, August 01, 2000 at 09:19:09 (PDT)

It was on a cloudy day in 1978 or 1979. Myself and 2 college buddys were driving back from Ft. Stockton, Texas to Alpine, Texas. There was a very heavy cloud bank or possibly a fog band just off the road, parallel with the highway. I was in the back seat of the car with the other two in the front. I was looking out the window on my side of the car into the cloud bank when I saw a bright but not blinding white-yellow light. I was in the shape of a ball and I would guess about the size of a basket-ball. The light came out of the cloud bank and floated about 10'-15' above the ground. It floated parallel with the cloud bank. It slowly moved up and down as it traveled. The ball then went back into the clouds. It took only a matter of a few seconds for this to happen. Neither of the front passengers saw it. We went back, but it never reapeared. I had no idea what I had seen for years until I heard our local weatherman talk a little about ball lightning. I knew then what I had seen. He stated that only about 1 in 1 million people see ball lightning in there life. I was one of those lucky few. Tom <tbarj349 a aol com> USA - Monday, July 31, 2000 at 10:48:58 (PDT)

Thank you all for writing about those "lightning balls"... You have cleared a mystery I've held for almost 20 years. I lived out of town at the time and was headed that way. It was dark, but there were no storms. I pulled up to the corner to turn, and noticed what seemed to be a bright light accross the way. There was a tall row of hedge trees(bare, it was winter) the other side of the road that it seemed, at first, to be shining "through". At first, though it was a light from an airplane as it was so bright and there was an airport a few miles that way. Then noticed a dim glow around it. It was IN the hedgerow about 20' off the ground and barely lighting up the branches around it. I couldn't figure out how a light THAT BRIGHT could dimly light branches that must have been only inches away. It moved slowley through the branches and emitted little sparks as it went. It lasted for almost a minute and dissapeared. I almost drove over there to "investigate", but it was dark and I was by myself(plus a little scared!). Just glad I now know(probably) what it was. Thanks for sharing. Justin <mcfarland a webtv.net> Wichita, KS USA - Thursday, July 20, 2000 at 02:31:58 (PDT)

Once when I opened the back door to let my dog out, I noticed a sound, like electrical humming in the backyard. I decided to investigate thinking that something might be wrong with the satellite dish on the back corner of my lot. It was a calm, sunny day with no clouds in sight. I slowly crept across my backyard, looking for the source of the buzzing. When I reached the center of the yard, the hairs stood up on the back of my neck while a brillant white, softball sized, glowing ball was headed straight at me, and aimed at the middle of my chest, at tremendous speed. It was 30' away and I screamed. At that moment it took a 90 degree angle and exploded in the corner of my yard where a telephone pole and electrical transformer was located. This somehow must have been like a lightning rod which saved my life! G Barnes <8316150> Tampa, FL USA - Wednesday, July 12, 2000 at 21:53:42 (PDT)

A really long time ago when I was a teen living in R.I. in a house located about 100 yards from a power distribution station, on a day that was threatening thunder storms, but none really happening. I was looking out from a 3rd story window toward the power station when i heard a crackling/buzzing noise. I looked toward the northeast and saw a whitish blue ball of light about 1 foot in diameter. It was hovering mid air and drifting toward the west. It's elevation increased slowly to about 6 or 7 feet as it approached the chain link fence surrounding the power station. the hissing seemed to increase as the ball 'rolled' along the top of the fence for about 30 feet at which point it started to rise into the air at an angle in a nortwesterly direction. My guess is that it arose to an altitude of about 30' before getting bright white and expanding and disappearing in a flash. As far as I know, I am the only one that witnessed this phenomenon. Believe it or not, I have nothing to gain or hide almost 40 years later Steve Earl <theearls a earthlink.net> Monroe, CT USA - Wednesday, July 12, 2000 at 16:47:33 (PDT)

While visiting my elderly grandparents in Maine when I was a kid, I noticed some charring on a kitchen outlet. They claimed that during a recent storm, a "hissing ball of lightning" came out of that kitchen electrical outlet, dropped down to the floor, a ppeared to bounce and spin there for a second or two, then shot right through their door to the outside. Nokhu <Nokhu a Yahoo.Com> Steamboat, CO USA - Wednesday, July 05, 2000 at 15:12:10 (PDT)

It was around 1975. I was lying on the couch in my living room watching tv, when all at once, I noticed a ball of fire between me and the television. It was approximately the size of a round basketball (maybe larger) and was dancing in one spot on the carpet. It was about six inches off the floor, was orange-red (flame color) and made no sound. It seemed to be made up of fire and sparks (lots of activity in it) The weather was clear and the sun was shining. It was about 3:30pm. It frightened me, so I covered my face for several minutes. I kept peeking out but it was still there. I kept my face covered and when I peeked out for the final time, it was gone. I got up off the couch and felt the carpet, where it had been been. It was not even slightly warm! Does this sound like ball lightning or St Elmo's Fire? louise <sjack a ellijay com> ellijay, ga USA - Wednesday, June 28, 2000 at 15:34:55 (PDT)

Ball Lightening; When I was about ten years old, I saw Ball lightening. It in the Summer of 1969 on a Saturday afternoon that my father and myself were cleaing up in the cellar. A heavy thunderstorm had just begun to pass through the area and the rain was coming down very heavy. Through the East-South-East glass cellar window, a strange whitish- yellow bright ball about 6 to 8 inches in dia. came in to the cellar, and bounced off the washing machine. My father and myself saw it at the same time. My father told me to get out of it's path. The ball traveled laterally accross the cellar, around a steel lally and out the West-North-West cellar window. It caused no damage. As soon as it was out of the cellar, a lighening bolt struck a 100 + foot, huge pine tree in the neighbor's back yard and sheared the giant tree in half on the North side of the house. the tree crashed down crushing the fence that ran East to West behind the house. The tree was struck about 60 feet up. My father worked with high voltage and knew something of "ball lightening" and gave me a simple explaination of it. Thanks, John John Haggerty <John.Haggerty a GD-CS com> Natick, MA USA - Tuesday, June 27, 2000 at 20:18:08 (PDT)

About 10 years ago I was at work in a hospital kitchen. I was in the office, which had a glass enclosure. The whole kitchen was comprised of stainless steel, as most hospital kitchens are. At the time, I was working on menus and I was looking down at some papers. Suddenly, there was a blinding flash just outside the door. A rumble of thunder made me realize a storm had started - the power went out. I got up out of my chair and went to see what had happened. I looked down the long hallway leading to the loading dock when I saw that bright light just roll right on down the hallway towards me! It continued past me, and it lit up the whole room! I thought I was seeing things, and there was nobody else around at the time. It was in the form of a ball and was the brightest yellow light I have ever seen. About 3 minutes later, it was all over. When my colleagues came back, I tried to tell them what happend and they all looked at me like I was crazy! Ronni Warren <BRATLULU a AOL coM> Lusby, Md USA - Sunday, June 18, 2000 at 18:53:51 (PDT)

Long time ago, about 7-9 years, my aunt, cousins, and I were driving down the highway during a thunderstorm. The rain was pretty heavy and lightning was common. As I layed in the front seat, I rested my head on the top-side of the chair. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a bright ball fly down toward the car (well, I guess we flew toward it). I quickly look up to see it explode on the wind sheild. Immediately after the explosion, little "baby-ball lightnings" trinkled across the car's hood. Very, very cool. I would guess the "daddy" B-lightning to be around 1 foot in diameter and the "babies" to be a few centimeters. Colors were bright white and blue. I did hear a big crack, but no hissing. Mabye next time I'll have a video recorder. Paul Knight <paul_knight00 a hotmail com> Cornelia, GA USA - Friday, June 16, 2000 at 13:31:50 (PDT)

I was sleeping during a heavy, continuous down pour in the Catskill Mountains. I don't recall lightning or thunder. The kitchen door was opened to a screened in porch. I was in a bedroom off the kitchen. A humming, buzzying sound. I heard it again. I opened my eyes to see ball lightning about the size of a golf ball circle the kitchen ceiling once and go out the door. Curious, I walked into the kitchen, turned on the light, and it happened again, and again and again. After closing the porch door and I heard the ball lightning outside the door; it was trying to get back into the kitchen. It sounded like it was hovering.When the ball lightning was in the kitchen, it was a spinning ball of white hot plasma with sparkles of red and yellow skarps leaving and dying from the ball. Donato <telidx a aol> Queens, ny USA - Thursday, June 15, 2000 at 10:07:19 (PDT)

It was june 26,1999. It was on my birthday party at the beach.It started to storm,but not rain yet,when i saw a bright blue light swirl after my friends movements.He was scared so he ran but it followed him.I was scared to death,and after it popped, he ended up in the hodpital for back injuries.To this daay,i'm not sure what it was,but someone pointed me to this site,so i told my storie. Mark <jnco81285 a aol com> Tampa, fl USA - Wednesday, June 14, 2000 at 18:49:11 (PDT)

I witnessed ball lightning back in the seventies.My mother and I were on our way to pick up some subs downtown.The day was hot and humid with storm activity in the area, as we turned a corner we saw what looked like lightning strike the top of a large tree next to an apartment complex.Soon after the whole top of the tree exploded, we saw a basket ball sized ball of "fire" coming down the trunk of the tree barber pole style.My mother and everybody else on the road immediately stopped. It came down the tree in about 10 seconds shooting bark off the tree like a buzz saw.It then went across the ground and up the wall of the apartment complex and back into the sky.When we went and looked at the tree it was stripped down to bare wood where the ball had traveled. This was the one and only time I saw ball lightning and I feel lucky to have witnessed this event. Rand Schilling Point Pleasant, NJ USA - Tuesday, June 13, 2000 at 11:23:31 (PDT)

When I was quite young, perhaps 4 or 5, I saw something that nobody believed for YEARS. Our family was on the back porch on a hot summer day when a thunderstorm rolled in. As the storm got closer, my parents instructed me (and my brothers and sisters) into the house. I was not afraid of lighting or thunderstorms - even that young. I went to the kitchen window to watch the sky when a thunderous CRASH indicated that lighting had struck - and close by. I still remained at the window and saw what I described as "a ball of sparks" travel along the top of a chain link fence about 5 feet from our house. I can't say precisely the size as it had a denser-looking core than the rest of the ball, but I'd say it was about the size of a grapefruit or even a cantelope. It was bright and whitish in color with "electric" blue (no pun intended) and even a bit yellow as well - it did not appear solid - just bright and sparkly - light. After that experience, I became TERRIFIED of lighting and thunder for about 10 years. I can see that "ball of sparks" clearly in my memory even though no one believed me until about 20 years later. No one in my family had heard about ball lightning and thought I must have been seeing things. Later, I found out that our neighbor across the street saw the lightning strike that formed that ball lighning. It struck a transformer at the end of that chain link fence and that is when the ball lightning formed and traveled down the top of the fence, past me and out of my view...the whole experience was probably 10 seconds, 10 seconds I'll never forget. Jean Ennis <jhennis a mediaone.net> Boston, MA USA - Monday, June 12, 2000 at 20:32:26 (PDT)

On the night of June 6th, 2000, I was in bed and awoke to a loud noise and my house lights dimming and then repeatedly becoming bright. I got out of Bed and walked over to my front window and saw a bright orange/red fireball floating and sparking over my neighbors house. As I observed, the electricity on my property kept fading in and out and a humming sound was quite audible. This lasted almost a minute and then fizzled away. My property is located on a Peninsula surrounded by Lake Erie in Canada. It was a clear night and this aparently came out of nowhere. After reading other accounts, I believe I saw a lightening Ball. Bill <wmoore5 a yahoo com> Buffalo, NY USA - Wednesday, June 07, 2000 at 17:13:59 (PDT)

My name is Rob and live in england I have researched ball lightning and would like to share some of what I have learnt. Dispite it's name "Ball lightning" it does not always take this form, It has been seen as a spikey ball, dumbell, or even a rod. It is reported as havig an "intelligent" quality to it, moving with a purpose, sometimes even stopping as if to "examine" on object. It tends to be attracred to people, often following or circling them. It also seems to favor people, leaving them unharmed whilst killing near by animals. It defies physics, often ignoring conductors like metal or water. Finally I would like to relay to you a humours encounter with ball lightning, although not expirenced by me, it was some one very close to me. And this is what has given me such an urge to learn about ball lightning. In june 1958, London, my grandfather was shaving in his bathroom in the middle of a storm. He witnessed what he discribed as a smooth ball, cricket ball sized, appear behind his shower screen, it moved through the screen, leaving no mark, circled his head once, then disapeard done the plug hole in the sink, melting the steel chain. As if this was not enough, approximately 5 minutes later a simalar ball, though slightly greener in colour, appeared in the same place, mimicked the behavour of the first however this time exited through the plug hole in his bath, once more melting the steel plug chain. He tells me that they were on a "mission" to make him lose his plugs, but admits he i extremly lucky to have witnessed this anomoly twice. Rob Kay <sixties_swinger a yahoo com> London, ENGLAND - Thursday, June 01, 2000 at 16:12:12 (PDT)

(corrected) ball lightning (approx. summer of 84): I was sitting with my friend Rob after a game of soccer at his place by a lake south of Plymouth, MI. There was a lone cloud (puffy rain ladden, well formed) floating west to east over the town of Plymouth. The evening twilight glow was beginning. We noticed the cloud flashing, then we saw what looked like balls of lightning shooting around inside the cloud. Being suckers for the wonders of nature we crawled on top the shed to watch. I saw balls of blue to green and red to yellow colors. The cloud took ~30 minutes to pass and flashed with ball lightning the whole time. The balls took kind of random swiggly paths within the cloud. Most of the time there was more than one ball at once. Awesome. One of those things you long to see again. steve whiteley <steve_whiteley a netcomsystems com> agoura hills, ca USA - Monday, May 22, 2000 at 13:50:04 (PDT)

In the summer of 1994, we had several very violent storms, which St. Louis is famous for. One night, during a very brutal storm, I was on the side of the highway inspecting the scene of a hit-and-run accident (I'm a police officer). Both cars were gone but nonetheless, I needed to check it out. I was walking around outside my car in the rain. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning hit a tall powerline tower about 20 yards away. I heard a buzzing sound like a beehive and a basketball-sized sphere of blue-white light came shooting down at my car at an incredible speed. It traveled about 1 yard off the ground. It easily passed cars going 70+ on the highway, probably traveling 2-3 times their speed. The ball hit the rear of my car and passed through. I heard static come from the police radio in the car which was turned off. The ball had disappeared once it entered the car and became silent but suddenly reappeared out the front and continued flying forward at the same speed with the same odd angry-bee sound. As it passed by me, all hair stood up on my skin and I received a small shock from my two-way radio on my belt. After flying about ten yards, it broke up into scores of smaller spheres that flew in all directions with the sound of high-caliber rifle. These mini-balls vanished silently after several feet of flying. This was a truly amazing experience and it is still fresh in my mind. If you have any questions, e-mail me. I'd love to talk and compare stories and answer questions. Kenton Binkholder <KHOCKWESMN a aol com> St. Louis, MO USA - Thursday, May 18, 2000 at 19:34:11 (PDT)

Many years ago my father told me of ball lightning. He told me of how one time when he was a small child living with his parents in a very rural area of north west Louisiana, during a thunderstorm late at night while everyone was in the living room afraid a loud clasp of thunder happened right close to the house. After a second or so in through the kitchen window a ball of lightning came just flying and bouncing on the floor. He said it was about the size of a large softball. It bounced around on the floor for sometime before rolling into the other room and then just going out."With a bang" he said. He said after that they all went to bed but no one got much sleep. The next morning he got up and in the floor were burn marks where it rolled around on the floor. The reason this story came to mind was tonight a very good friend of mine and my wife's called me to ask me if I had ever herd about ball lightning and if I could please try and look it up on my computor as she had this day saw some of this unsual phenomena we call "Ball Lighting". She stated to me on this day at about 4:20pm she and another friend of hers was working in the Horticulture Arts Society gardens here in downtown Colorado Springs, Colorado, when during a pretty bad wind storm with some rain and lighting she observed a very large ball of lightning rolling back and forth on the power lines by the garden. It was making a awful loud hissing noise and emitting plenty of sparks as it rolled about. It finally rolled all the way to the end of the lines and hit the transformer with a loud report and a cloud of smoke and sparks flying everywhere.And as strange as it may seem there was no damage what so ever to the transformer or any power loss at all. There was several seconds from start to finish of this event. This story was just told to me by my dear friend Elsie Pope whom I admire and trust. It's too bad that my wife had just left there and was not able to witness this outstanding event. It's even worse that I was not there to see it for myself but maybe sometime...Thanks for reading this true account of two stories of "Ball Lightning" Clarence Womack Clarence Womack <maildad a codenet.net> Colorado Springs, Co. USA - Wednesday, May 17, 2000 at 21:42:11 (PDT)

A couple summers ago I was at the sink washing dishes as a storm approched. About the time the storm reached the house the phone rang. I grabbed a towel to dry my hands and reached for it, at that instant a loud clap of thunder sounded and the phoneblew off the wall and across the room. But it was followed by a ball of, for lack of better description, sparklers (like kids have at July 4th) about 6 inches around. It turned away from me at 90 degrees and went down the inside wall of the house, entered and exited my desk blowing all the papers off on the floor and proceeded to knock all the pictures off the wall as it followed the wall to the television set. It hit the TV and put it out, or so I thought. When my wife came home I told her to call the TV repair man and see if it could be fixed. She decided to call the cable people first, they came the next day and conducted a check of the cable. They went to the box near the street where they connect to the area cables I guess. He came back and said it was all melted together and he would be able to fix it shortly. Which he did. Wife turned on the TV when he left and it worked perfectly, and does to this day. Later, when I returned from work I saw the neighbor out in the yard and decided to talk with him, I related to him what had happened. His response was "Oh, ball lighting", as if it was common to him, and went on to talk of other things. As we talked we walked over to my yard and both of us noticed that there was something strange about the vinyl siding on my home, on investigation we discovered there was a round spot on the outside wall exactly where the phone is located on the inside wall. Not burned but bent and distorted as if it had been heated. I no longer live in that house, but when I left the wall was still like that. Leal Bennett <leabenn a aol com> Mpls, Mn USA - Monday, May 15, 2000 at 20:29:22 (PDT)

This just happened to me last night, 5-08-2000. A was visiting with a friend, chatting over a cup of coffee. I was startled when a streak of bright light "hit" my cheek. It came at me from the side, so I barely saw it from the corner of my eye. I actually ducked, a normal reflex I suppose when something comes flying at you from nowhere! My friend yelled out, "What the hell was that?". I said, "You saw that? Tell me what you saw." She said "well it looked like Tinkerbell smacked you with her magic wand". We talked about how wierd it was, she went home and I went to bed. The next morning, my Fiance' kissedme goodbye on his way to work and asked me what was arong with my cheek. I look in the mirror to find a large red blotch on my left cheek, right where the light had "hit" me. I told him reluctantly what had happened the night before and he said it could have been ball lightning. I've never heard of such a thing. It's pretty creepy. Does any one know of a good source of info on the subject? Cindy Cindy Fotis <cindywwi a hotmail> Tehachapi, Ca USA - Tuesday, May 09, 2000 at 13:43:32 (PDT)

One evening i was sitting at the living room window watching a thunder storm (i was about 11). When i suddenly caught something britght in the corner of my eye. I looked over and saw a cantelope sized "ball" of orange(ish) light that had little sparkles coming of of it it went past the window (heading north to south), went over the truck (i also saw its reflection in the trunk window), and past some bushes. I lost sight of it after that, but it gave me a very "spooked" feeling. When my Dad arrived at home later that night, i told him of this and he said it might have been ball lightning. Ben G. Penticton, BC Canada - Sunday, May 07, 2000 at 15:13:18 (PDT)

While observing a thunderstorm from our terrace ma wife and I observed a bright ball of light hovering infront of a particularly thick cloud. this light hovered for a while the grew in light intensity and started drifting first upwards then downwards. It must have been perhaps 2 km away from us at the time. This occured on the 6th of may at around 17.45 local time. The ball was perhaps visible for 15 seconds. We watched the sky for perhaps 10 minutes but saw no signs of any aircraft activity. The storm was particulary violent and included lots of hail which went on for about 1/2 an hour. It seemed like at least two thunderstorms had clashed on one another. After following this strange event I decided to check the internet for similar occurences. Mike Swale <swale a swol.de> Stuttgart, Germany - Saturday, May 06, 2000 at 09:20:59 (PDT)

When I was about 5 years old (1969) I was outside with my mother and two older neighbors talking. A storm was in the distance but otherwise clear. In an instant hovering just 2 or 3 feet over the road came a ball-like fire, about the size of a basketball. And it was gone. As I say I was quite young. I asked my mother only a few years ago if she recalled the incident (I thought someone would think I was crazy had I recalled the incident). She, too, remembered this. I have searched the internet and see I'm not the only one who has witnessed this. I have learned that it in fact is very rare, and that it has a name. Before learning of ball lightning via the internet I likened what I had witnessed to "St. Elmo's Fire" when explaining it to a friend, who told me about ball lightening. Nice to know I'm not crazy, and neither is my mother. I would, however, like to learn if anyone saw reports of this incident back then or how to find reports in microfiche papers. This incident occurred in Sussex, New Jersey in 1969. Michele Eslick <eslick a ptd.net> Branchville, nj USA - Saturday, April 29, 2000 at 10:36:00 (PDT)

My wife and I bought an old house at the foothills of a central mountain range in AZ. It had been a mining shack that had been refurbished and an elderly couple was living there. The husband related the following story, and there were burn marks on a tree and in the linoleum to back up his story. The man was peeling potatoes in the small kitchen and a mountain thunderstorm arrived as they do in the summer time. He stated that there was a huge clap of thunder that stunned him. Almost immediately there was a blue ball of light that started to richochet around in the kitchen. He said that he had to lift up his feet so that the ball did not hit him. There was a small wood burning stove against one wall with a piece of galvanized time behind it to shield the wooden wall from the heat of a fire. The lightening blasted one of nails holding the metal sheet out of the wall onto the linoleum and burnt the bent shape of an 8 penny nail into the flooring. The burn mark was still visible when we bought the house. Outside the damage was greater. The lightening had struck a huge cottonwood tree leaving a major scar in the wood and bark that is still visible twenty years later. There was a wire clothes line from the tree to the house that was vaporized. The clothes pins were neatly aligned on the ground where they had fallen from the clothes line. It was presumed that the lightening was carried to the wall of the house by the wire clothes line, and then blasted the nail from the wall. How or what the blue ball of energy was that was bouncing around the kitchen is anyones guess. BUT it fits the description of ball lightening. The man who told me the story was not known to tell tall tales, and he was very convincing when he told the story to me. My father-in-law described "sheet lightening" that he saw in NW Missouri during a major thunderstorm, but that is a different thing. Gordon Bradshaw <hrvstmun a primenet com> Mayer, AZ USA - Friday, April 21, 2000 at 17:52:24 (PDT)

Ball Lightning Approx.15years ago I was watching television during a thunderstorm. I heard a crackling type noise like paper being crumpled. As the sound seemed to be coming from outside, I went to the window and looked into the back yard. As we had no neighbors behind us and a deep yard I was surprised to see a white light out the window it appeared to look like a small bulb from a flashlight and jumped around slightly emitting small sparks all the while I continued to hear this crackling sound. I pressed my face against the window and shielded my eyes to cut the reflection of the inside room light and realized that this small light was not 100 feet away in the yard but up against the window. For what ever reason I dove for the floor and the house shook from a thunder clap. Color of the light was a white to a yellow.Size I would estimate at approx 6 inches. Sparks were radiated and sound from it was evident. my location was on the second floor. there was no damage or evidence after the fact. Days after I mentioned what happened to 2 individuals and they said it sounded like ball lightning of which I had never heard of and only believed them upon reading a report in Scientiffic American. Dennis McGowan Dennis McGowan <Sinned41 a aol com> Commack, Ny USA - Friday, April 21, 2000 at 09:41:08 (PDT)

April 17, 2000, ~5:10 PM I was sitting in my living room on the floor with my baby and my boyfriend was upstairs. It had been storming outside for a short while at this point. I looked up at the T.V. The lights went out and saw a this huge white ball of light out of the corner of my eye. When I looked up at it, I heard a huge crashing sound and it was gone just like that. This all happened in a matter of a couple of seconds. My boyfriend said as he was coming down the stairs and he noticed a brilliant white-yellow glow radiating from the room and then heard a crash. He also said he heard a whizzing/crackling sound afterward for maybe up to ten seconds and it then faded away. Kim & Eric <ewellman a hotmail com> Wheeling, WV USA - Monday, April 17, 2000 at 14:41:48 (PDT)

On Tuesday April 11 2000 I was filming myself and two other friends skateboarding as I was filming I noticed a blue spark/flame about the size of my fist and from what I guess 7ft off the ground coming down the hill. (we were around 150 yrds away) this event lasted about 1.5 sec then disapered with a very loud report unfourntly i was unable to record a vidio image but I was able to record the sound of the explosion (This is NOT BS) Cody Letson <Zotfacekilla a aol> Columbus, ga USA - Wednesday, April 12, 2000 at 10:59:54 (PDT)

It was April l, 2000 only this is not an April Fool. I was lying on the couch in the livingroom. The weather report was thunderstorms but no rain yet. Suddenly I heard a loud crackling sound followed by a tremendous sound of thunder. I looked toward my kitchen and saw a huge yellow and orange blast and thought my kitchen was on fire, but when I went in there nothing seemed to be bothered. Later I discovered my telephone was burned out and the ice maker water line had been split open. It was really scary. My neighbor across the street saw it coming down the street and three TV's around me were knocked out. Also it knocked a huge limb off of an oak tree in my backyard. Another lady two doors down said it came into her house like a big ball and moved out again through the walls. An interesting experience! Jackie Richardson <richards61 a hotmail com> Union, MS USA - Sunday, April 09, 2000 at 07:29:29 (PDT)

Hello All, On friday March 31, 2000, I was standing at my kitchen sink looking out the window. A beautiful sunny spring day between 2 and 3pm. I live in the woods and was looking twards my workshop, 300 ft. away, when I noticed a brilant red/oragne color. I looked for the cardnial hopping around a tree but this was what appeared to be a soccer sized ball. Was some kid throwing up a frezbee or letting a baloon go? The ball red/orange as stated, seemd to fade to a dark brown spot in it's center. Did some animal hav a baloon in it's mouth? All these things going through my head in the few seconds it tokk to assend up the tall tree.But this ball was perfectly following to contour of the tree. I'd estimate the tree to be apporx. 100 feet tall. Once reaching the top the ball floated through the air to another tree and follow it's contours as the first. Taking to the air once again it's view was blocked by a third tree. At this point I ran out the door, a few feet away, and the object was gone. I observed for 5 minuets and nothing. I walked to the base of the tree where I first had seen this strange ball of light and there were no physical traces of any kind. So as Steve Martin stated a numer of times, " What the hell is that"! I have seen unexplainable things in my days on our Mother Earth. And while some may refer to unexplained things as the paranormal, I refer to to them as normal. Because we can't see or explain something does not mean it doesn't exsist. If we could see radio and tv waves with the naked eye then we couldn't see each other sitting 3 feet away. There are vertually thousands and perhaps even millions of waves in our space. Comming from stations, the Earth, and space. My tv is working but I don't see the waves. But I know the waves exsist. And as a human I am limited to many things I can't see. Unexplained things or the study of them, does not constitute an ocult group or person. We humans have an instinct to explore, understand, and gain knowledge. One could have been put to death for stating that the world was round, not flat, and revolved around the sun. Not too many centuries ago. Which finally brings me back to the ball of light I saw. So any ideas fellow humans? I've have been studing, filming, and taping orbs and ectoplasm. I seem to have had an open mind on such subject stated above, for as long as I can remember. I have an opened mind. But in this case knid of stumped. Thank You all for my long buttoned story. And I Thank You all for you stories. We are blessed with our exsistance in this universe and blessed with the yearning to find out why. This is my truthful experience and I wish to gain any knowledge any of you may have.Peace & Safe Journeys, Dave Dave Weaver <davejoman a webtv.net> Qyarryville, Pa USA - Sunday, April 02, 2000 at 21:16:23 (PDT)

This was in the suburbs of Rochester, NY, about 1935. I had walked to the neighborhood grocery store. When I came out of the store there was the usual summertime heavy rainstorm. Instead of getting soaked, I waited in the entrance of the store. Across the street at an angle, and maybe 100 yards away, I saw a basketball size orange light with a fuzzy edge all around. It was on the end of the roof gutter and moved the full length. Then it went down the drain spout, moved over to the edge of the driveway to the street. On the edge of the street it moved about 10 or 20 yards and disappeared at the storm drain cover. There was no sound that I could hear, or smoke, or damage. This took about the time it takes to read this. I seemed like a slow motion electrical phenomena associated with the storm. Bill <h2o-h2o a worldnet.att.net> Bellevue, WA USA - Sunday, March 26, 2000 at 18:30:54 (PST)

I like watching lightning storms.Last year ,we were in a drought condition.When we did get thunder storms,they were very bad.In july of 1999,during one of these storms,i saw a ball of light.It was approx.12 inches in diamiter,and floating above the ground. It floated about100 yards,in about30 seconds,then exploded violently.The light created a ball easily 30 yards in diamiter,before fading away.Thats how i got on this site looking for info on ball lighing. charles kovalewski <cfk a epix.net> ringtown, pa USA - Saturday, March 25, 2000 at 18:18:20 (PST)

I was in bed when I was woken by a great ball of light witch was so hot that I fated and did not rember any more except I was praying for my life. the kat <bbrock a AOL.co.uk> Milford, surrey England - Wednesday, March 22, 2000 at 02:23:38 (PST)

About 3 years ago I was a witness of Ball lightning. I was sitting out on my drive way watching cumulonimbus over Miami county and noticed a reddish ball float out of the bottom of the storm. Since I want to be a meteorologist, I have seen most kinds of lightning and, to this day I am sure it was not St. Elmos fire but in fact truly ball lightning. Travis Livengood Overland Park, Ks USA - Monday, March 20, 2000 at 19:39:29 (PST)

I was driving down I-35 going to work one morning during a thunderstorm. A lightning bolt struck a telephone pole which had a transformer on it only about 50 feet from my car. As it struck I saw the flash and then saw a small purple ball of light exit the transformer. It only lasted about 5 seconds but did not look like a burning piece of metal falling because it went at a -45 degree angle away from the pole and took a somewhat concave curved path downward. I would say it was about the size of a softball and was quite bright. I've never seen anything remotely like that since. Steve Savage <savagesteve13 a yahoo com> Oklahoma City, OK USA - Friday, March 17, 2000 at 12:55:12 (PST)

This happened near St. Louis, Mo. around 1992. It was early in the morning. The alarm was set for 5:00 a.m. so I could get up and go to work. I was awoken by an approaching storm. The thunder was most evident at first. I did not see much lightning if any at all. After about 5 to 10 minutes of just laying in bed listening to the storm. The wind increased and was blowing my curtains horizontal. The storm increased. The next 2 minutes or so the lightning strikes became intense, but not numerous. Finally, after one big lightning strike which I could only assume was very close because of how loud it was, a greenish glow over came my room and my house. There was a loud hum which changed in intensity in the air as this was happening. This lasted for about 3 to 4 seconds then seemed to fade away. There was a silence for about 2 to 3 seconds then the green glow and sound returned. This lasted again for about 3 to 4 seconds then just went away. No loud bang, no nothin. My sister who was in the next room to me woke up screaming because she did not know what was going on. It even woke my Mom who was in the back part of the house. I called the local weather man for St. Louis and asked if they had heard anything or seen anything on radar. He basically brushed me off like I was imagining the whole thing. You would think he would want to know about these kind of things happening around his area. I was really dissapointed. I hope my story helps other to believe that these things really do exist. Ron Herberts <ron a rdr.net> Cahokia, IL USA - Wednesday, March 15, 2000 at 16:45:54 (PST)

About 3 years ago I was a witness of Ball lightning. I was sitting out on my drive way watching cumulonimbus over Miami county and noticed a reddish ball float out of the bottom of the storm. Since I want to be a meteorologist, I have seen most kinds of lightning and, to this day I am sure it was not St. Elmos fire but in fact truly ball lightning. Travis Livengood Overland Park, Ks USA - Monday, March 20, 2000 at 19:39:29 (PST)

I was driving down I-35 going to work one morning during a thunderstorm. A lightning bolt struck a telephone pole which had a transformer on it only about 50 feet from my car. As it struck I saw the flash and then saw a small purple ball of light exit the transformer. It only lasted about 5 seconds but did not look like a burning piece of metal falling because it went at a -45 degree angle away from the pole and took a somewhat concave curved path downward. I would say it was about the size of a softball and was quite bright. I've never seen anything remotely like that since. Steve Savage <savagesteve13 a yahoo com> Oklahoma City, OK USA - Friday, March 17, 2000 at 12:55:12 (PST)

This happened near St. Louis, Mo. around 1992. It was early in the morning. The alarm was set for 5:00 a.m. so I could get up and go to work. I was awoken by an approaching storm. The thunder was most evident at first. I did not see much lightning if any at all. After about 5 to 10 minutes of just laying in bed listening to the storm. The wind increased and was blowing my curtains horizontal. The storm increased. The next 2 minutes or so the lightning strikes became intense, but not numerous. Finally, after one big lightning strike which I could only assume was very close because of how loud it was, a greenish glow over came my room and my house. There was a loud hum which changed in intensity in the air as this was happening. This lasted for about 3 to 4 seconds then seemed to fade away. There was a silence for about 2 to 3 seconds then the green glow and sound returned. This lasted again for about 3 to 4 seconds then just went away. No loud bang, no nothin. My sister who was in the next room to me woke up screaming because she did not know what was going on. It even woke my Mom who was in the back part of the house. I called the local weather man for St. Louis and asked if they had heard anything or seen anything on radar. He basically brushed me off like I was imagining the whole thing. You would think he would want to know about these kind of things happening around his area. I was really dissapointed. I hope my story helps other to believe that these things really do exist. Ron Herberts <ron a rdr.net> Cahokia, IL USA - Wednesday, March 15, 2000 at 16:45:54 (PST)

I experienced Ball Lightning in 1997. I was living with a friend in an appartment looking over a bay. There seemed to be a lot of electrical activiy in the sky which we could see most of the time as little lightning sparks. One late evening, at around 11am, I was mediating....and I happened to be in front of the T.V (which did not seem to be working at the time). About half an hour later my flatmate came home, Wakeing me from the trance i was in. Feeling drained we both walked in to the kitchen to make a cup of tea. As we walked from the kitchen to the living room, a ball of yellowish light, blue white around the rim, a little smaller than a tennis ball apeared to be hovering about 6 feet from the wooden floreboards in front of the T.V. The light was off at the time, it seemed to slightly move around for about a minute, my friend amost paralised from fear in the corner of the room asked me to turn the light on. As soon as I flicked the light switch, it dissapeared. Till this day, we still have difficulty explaining this phenomena to people who ask. I still wonder if the meditation and the T.V had anythig to do with what we saw. Is it possible to extract energy from material objects and to be able to manifest itself in to what we call ball lightning. If anyone has had a simmilar experience, I would appreciate hearing about it. David Ivan Beus <d.nomad a mailcity.com> Sydney, n.s.w Australia - Friday, March 10, 2000 at 19:08:55 (PST)

The summer of 1964 I was working as an evening DJ/newscaster at WPAM (AM) Pottsville, PA. The station was located at the top of a hill, and the broadcasting tower was about 6 feet outside the back door, or 20 feet from where I sat at the control room console. I was there alone as thunderstorm struck and the tower discharged (lightening struck) over 100 times in the matter of 4 or 5 minutes. The 1000 watt Collins AM transmitter recycled (cut off) dozens of times to quench the spark and save the broadcasting equipment. I was set to cut off 3 times and shut down the transmitter. I had to manually turn it back on after each shut down. The building shook violently, and the sound of thunder was very loud. When the lightening subsided I went back to the main control room from the transmitter room (just inside the back door) and as I sat down and started a newscast I had a wierd feeling that something was wrong. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I felt as if there was someone else in the room. I looked up, and about 12 inches over my head was a glowing blue electric ball about 8 to 10 inches in diameter, with bright white sparks shooting all over the celotex soundproofing tiles on the ceiling. I heard no sound execept for the crackling noise from the sparks above me. It shrank and the sparks stopped after a minute or two. I was basicly inside a giant capacitor with the 150 foot tower out back, metal roof, the celotex dielectric ceiling, the concrete floor, and the copper ground radial system below and all around. I hope my account will help investigators. R. Franklin <globecaster a aol com> Philadelphia, PA USA - Wednesday, March 01, 2000 at 23:27:36 (PST)

reading these reports about ball lightening reminded me of when i was younger and a blue ball the size of a softball hit our bobwire fence and traveled down one length of field. next day i and my dad noticed that the wire had been cut in two to four inch lengths all down the fence line where it hit. During a tornado warning and severe thunderstorm, a green ball of light hit a large oak, splitting the bark from the top all the way down the tree in various spots on this tree, they were about five inches wide. does ball lightening cause injury to people?? I have never heard of anyone , has anybody else heard of any injuries. john carter john carter <johnoleta.carter a worldnet.att.net> spiro, ok USA - Wednesday, March 01, 2000 at 19:06:30 (PST)

MY HUSBAND AND I WERE SITTING IN OUR YARD THE EVENING OF JULY 8TH, 1999 WHEN WE SIGHTED A GREEN BALL MOVING MODERATLY FROM THE SOUTH TO THE NORTH OF OUR NEIGHBORHOOD. IT TRAVELED MAYBE FIVE BLOCKS FROM ONE CLOUD TO THE NEXT. IT WAS THREE TIMES THE HEIGHT OF THE STEEPLES ON A VICTORIAN CHURCH ONE BLOCK AWAY. THIS TOOK PLACE IN ST. JOSEPH, MISSOURI. Jacklyn <Teds Rose a Aol. Com> St. Joseph, Mo USA - Thursday, February 24, 2000 at 18:40:54 (PST)

I witnessed ball lightening one evening in the spring of 1975. It was about 9:00 in the evening and I was driving home on a county road in west central Indiana from my High School graduation ceremonies. Thunderstorms were active in the area, but rain was not falling at my location at that time. Suddenly, the radio in the car began acting up with a buzzing/static noise. At the same instant, along the power lines to my left were 3 or 4 globes of light moving rapidly along the wire. The seemed to be surrounding the wire, not on it. They were bright white with touches of blue and yellow at the edges, the first was the largest, beach ball in size, and the last was the smallest, football sized. they were out of sight in the distance in about 15 seconds. One other car full of people witnessed this event. We didn't linger in the area to see if anything else happened. Kevin USA - Saturday, February 19, 2000 at 13:39:23 (PST)

Hello, My report is some what strange this was in mid summer of 1999. My Dad and I have a lot 8 miles from any town, with a valley with bluffs all around us. this was calm and dry night. My Dad and I were snug in our beds reading mags about log homes when somthing cought my eye outside that night, I looked and it was a flame our height above the valley, there were no reflections from any camp fire or anything we turned the lights out and it was still there, so I ran outside to see what it was and I still saw a flame above the ground. after a few seconds it was gone.. About a month later I saw it again and My sister was with my Dad and I, this time my sister saw it, My heart sank a little from this... I was wondering if anyone knows of anything like this, please let me know thanks.. DJ DJ <goldsaver_78 a hotmail com> Richland Ctr., WI USA - Thursday, February 10, 2000 at 00:15:22 (PST)

One summer, my mother and I were at home during a really bad thunderstorm. When it started to rain, the two of us headed toward one of the bedrooms down the hall to close a window. As we entered the hall, a white ball of light flew through the window and down the hall at us. Just before it reached us, it exploded like a canon. Other than being a little shaken up, nothing was hurt. Colt Cranston <stormcruiser13 a aol com> Dix, NE USA - Wednesday, February 09, 2000 at 20:40:15 (PST)

it was summer 1977 in jacksonville florida. i was 13 my brother was 15. we were watching t.v during a thunder storm when a bolt hit very close by. moments later a bluish sphere,about the size of a canteloupe, slowly moved down a metallic railing . it made no sound and although it was very bright we were able to watch it continuously through our living room window. it left the railing behind,moving across a space of about five feet till it passed through the window leaving absloutely no damage . it maintained a height of about four feet as it continued across the room. there was still no sound, and i do not recall any odor. it moved across the room directly towards the t.v. it entered the television through the screen.there was a loud popping sound as the t.v. screen went black.the television would not work after that and had to be replaced. angela minchew <angie minchew a yahoo com> portland, or USA - Monday, February 07, 2000 at 18:37:43 (PST)

When I was 11 years old I saw something which I have never been able to explain or forget and which has made me afraid of the dark ever since - I am now nearly 50 - even though it was not really frightening - just inexplicable. I was lying in bed in the dark - the curtains were open - and it was a clear, calm night - when a small fuzzy luminous blob of light appeared about 2 feet above my bed and slowly floated upwards. I sat up in bed to have a closer look at it, then dived under the bedclothes. As my grandmother had died a week before (and I had an overactive imagination) I really thought this was connected to her death in some way. There is a tradition in Welsh folklore of something called "Cannwyll y corff" - literally translated "the candle of the soul", which is a small bright light sen after a death, being the soul of the deceased. To my 11 year old mind, the light became associated with this - hence my fear of the dark ever since!!! I would really love a rational explanation - and ball lightning is the nearest I have seen to someone having a similar experience - except that what I saw was indoors and there was no thunderstorm in the area. susan <susan a r.f.wilde.freeserve.co.uk> USA - Sunday, February 06, 2000 at 14:54:02 (PST)

My husband and I observed what we believe was ball lighning. It was about 8 years ago so I don't remember exact details but this is my best recollection: I think it was alternately blue, green, yellow and white. It was round and glowed. It rotated around. It was summertime. It wasn't storming but it may have been cloudy. It floated around and sometimes got very close to us. It traveled over long distances. I almost thought it was a tiny space object of some kind but I guess the wind currents could have made it travel in that way. It went on for a very long time, until it finally traveled away from us. I'll never forget the experience. I have never seen anything like it before or since. Leslie Murin <murin a delanet com> Elkton, MD USA - Friday, February 04, 2000 at 07:43:36 (PST)

Late one evening when I was a child, we were riding in the country, on what I seem to remember was a clear and cloudless night. I had occasion, with my Mother, and Aunt to witness what I could only describe as ball lightening. About the size of a soccerball, one of the largest, according to this article, it must have been, for I saw it rather clearly, and have never forgotten the wonder and excitement and curiosity I felt. It sailed at an angle over the front of the car and off into a gully beneath a little bridge we were crossing. I turned around in my seat, trying to see where it had gone, as my Aunt pulled the car over and began an animated discussion with my mother - something about UFOs. My teacher, the next day, explained "ball lightening" to me, and I feel extremely lucky to be one of the few people to have ever seen it. Brenda Lafitte <uinen a worldnetla.net> Pelican, LA USA - Friday, February 04, 2000 at 05:47:00 (PST)

About 2 years ago my wife and I were sitting in our living room during a thunderstorm in mid-afternoon. We heard a "snap" sound (as if coming from our electrical outlet)and then suddenly a lightening bolt struck very close by, which lit up the room. We knew it was close because the sound and the blast were instantaneous. Immediately after that our little dog - a terrier - who was in the hallway just behind the living room began barking and quickly ran out of the hallway. I could see the hallway lit up with a whitish, bluish light that was popping and sizzling. It was about the size of a grapefruit. It was bouncing off the walls like like a pinball; then, just as quickly it disappeared with a little pop. We learned later that this was a form a ball lightening. Our dog is still fearful of thunderstorms. William Shepard <wtshepard a email com> Menominee, MI USA - Thursday, February 03, 2000 at 21:23:50 (PST)

About seventeen years ago, my mom and I were living in Sugar Hill New Hampshire. We were in our livingroom during a thunderstorm, and were amazed when a ball of lightning came down the chimney,went across the room, and out a side door. People never believed us when we told them what happened.The house was build on slate, which apparently attracts lightning, as we had strikes around our house quite often. Elizabeth Ley <liza9656 a sover.net> Shaftsbury, VT USA - Thursday, February 03, 2000 at 11:38:10 (PST)

A real coincidence happen late one summer afternoon in Albuquerque, N.M. while a friend and me were sitting on lawn-chairs in his garage with the doors open watching a thunderstorm. We had a habit of telling questionable stories to each other while having a few microbrews and enjoyed building upon them. Ultimately we would create some humorous story of unbelievable stretch as a form of entertainment, which kept us in laughter. As lightning was striking all around us, I brought up the subject of ball lightning. I was telling him that when stationed in Okinawa I saw what resembled a military flare bounce around in an area close to a town during a rainstorm. A few years later while I was driving down a street in Albuquerque, I saw the same phenomena hit a power line pole, run up and down the lines, then fade. Although I didn't know what it was at the time, I read an article about ball lightning sometime later and assumed that is what I saw. Needless to say he thought I was full of bologna, and then proceeded to build on my story while I tried to convince him of the reality. No sooner than the story started to take shape, we both saw ball lightning hit the mountains close to his home, bounce around a few times and then disappear. So I'm a 55 year old three time seer and he's now a believer, but what a coincidence! Don Clarke <dclarke a ci.englewood.co.us> Aurora, Co USA - Thursday, February 03, 2000 at 11:36:30 (PST)

I happened to be bored tonight, and stumbled upon this site, by chance in a random search for anything interesting. I dont know if this has anything to do with ball lightning, but I thought Id share. A friend and I were driving home from another friends house out in the counry soon after getting my liscence on a rainy night. We were about a quarter of the way home when the rain picked up and some thunder and lightning set in. We saw some lightning hit not too far ahead, a few miles maybe, Im not sure, as we drove further we passed a tree that had been split and broke off intro the creek down the embankment to the right, we eyed it as we passed then when I looked back up to the road it looked as though someone had dropped a flashlight in the middle of the oncoming traffic lane, but it wasnt projecting light toward us as a flashlight or headlight would lend a beam in the direction it was pointing. As we drove by it, it apeared as a very bright spotlight but it was a contained light, I dont exactly know how to describe it, like an orb or something but Im skeptical. In my mind it was a flashlight. The weird thing was that as we drove by it my car radio picked up nothing. There was static and then after maybe 3 seconds it came right back on. Ive driven that road many times before, and since, and my radio has worked fine everytime. Just thought that was weird. David <Darkwind9280 a aol com> ny USA - Saturday, January 29, 2000 at 00:26:18 (PST)

I saw something strange with a friend at his home.We were standing in front of the house looking down the driveway at the back yard.We both saw coming from about treetop height,a bright glowing ball the size of a basketball was slowly coming down from the sky above the backyard and moving at a slight forward angle towards us! I was more interested than afraid!.When it got below roof level between the houses above the driveway it reacted sort of like a big pin ball,as it lowered it veered towards my friends house,then shot back to the neighbors house where it seemed to get trapped under the eves momentairly,it then hovered back out in between the houses rose up a little maybe 20 feet ,then it went sideways and vanished. I ran home and got my father and went back to the driveway,He seemed to beleive me at the time. By now most of the neighbors where there thinking we were nuts! But you know what me and my dad discovered? The area under the eves of the neighbors where the ball hovered the longest was completely singed black in a area the size of a 3 foot circle! .Dad said dont talk to the neighbors about they dont understand.Thank god he was open minded,he graduated fromWashington University in microbiology and is an electrician by trade now retired.Iam now a 43 year old researcher and amateur radio operator.My sighting occured in 1969 when I was 12 yr old boy. and for you sceptics,later in the day of the sitting ma father told me that what I saw was a thing called ball lightning,anyboby ever read ganots physics? T Lipinski <catsklawski a webtv.net> St.Louis, mo USA - Saturday, January 22, 2000 at 12:07:37 (PST)

I was trying to get some good pitcures of lightning, so when I heard of a severe thunderstorm heading in from the west I went to the highest point I could find.The storm was just starting so I pulled over,opened the pass side window,set the camera on top of pass. side headrest and held the shutter open until I saw a bolt strike,then I let it close,I got about 4 pitcures taken and decided to get out of there, When I got the pitcures developed there were brilliant green lines and balls in three of the photos.It is definately Ball Lightning, and I feel really lucky to have it on film, but I did not even notice it when I was taking the pictures. matt <connie158 a webtv.net> mechanicville , ny USA - Friday, January 21, 2000 at 23:39:02 (PST)

reading these accounts reminds me of a story my grandmother told me of some ball lightning she had seen as a young girl living outside of pecos texas in the '40's. she and my great - grandmother were in the kitchen of the old farm house with the front and back doors open because of the heat that summer. they had screen doors on both entryways and they were closed. there was a thunderstorm approaching though still some distance away. she saw a bluish white sphere about basketball size sort of float through the front screen door and meander into the kitchen and through the back screen door and up out of sight. it didn't damage either screen and i don't remember hermentioning anything of a smell. she hasn't seen anything like it since and i unfortunately haven't been lucky enough to see anything like this either but i'm keeping my eyes open. b. biggs <hawkeye a texas.net> USA - Friday, January 07, 2000 at 21:41:13 (PST)

At Ralph Wilson Stadium on 1/2/2000 after the game it was mildly raining. We were walking to the car when there was this large beach ball bright light. It looked as if a camera flash had gone off but was bigger and more intense. Then there was a boom. There was no other lightening or thumder. When i got in the car my lights were dimmer and the radio did not work. the clock would only light up every couple mins. for a second or two and always at the time 1:42 I took the van to the garage and they told me the radio was fried and there was a burned wire. Is that ball lightening? I have never heard of it until I described it to a friend. Cindy fox <cfox513683 a aol com> Olean, ny USA - Thursday, January 06, 2000 at 09:43:54 (PST)

This happened during a heavy thunderstorm from last year. It happened just after a bolt of lightning had struck the ground from approx a kilometre away. Within a second right after the strike, I saw a green flash glowing up from the ground in the same position it hit; apart from colour, it appeared much like car headlights on high. ANother second later I saw another green flash from the same spot, though slightly less in brightness. This may or may not have been explained elsewhere; however I'm still lost as to it's cause. pkr <pk a accessin com.au> Secret harbour, Australia - Thursday, January 06, 2000 at 09:04:54 (PST)

I witnessed ball lightning one afternoon while watching telelevision at my father in-laws farm around August of 1987. I was the only one present in the room. An electrical storm was brewing in the area but no stikes or thunder had been close. A blueish ball the size of a softball came out of the outlet that the television was pugged into and slowly crossed the carpet in an erratic path, crossed the living room and entered another plug across the room. The light blue ball emited little sparkles of white light like a birthday sparkler. I saw it for about 20 seconds. My father who is an electrician tells me it was ball lightning. There was no noticable sound emitted.IT One of the reports of light on this site seems to be about gas that is really prevalent in the Langenburg area in Saskatchewan. They are known as taber lights and seem to occur in graveyards or areas where the soil has never been disturbed for agriculture. Scott Mitchell <sales a suncan com> Saskatoon , Sk Canada - Tuesday, January 04, 2000 at 11:36:59 (PST)

One evening in may this year after a thunderstorm which i had been watching from my room in halls of residence, i decided to go to the local park with my friend. The park is on top of a hill behind the halls. We were swinging as high as we could, when i glanced at my friends face which indicated to me that whatever he was looking at was very special indeed. I could feel heat on the side of my face. I turned my head to see what appeard to be a dark cloud, radiating a white glow , containing shapes like balls pushing eachother forward and disappearing into itself as it moved along. it mutated and changed shape constantly and the balls inside the cloud seemed to reflect green and red. The rain had stopped some 20 minutes previously, and the air was still. it made a very quiet crackling noise a bit like it was consuming the air it passed through. it appeared to be around 5 feet long and two or three feet wide, and changed from looking like a kite with a pointed front edge to a dustbin liner full of balloons. it moved graciously across our field of vision , and disappeared, silently, when it reached the tree tops just before my halls of residence. it is a particularly vivid memory as my friend and i had dropped acid about 5 hours earlier. I know what a hallucination is like - but this was like nothing else I/we had ever seen or experienced before. C.scannell <c.scannell a plymouth.ac.uk> Plymouth, UK - Saturday, January 01, 2000 at 00:44:09 (PST)

I read this about Ball Lightning in a 50 year old book archived deep in the basement of Western Washington University's library: TESLA BALL LIGHTNING EXPERIMENTS *** formula #1: E=(Po*V)/(Y-1) where Po=pressure (Torr), V=Volume, Y=7/5 for air. Tesla suggests that the internal energy of the ball is derived from the coil pulse energy and equal to the kinetic energy (pressure * volume). The ratio of the internal pressure is denoted by E; the ration of the interrnal energy of the fireball to the coil pulse energy is given by N. *** formula #2: (N/E)=(4*pi*Po*R^3)/(3(Y-1)Eo) Allowing a diameter of 2R=3.8cm and Eo=12 joules, then: *** formula #3: (N/E)~0.6 (~ means approximately equal to) The interpretation of (N/E)=0.6 is that with E*Po=10 Torr, (1 Torr= 1/760 atmosphere), agreeing with gas discharges, then N~0.006. The corresponding energy density would be Lbl=2*10^-3 (Joules per cm^-3) --->I should have copied down the entire page, however, I didn't have the sense to do it back then. I believe that Tesla said something about there needing to be a negative inverse curve to the voltage dropoff with relation to thecurrent dropoff. Hope this helps; Tim Ventura Tim Ventura <tventura a illuminet com> Olympia, WA USA - Tuesday, December 28, 1999 at 21:56:01 (PST)

When I was a senior in college, I had my first and only experience with ball lightning (although I didn't know what it was until I stumbled onto a related website). Here goes: I was taking a shower with the window slightly open. I can't recall if my dorm room was located on the first or second floor. It was storming outside. All of a sudden, I saw a bright flash of light and heard a clap of thunder as it seemed to hit a tree outside my dorm window. When I looked up at the shower head, I saw a ball of blue green light about the size of my fist. I thought it might have just been "spots" in front of my eyes from the flash of lightning, so I looked around the floor, sides and ceiling of the shower to see if the the blue green ball-thing appeared there as well. It didn't. When I looked back at the shower head, it was still there, kind of blinking. At this point, I got scared, turned off the water, jumped out of the shower and ran to the next dorm room. When I summoned up my courage to go back in, it was gone. My roommate asked her physics professor what it was, and why wasn't I hurt. He mentioned that it may have been my proximity to the lightning that caused it and that I may have been "grounded" by the water in the shower (so I wasn't hurt). I've been wondering about this for years, and I've never showered during a storm again! If you guys have any info, I'd love to hear it. This happended in Memphis, TN in the spring of 1983. letty payne thies <scottletty a aol com> fenton, mo USA - Tuesday, December 28, 1999 at 14:27:43 (PST)

While in Italy a couple of years ago, i was standing on my deck at home in the mountains south of Rome one evening and was able to capture an incredible event on Hi-8 film. A huge storm was coming in and lightning was striking everywhere. What I recorded was two huge balls of light appear on the ground about 3 miles away followed by a lightning strike in the dead center of them. It was very incredible to see. The film ov this event is of high quality. Everyone who has seen it remains amazed. i've had this footage for a couple of years now and would like a definate answer to what these white balls of light are. If you have an idea, let me know. Ceniccola <Ceniccola a Go.Com> USA - Friday, December 24, 1999 at 11:07:19 (PST)

Being a big fan of the Discovery Channel and TLC, I have watched countless videos on strange things that people have seen in the sky. One of the common videos that seems to be a part of all of these shows is a shot of a black sky (no points of references)with a little point of light that zings from place to place at an incredible speed. I've always thought that these vidoes looked incredibly fake. Ironicly, my experience deals with this very thing. My friends and I were at camp and we had just jumped into the lake after having a long hot sauna. We spent several minutes staring up at the stars and we were totally amazed to watch this single point of light that was leaping from place to place. It would rest in one position for a few seconds, then jump to another location. It's movement was sort of like a fire fly. We must have watched it for 15 minutes or so. It looked just like a shooting star that didn't burn out. Truly one of the strangest experiences I have ever been witness to. There were four of us there at the time and we all saw the same thing. The sky was unusual too; it was sort of cloudy but there was a lot of light from the moon and stars. Has any one else seen anything like this? Write to me if you have an idea as to what we were looking at. Tom Mathews <tnuge a hotmail com> Canada - Friday, December 03, 1999 at 15:59:18 (PST)

About 3 month`s ago, I had gone down stair`s where I live to better view a brewing thunderstrom. The rain began to fall, and soon started the lighting. Nothing out of the ordinary as far as I could see. As the lighting started to dance around the sky, off to my right, from what looked liked came from between the building`s, was a silent ball type, very white, very bright, ball of lighting that shot out with what appeared to be a short tail. From the time it started, to the time it was gone, it moved about 30 to 50 feet horizonaly in a straight path 30 feet off the ground. It was no bigger than a beach ball, and no smaller than a basketball. I was also surprised that there was no real sound at all when this happened. This is the first, and I hope not the last time to see this phenomenon..... Paul <pmayfielddurocher a netscape.net> Repentigny, qc Canada - Monday, November 15, 1999 at 05:38:54 (PST)

I have photographed lightning for the past 4 years... and I have been within 100 meters of lightning at least 40 times in that span. I have never seen ball lightning while taking pictures..... However, the only close call I have had in my lifetime was when lightning hit a TV antenna on top of a house about 15 feet above my head. I was 11 years old As soon as the discharge hit I looked up and the channel was gone. However, I did see a blinding spherical light at the point of contact with the TV antenna. The sphere grew from say about the size of a golfball to about double the radius of a beachball. The sphere only lasted about 3 seconds and then vanished.... Also the sphere didn't move at all.... Was this ball lightning ??? Oh... and by the way the sound of the thunder casued a significant loss of hearing for two days... Brian Mayeux <brianmayeux a yahoo.com> Tucson, AZ USA - Friday, November 05, 1999 at 06:10:55 (PST)

I have expierienced ball lighting twice, both as off shoots from a lighting bolt.In 1963,in Bradenton Florida.I was watching TV in the living room of our family home.A lighting bolt struck a lone standing large pine tree in the back yard in plain view from where I was lying on the floor.The lighting bolt struck the tree, within a few seconds of the strike a blue basketball sized electrical charge flew in straight lines, straight thru the metal screen of the the porch,thru a closed glass sliding door,up to the metal chandalier over the dining room table,over my my head and out thru the front wood door metal door knob. Another time I was picking shade tobacco in Windsor Conn.at the Homestead Camp.I bent over to take a drink of water from a wood water barrel that rested on a trailer setup on rubber tires.A lighting bolt hit the side telephone pole that supported the shade netting.A yellow ball of lighting traveled down the wire, and then jumped over to the water tank.The electrical force was strong enought to lift me up in the air from a bent over position to a flat horizontal position.I landed on the ground with a thud . I was a bit stunned, more from the fall than from electricity.My right arm that held the faucet was tingeling but not burned. I recovered enough to run to a school bus that held a bin of WWII bayonets, climb up on my bosses shoulders and start cutting out a circle around the buring nets.Twelve people walking out of the fields saw me hit and assumed that I had been killed. I saw the lighting flash and the yellow basketball sized ball of lightning form. Lee Stevens <sproketstevens a earthlink.net> Orlando, Fl USA - Friday, October 29, 1999 at 21:20:13 (PDT)

Hello all, I am a researcher in the field of ball lightning. I have compiled a web page of all the ball lightning photographs I have recieved from people over the years. I encourage all of you to take a look because the photos are as interesting as the stories! http://www.interprise2000 com/bl/images Cabbot Sanders Cabbot Sanders <cabbot a home.com> Salem, or USA - Friday, October 29, 1999 at 15:39:19 (PDT)

Ball lighting In was living in an apartment in Lincoln NE, 14th and Sumner, during the summer of 1997 (about July) and was awoken at 4:00 A.M. by a thunderstorm. I was going from window to window enjoying the lignting show when a bolt came straight down but I couldn't see what it hit. When the initial lighning bolt ceased,it left a trail of about 10, evenly spaced, glowing red hot balls in the the sky where the bolt had been. They were about the same diameter as the lightning bolt. They lasted a fraction of a secon d and were gone. I don't think they were an optical illusion, but as an electrical engineer I don't have a good explanation for them. I've never seen anything like it before or since. I found out the next day that the lightning bolt started the house it hit on fire. I couldn't tell from where I was though. It made both the Lincoln paperand TV news. Dan Konz <dnkonz a aol com> St. Louis, MO USA - Wednesday, October 27, 1999 at 10:05:16 (PDT)

Ms Johnson has a business at Buckroe Beach,Va in a house. A orange-yellow ball hit the street in front of the house and bounced onto the top of the house knocking a large hole in the roof.It also cracked the street were it hit! The story was wrote up in the local paper.In her words she said it was a bouncing ball of lightning! I have seen ball lightning a few times so I went to talk to her about what see had seen.She said it was round and something was spewing out of it as it moved.She had never heard of ball lightning but it really frightened her.She said she never wants to see it again! David David Priddy <djp a sybercom.net> Hampton, Va USA - Tuesday, October 05, 1999 at 09:56:33 (PDT)

On September 29th, 1999 at about 1:00 a.m., I was sitting in my living room trying to study for a psychology exam. It was very windy that day and thunderstorm reports had been on the news. It started raining very heavily and thunder and lightning began. I was watching "Politically Incorrect with Bill Mahr" when I saw the strangest thing out of the corner of my eye. Our window spans the width of the living room, and I looked out the window and saw what looked to be a floating greenish ball. It was floating about 25 - 30 feet above the street. It was about the size of a basketball. It was green and seemed to glow, making the air around it greenish in color. All of a sudden, it grew brighter and larger and then burst in the air. It illuminated the sky. All this happened in a matter of about 15 - 20 seconds. About 2 minutes after the ball exploded, our power went out and stayed out until 10:15 a.m. the next morning. I had no idea what had happened until the next morning when my boyfriend told me of this phenomena. He told me that it was extremely rare, and that I should have felt lucky to have seen it because most people go through their entire lives without ever seeing it. When he explained it to me, I was skeptical at first. Then I got on my computer and began researching it. From what I have read about other peoples accounts, there isn't any doubt in my mind that what I saw was ball lightning. Carly Pittsburgh, PA USA - Friday, October 01, 1999 at 19:56:13 (PDT)

It hit our house about one week ago. It went through the roof of the house, went the the floor because we have a weak floor, and went to the basement. Our 6 year old boy saw it and blew up his toy truck into peices. When we saw it the color of it was redish orangish and our boy said it was blue. It was very scary. Cuttler AZ USA - Sunday, September 26, 1999 at 08:13:25 (PDT)

Many years ago while at my parents house on a Sunday afternoon a thunderstorm passed over. A bolt of lightning struck near my parents home and suddenly a white-like ball just a bit larger than a softball came through a large window in the living room. It then passed into another room and then passed through the back wall of my parents home. The ball then struck the ground with an explosive sound. I have since been quite interested in phenomena of "Ball Lightning" Laddie Crisp Jr. <ecumd87> Kinston, NC USA - Saturday, September 11, 1999 at 19:17:35 (PDT)

Sometime in the early 1980's, I saw what I think may have been ball lightning. However, I saw it inside of my home and on a clear night. There were three balls and they would get within inches in front of my face, back up, madly circle one another and then repeat the entire process. The ordeal lasted for about five minutes and at no time did I sense any danger nor was I ever even the slightest bit afraid. Which is entirely unlike me to be unperturbed by anything. Instead, I was very intrigued. I was not under the influence of any drugs and I was not dreaming. I also was not the only person present at the time. Does such lightning occur inside or was it something else? Tina Peifer <jaylamonte a webtv.net> tampa, fl USA - Friday, September 10, 1999 at 19:37:46 (PDT)

On July 16,1999 about 8:30pm, my husband and I were traveling west on hy 84 near Cannob AFB Clovis NM when a severe rain storm started. We saw 4 or 5 large balls of light appear in front of our vehicle. They did not appear at the same time. The balls appeared to be about 3' in diameter and flourecent white and they exploded. All of this happened in a short perod of time with the balls anly lasting 2 0r 3 seconds each. We had never heard about ball lightning until 3days later in a discussion of lightning with a meteorologist. He said it had been reported but was a rare form of lightning. We feel privileged to have seen ball lightning. josophene <albrechtdick a webtv com> USA - Monday, September 06, 1999 at 00:46:10 (PDT)

By nature, we are both very skepticle people, so anything that I (Martha) can't lable is very troublesome. If I had been the only witness to this particular phenom, I would have doubted it even happened. Phillip (my husband) and I were sitting in our bedroom (alone) on our bed, both of us reading books, when out of the corner of my eye I saw a very bright bluish-white flash, much like an old-fashond camera flashbulb, about the size of an orange, emit from the very center of the room. It was about a foot off the ground and even made a sound that I can only explain as a displacement of air. Briefly there was the distinct oder of ozone. Thinking it was only a figment of my imagination, I did not say anything about it. Then My husband asked "Did you see that?" Not wanting to make any suggestions, I responded, "What did you see?" "That light...", he said. I said that I had, and started immidiatly searching for some kind of source. There was none. I have been reading up on instances of ball lightning, which I believe it probobly was, but none of the other descriptions fit mine. THAT BOTHERS ME! There were no atmospheric distubances (the weather outside was clear), and the small room we were in was completely enclosed, although there was a one small window facing east. Also, there was no accompanying loud noise, only a very distinct "poof" sound. Our dog was laying directly underneath it, asleep, and did not even wake up. It was the only thing that I have ever personally witnessed in my life that I have not been able to come up with a rational explanation for. I even was lucky enough to witness a "rain of frogs" once when I was a kid, but I know how that kind of thing happens. I witnessed the "ball lighning" in 1991, and really wish I could see something like it again. Very odd.. - Martha Haglund, Oklahoma City OK, 9-3-99 Martha Haglund and Phillip Bohlander <Phil515 a aol com> Oklahoma City, OK USA - Saturday, September 04, 1999 at 00:29:56 (PDT)

This was actually witnessed by myself and three others, we were just starting a moon ritual, as we cast circle, a stream of electric blue light came from nowhere, shot thru our circle, thru the fire, and then kind of evaporated.. several minutes later, we were calling the quarters, and hovering above us, was this ball of the same blue light, kind of elongated, it didnt hover, it was more like a skipping movement, it was down low, about the height of a regular roof top, seemed about 5 feet long, as it skipped, it evaporated from one end to the other, it was an incredible blue colour, and didnt change colour. I'm told it was cosmic plasma, is this true. We have bounced balls of light around in circle before, but this is nothing like we have ever seen. It truly was the most magnificent sight we have ever witnessed. None of what i have reported here is exagerrated, we were totally gob smacked byt the event, and certainly hope to be privileged to see it again. Id love to hear from anyone who has witnessed this in the same setting as we did. Annie Walkington <fabanny a chariot.net.au> Adelaide, SA Australia - Tuesday, August 24, 1999 at 23:28:09 (PDT)

okay it started like this i was outside it was thundering and then it happened 3 apple sized glowing lightning balls apeared to me and just sudenly disapeared. after that they just grouped up together and rised up to the heavens. joshua maldonado <j13 www.isawit com> orlando, fl USA - Tuesday, August 24, 1999 at 09:54:33 (PDT)

I have heard about ball lightning in the past but never thought I would experience it myself - in fact I was almost skeptical about the whole thing - until tonight. It was at around 9 PM at night on Friday, August 13, 1999. It was an exceptionally hot and humid day (102 degrees with the heat index). We don't have central air conditioning and there seemed to be a cool breeze picking up at times so I decided to sit in the back yard for a while. Since we had little rain this summer, the presence of irritating biting insects was absent so I was able to sit there and meditate for awhile. While sitting there I noticed there seemed to be distant lightning in the sky without any accompanying rumbles of a thunder storm so I figured it was quite some distance away or heat lighning. I continued to sit there looking up to the sky. I noticed a bat which seemed to be moving quite rapidly and then seemed to boomerang back into the direction it was coming from. This happened twice. I continue to sit there waiting for it to come back again when this ball of light appeared. The area where I was sitting has an inground pool surrounded by high trees with the property backing up to a swamp. I also live about 35 miles from an airport. This "ball of light" seemed to come from one of the trees, pass over me and the pool and then disappeared over the house into thin air. I sat there, quite stunned at what I had experienced. It happened so quickly I tried to remember what it had looked like. It was the size of a softball and looked like a greenish light ball passing about 20 feet above me. As it passed over me I heard a very soft sizzle or buzz. I sat there for a while and realized I must have experienced "ball lightning". I guess I am now a believer. eavf <eavf a bellatlantic.net> Chatham, NJ USA - Friday, August 13, 1999 at 19:02:13 (PDT)

This is about "Ball Lightning" I am a 40 year old male, and this happend around 1967, I will try to remember as much detail as I can. I started dreaming about what happend to my grandmother and myself so many years ago, and it prompted me to look up ball lightning on the internet. Here's the story, It was in Eastlake, Ohio, around 1967, during a storm my grandmother and I were watching tv. To our left was a window with a "doily type curtian" through the window{without breaking it) came a blue ball(very intense blue and around the size of a small basketball)with "Tentacles" on the surface of it. The "Tentacles" were white and moved around the surface of the globe fairly quickly.{like little lightning bolts)(the closest thing I've ever seen to it is those toys at radio shack that when you touch them the spark follows your finger).It floated from left to right, and decended slowly, about the speed of a baloon(as a matter of fact,acted very much like a baloon.)towards the floor.(The floor was carpeted)and when it touched the floor it gently "bounced" up and to the right about 6in to a foot in the air and disapated into nothing. I know this sounds like UFO stuff, and that is why I wish to remain anonymous. I hope however, a scientist may be able to get some useful inormation out of this. It is certianly an expierince I'll never forget! anonymous USA - Monday, August 09, 1999 at 07:18:27 (PDT)

Less than four hours ago, a friend and I had an experience with what could be described as ball lightning. This afternoon (July 19, 1999), at about 5:15 PM the Southeast section of Denver experienced a particularly violent thunderstorm, accompanied by strong gusts of winds. We were in the kitchen of her home in Englewood, and opened the mini-blinds to watch the driving rain and lightning. The storm was unusually close, with the time between flashes of light and the accompanying thunder going from several seconds to a single second, and even sooner. The cats were playing in the family room, a high-ceilinged room adjacent to the kitchen. In the matter of a few seconds, our hair stood on end like there was a huge charge of static electricity, there was a brilliant white flash the size of a basketball in the family room about eight feet from the floor and three feet from an interior wall, and a simultaneous explosion (like an M-80 firecracker), which rattled the windows on the first floor of the house. The flash triggered the home security system and several smoke alarms. There was the smell of ozone, similar to that of and electric motor, in the air. I happened to be looking right at the flash as it happened. The flash/bang lasted less than a second. It occurred several feet away from any electrical device, and away from any wall or other surface. There was no sign of scorching anywere, but the smell of smoke or ozone lasted for several minutes, until after the fire department arrived. There was no sign of fire or smouldering. The TV in the family room entertainment center, two computer monitors at opposite ends of the basement, and three modems (on three separate floors, and up to 35 feet away) were blown. One CPU was ruined (but not its monitor), and one monitor was badly magnetized but de-gaussing corrected 90% of the problem. The house's three telephone lines remained in working order, and no electrical circuit breakers were tripped. The fire marshall, while at the house, reported that several homes in the area had been hit. Jim SanSouci jims a aol com Jim SanSouci <jims a aol com> Englewood, CO USA - Monday, July 19, 1999 at 21:38:30 (PDT)

There were no storms or lightning around. One day a sphere, the size of a soccer ball zipped right up to my kitchen window, stayed a few seconds (long enough for me to really look at it), flashed a bright light at me and briskly zipped away out of sight. If I recall, the color was a bright whitish red and changing into white-blue. My phone line was "fried" and so was my cable to my TV. Where did it go when it zipped away? Questions and more questions. By the way, my son saw it too and ducked down for fear it would come in and hit him on the head!!! He was about 17 yrs. old at the time. Nina <dsahlbe1 a tampabay.rr com> Tampa, Fl USA - Monday, July 19, 1999 at 18:42:05 (PDT)

I first saw ball lightning when it raced through my house in northern Arizona back in 1974. I didn't know what it was and research then, only turned up that "it probably didn't exist". Since then, I have seen it no less than 4 times. In my current home, I have an old iron wood-cookstove. If storms are overhead, it is very common to see a whitish ball about the size of an orange, next to the stovepipe. It usually explodes almost immediately, with a loud crackling pop. I once saw this same stovepipe dance with blue lightning, like St. Elmo's fire. The stove sits on a concrete floor next to a block wall. I've often wondered if the iron attracts the ball lightning. Rock Betu <RkBetu a aol com> Wittmann, AZ USA - Sunday, July 11, 1999 at 14:19:45 (PDT)

When a boy, I spent my summers with my uncle Axel Halderson on his farm near Franklin Grove, Illinois. I would take care of my cousin while he and my aunt Lola milked the cows every evening. During a rain storm, two blue balls of lightning came from the crank type telephone bells, moved slowly away from each other and disappeared out separate windows on opposite sides of the room. When I told my uncle about it, he said I was to disconnect the telephone any time a storm was brewing. I never saw the lightning balls thereafter and never told anyone about it for fear that I wouldn't be believed. Thanks to your website I now tell everyone. Keep up the good work. Earl L. Flanagan <FlanaganEL a aol com> Alexandria, VA USA - Tuesday, July 06, 1999 at 13:31:27 (PDT)

This event took place in 1984. I was sitting in my small efficiency apartment, talking to a friend during a thunderstorm. A glowing orb came through the closed glass window, moved across the room and dissolved into a light switch on the wall. This happened very quickly 5-10 seconds, max. My friend and I looked at each other in amazement. We guess it was ball lightning. Gary Springer <gs12 a swt.edu> San Marcos, TX USA - Wednesday, June 23, 1999 at 14:29:54 (PDT)

While serving with a US Army security unit,near Nurnberg, Germany, in 1967, my friends and I saw an unusual "lightning" strike on our 360 rhombic antenna array. This antenna array was a "long wire" arrangement, used mostly for .8kHz to 30kHz reception. We were watching a developing storm, standing outside the operations building, when a rotating ball of bright light (about 2 foot diameter) dropped onto an antenna wire and appeared to roll along the wire. At the next antenna mast (about 100 feet or so), the ball of electricity slid down the mast,made a couple of hops on the ground a broke up. During the entire observation (perhaps 8-10 seconds-maximum), the ball appeared to rotate and "throw" off sparks, similar to flames. We could hear a sizzling, and popping, sound as the ball rolled along the wire. We found this incident interesting, but, since there were about 8 of us watching, we never suspected we were observing an "impossible" occurrence! J Imel USA - Monday, June 14, 1999 at 00:33:01 (PDT)

There is a regular occurance of a "ghost light" near a town named Ahoskie, NC. The light is visible every night on a set of railroad tracks. It changes shape/color/size and runs up and down the tracks. Not hard to see, I've seen it every time I've taken someone to see it. I believe its ball lightning, but as of yet noone has verified(proved) this. The tracks are surrounded by woods so maybe some gas(swampgas?) may be involved. Of course, local lore states its a railman looking for his severed head blah... blah... . Any ideas? jay lassiter <jaylassiter a hotmail com> nc USA - Thursday, June 10, 1999 at 19:44:50 (PDT)

This happened many years back around 1975. I was messing around with this old metal log leash and gave it the old heave-ho. What happened next stays with me till this day. The chain wrapped around the power lines and there was a big explosion. The next thing i know there is this bright white ball (between the size of a basketball and football) floating down towards the street. When the ball hit the ground it bounced numerous times before eventually fizzling out. It kinda looked like those little water splashes you get on a hot frying pan that ball up and eventually evaporate. Unfortunately my little unexpected experiment happened to shut the power down on the entire street. Chris Musket <musketc a hotmail com> Guilford, CT USA - Monday, June 07, 1999 at 09:58:20 (PDT)

I was sitting at home one evening, not too long ago, when a very strange phenomenon occured. I was watching over my flock of bald chickens, when I leaned over to open the gate to let them into their house. The gate is made of chicken wire, which is of course a conducter of electricity. I was about to touch it when I felt a tingling sensation on the back of my neck. So I stood up and rested my hand on the wooden railing. That was a big mistake!!!!! A huge ball of lightening rose from the chicken wire and struck my arm! I was in the hospital for one month trying to recover. I feel that I am cursed seeing that this is the fourth timethat I have been struck by lightning. Fred Jones New York, NY USA - Thursday, May 20, 1999 at 11:40:12 (PDT)

I'm so glad I found this site. This happened to me 20 years ago (I was a 8 then). There was a storm over my neighborhood, and I was kept awake by the noise of the rain and the constant clapping of the thunder. A really loud lightning bolt shook me. I was sure it struck the house because I saw the entire window flash white as the bolt struck. I then saw a blue fuzzy "ball" floating outside my widow. It floated through thw window (the screen, the glass, the entire thing)! Then it drifted down toward the floor, keeping its luminesence, and floated toward the dresser. When it reached the dresser, it floated up, keeping about 2 inches away from the side of the dresser. Then when it got to the top, it sort of skimmed across the surface of the dresser, into a lamp sitting on the dresser. When the the blue ball touched the lamp, it made a audible poping sound, and I remember a quick flash (like a camera) in the room. The lamp was turned off, but after the contact, it was suddenly turned on. I walked over, and tried to flip the switch to turn it off, but nothing happened. I tried unplugging the lamp, but it stayed on. I stared at it for several minutes, it just stayed on. I went to get my parents, but when I got back, the lamp has turned off again. They told me I was just imagining things, but I am sure that it happened. I- remember it very distinctly. Kent Boyle <Kboyle274 a gte.net> Greenville, SC USA - Friday, April 02, 1999 at 04:23:48 (PST)