Original poster: "Bob (R.A.) Jones" <a1accounting@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Hi all,
In my opinion the biggest mystery of Ball Lightning is how many people claim
to have seen it and how many people believe it exists.
I worked next to a factory that was struck by lightning. Several people in
the factory claimed to have seen ball lightning. Most of the observations
where contradictory or very different with the majority of people (I asked )
saying they had seen nothing. One small (about four woman) group had a
relatively coherent observations. When I questioned two of the group
separately there observation where very different. The only common theme was
one or more drifting balls of various sizes that moved at different speeds
and had been observed at different places. One person claimed to have seen
discharges between the support beams of the roof (perhaps the most
believable observation) I was left very unconvinced that anyone had seen
Ball Lightning. Though I was very tempted to believe it was some sort of
after image caused by the flash and the darkness that followed. What I
remember about the event in a building about 200 yards away was the shock
and surprise caused by the blinding flash followed by an almost immediate
very loud clap/bang that rattled the building, then darkness and silence.
Certainly a very unnerving adrenalin pumping event.
Ball lightning like so many other unexplained observations is simple that
unexplained observations. That does not necessarily that its any thing new
only that there is no convention way of explaining it given the limited
information.
Researchers did an experiment on university students. A magician showed them
several tricks. From memory more than half the students when asked stated
the magician had some supernatural powers (even the engineering students).
This surprised the researchers so they repeated the experiment showing the
students how the tricks where done. Still a significant number insisted he
had supernatural powers.
Many if not all observations of ball lightning and even Golka's experiment
fall in to a similar category as the magic tricks. They are difficult to
explained (by the average person) but that does not necessarily mean there
is any new physics involved.
It could be that ball lightning is like high altitude Sprites that where
reported numerous times. But I believe it was only when an astronaut
photographed a Sprite where that the observations taken seriously.
Like so many other unexplained observations the majority remain just
unexplained observations. Only very very few end up like Sprites.
Robert (R. A.) Jones
A1 Accounting, Inc., Fl
407 649 6400