Photograph by Storm Wolf / Flickr
Posted on 08/01/2017 8:28:43 PM PDT by MtnClimber
Every so often, given the proper conditions, a small and roughly spherical piece of the atmosphere around us will briefly catch fire. As they are best viewed late into the night and have no obvious natural explanation, it’s perhaps no wonder they’ve inspired a rich mythology. Names for balls of fire include ignis fatuus, will-o’-the-wisp, ghost lights, and ball lightning. They’ve been said to hover above graves, dance along the banks of rivers, signal the imminent arrival of an earthquake, and stalk the aisles of airplanes. Even today, we don’t have a crystal-clear understanding of how they form and do what they do. Which doesn’t mean scientists have, well, dropped the ball. Chinese scientist H.-C. Wu recently offered a compelling new explanation in Scientific Reports.
Some fireballs appear to be the products of living organisms. The decay of organic matter, for example, in marshes and other wetlands (or even a mass grave in a Polish forest) leads to the release of methane and phosphorus-containing gases such as phosphine, which can spontaneously catch fire after encountering oxygen in the atmosphere, producing a flickering light suspended midair. Some, on the other hand, are electrical in origin, sparking within the ground during an earthquake as stressed rocks release a stream of electrons to the surface where, interacting with air, they produce flashes of light. Still others form in the atmosphere, usually during thunderstorms, and go by the name of “ball lightning.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nautil.us ...
I’ve seen ball lightning twice.
The first time it was about 3am just south of Orlando on the turnpike. A bright blue/white ball appeared 50 ft above the road and drifted downward very slowly. It was like a slow mo flare. Then it just disappeared. It was not raining, but there is lots of heat lightning at night there.
The second time was around 5pm and I was stuck in traffic in Fort Lauderdale - 595 near i75. It was that moment before a storm breaks lose down there. This one was very similar but much bigger. When it popped out of existence, the rain started almost immediately.
That second time I was looking in every car around me trying to make eye contact with someone else who saw it. I don’t know how they didn’t see it or didn’t care.
St Elmos Fire is an electrostatic phenomenon. It is a coronal discharge and is associated with being on a physical object. Ball lightning does not have to contact a physical object to occur.
Jerry Lee Lewis sang a song about ball lighting back about 1957. It was “Great Balls of Fire” and was the 4th 45 record I bought.
Then there was the children’s poem “Jack Be Nimble, Jack be Quick”, modified version. Also about “balls of fire”, or more accurately, “balls on fire”.
It’s late. My body hurts from helping my daughter and family move out of a rental house to their own home. My wallet hurts because it’s empty. And I’m going through some FBI FOIA documents which are in crappy condition and my eyes hurt.
Don’t expect anything serious from me about this fascinating article. /sarc
That video is really cool!
Because they're not considered to be the same phenomena and have different effects.
St. Elmo's fire is a bright blue or violet glow, appearing like fire in some circumstances, from tall, sharply pointed structures such as lightning rods, masts, spires and chimneys, and on aircraft wings or nose cones. St. Elmo's fire can also appear on leaves and grass, and even at the tips of cattle horns. Often accompanying the glow is a distinct hissing or buzzing sound. It is sometimes confused with ball lightning.
I live in a delightful neighborhood In Northern Ohio. Nice lake across the street, My late neighbor, Rose, told me that whist watching a thunderstorm, she saw ball lightning form. She hit the deck! Went right through her house. I’m hoping it doesn’t happen to my house!
Try explaining that to the Chief ;-(
Ed
I have seen ball lightning once. It was really cool. It floated towards the tree tops and stayed there. I didn’t stay around long enough to see it dissipate. I wish I had.
St. Elmo’s Fire is the glow induced in the rigging of tall ships in storms I thought.
And you didn’t rubber glove up and try to repeat that???
That would beat putting light bulbs in the microwave!
Also known as ‘the corposant’. (sp?)
Source: ‘Two Years Before the Mast’
R.H. Dana
My understanding of St. Elmo’s (which I’ve seen at sea) is it is more associated with the mast of ships providing a ready conduit to ground for atmospheric static.
Whereas the other items are more geographically based and do not require a conduit present to initiate.
My mom and I saw one circa 1966. The thing came down from the sky, bounced about twice and then went back up into the sky. It was amazing! It’s hard to describe except that of an electrical doughnut with jagged but perfectly organized edges, and super fast with a bouncing sound on the street.
We asked each other,’Did you see that!’
Amazing!
This lady had raised two kids and spent her entire married life as a military spouse and was not inclined to tell tall tales or hallucinate or imagine much anything out of the ordinary - ever.
She said it did not come near her - I guess she was cooking breakfast or making coffee and she was in the kitchen and saw it all first hand.
The one we saw must have been at least 15 feet in diameter. all the rotating arrows of electricity rotating round and round in a left to right direction.
Never seen anything since.
Jasper County spook light. A lot of accounts of it dating way back to Native American lore.
St Elmos is very commonly seen aboard aircraft. A slithering extension from the nose forward. Also sometimes illuminates portions of the windshield. Just a continuous static discharge stream.
Ball is much rarer. Few pilots have seen it. I witnessed it once when the aircraft took a lightening strike and a blue basketball drifted straight down the center of the fuselage as I watched and it exited the tail. Seemed to take a couple seconds as I had time to turn my head slightly to view it. No other crew observed it, so maybe it is dependent on vantage point/angle.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.