I thought Osama was partial to Bert? Maybe he's traded up to a Tickle Me Elmo.
St. Elmo's Fire
Introduction: What Is St. Elmo's Fire?
St. Elmo's Fire is luminescent electrical discharge observed on masts and other tall "poles", including spires, during or immediately preceeding/following thunderstorms.
St. Elmo's Fire is a scientifically explained and accepted phenomenon, although there is not a huge corpus of work devoted to the study and investigation of it. St. Elmo's Fire will often be confused and/or offered as an explanation for Ball Lightning, but is almost certainly a distinct phenomenon, if not related in some way. In particular, St. Elmo's Fire always remains attached to an object, whereas Ball Lightning forms a mobile ball of light.
St. Elmo's Fire is often observed as a bluish/purple/white glow, sometimes occuring as double or even triple jets. It is often described as a "fire" (although it isn't burning), fireworks, jets, stars, corona, streams, or sparking. Sometimes, crackling and hissing sounds occur. St. Elmo's Fire can also cause radio disturbances.
http://www.mysterylights.com/types/stelmo/