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Here is a "for instance" in the form of a letter from the December 18, 1886, issue of Scientific American:

CURIOUS PHENOMENON IN VENEZUELA

To the Editor of the Scientific American:

The following brief account of a recent strange meteorological occurrence may be of interest to your readers as an addition to the list of electrical eccentricities:

During the night of the 24th of October last, which was rainy and tempestuous, a family of nine persons, sleeping in a hut a few leagues from Maracaibo, were awakened by a loud humming noise and a vivid, dazzling light, which brilliantly illuminated the interior of the house.

The occupants completely terror stricken, and believing, as they relate, that the end of the world had come, threw themselves on their knees and commenced to pray, but their devotions were almost immediately interrupted by violent vomiting, and extensive swellings commenced to appear in the upper part of their bodies, this being particularly noticeable about the face and lips..

It is to be noted that the brilliant lights was not accompanied by a sensation of heat, although there was a smoky appearance and a peculiar smell.

The next morning, the swellings had subsided, leaving upon the face and body large black blotches. No special pain was felt until the ninth day, when the skin peeled off, and these blotches were transformed into virulent raw sores.

The hair of the head fell off upon the side which happened to be underneath when the phenomenon occurred, the same side of the body being, in all nine cases, the more seriously injured.

The remarkable part of the occurrence is that the house was uninjured, all doors and windows being closed at the time.

No trace of lightning could afterward by observed in any part of the building, and all the sufferers unite in saying that there was no detonation, but only the loud humming already mentioned.

Another curious attendant circumstance is that the trees around the house showed no signs of injury until the ninth day, when they suddenly withered, almost simultaneously with the development of the sores upon the bodies of the occupants of the house.

This is perhaps a mere coincidence, but it is remarkable that the same susceptibility to electrical effects, with the same lapse of time, should be observed in both animal and vegetable organisms.

I have visited the sufferers, who are now in one of the hospitals of this city; and although their appearance is truly horrible, yet it is hoped that in no case will the injuries prove fatal.

Warner Cowgill. U. S. Consulate, Maracaibo, Venezuela November 17, 1886

Why is this letter significant? It can be taken as describing an unusual manifestation of ball lightning, but that does not do it justice. Long before anyone knew what radiation was, the Cowgill letter describes the effects of severe radiation on the human body and on trees. Logically, this is inconsistent with a hoax, as is that it was reported to a leading scientific publication and comes from a US government official in foreign service.

Most stunning of all, the part in bold describes what can be regarded now as neutron radiation inducing secondary ionizing radiation and consequent injuries. Neutrons seem to have passed through the victims and been absorbed by the soil, elements of which became activated and produced more radiation. Consequently, the victims suffered burns on those parts of their bodies closest to the ground, not on those parts closest to the light source above them.

Here is a description of neutron activation as generated by nuclear weapons:

Neutron-Induced Activity. If atomic nuclei capture neutrons when exposed to a flux of neutron radiation, they will, as a rule, become radioactive (neutron-induced activity) and then decay by emission of beta and gamma radiation over an extended period of time. Neutrons emitted as part of the initial nuclear radiation will cause activation of the weapon residues. In addition, atoms of environmental material, such as soil, air, and water, may be activated, depending on their composition and distance from the burst. For example, a small area around ground zero may become hazardous as a result of exposure of the minerals in the soil to initial neutron radiation. This is due principally to neutron capture by various elements, such as sodium, manganese, aluminum and silicon in the soil. This is a negligible hazard because of the limited area involved.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Nuclear_explosion

The assessment that neutron activation in soil is a "negligible hazard because of the limited area involved" is in the context of a nuclear bomb -- and not if one is lying on top of the soil that has been activated! Most likely, some of the victims died, perhaps even all of them.

Suppose that one treats the Cowgill letter as describing not a UFO hovering too closely, but ball lightning. What then produced the radiation effects? If ball lightning, then it would be of an unusual type because ball lightning is not thought to produce radiation.

This gets me back to my comment: the UFO subject can be fascinating because even the skeptics often have to suggest that unprecedented effects are at work even if those effects are purely natural in origin.