Re: What Is Ball Lightnig?

Dear Eric,

No photographs have ever been obtained of ball lightning.  There have never 
been any official account made so its existence is questionable.  The only 
source of info on ball lightning comes from eyewitness accounts and no 
scientific info has been obtained so ball lightning remains a mystery.

Ball lightning is a rare event described as a floating, lighted sphere 
(ball) that happens during thunderstorms.  Sometimes, they move fast, slow, 
or don't move at all.  They may be quiet or make hissing and crackling 
noises.  They can also pass through windows.  They last from seconds to 
minutes and either disappear slowly or suddenly and either quietly or with 
a loud bang.

Bonnie

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Admin note-- William Beaty adds the following: 


Ball lightning is certainly an unusual phenomena, but many ball lightning
photographs (even videotapes) exist, eyewitnesses include respected
scientists, there are professional books and journals on Ball Lightning
research, and in recent years there have been science conferences with
Ball Lightning as the main topic.

There are two main problems with BL:

   1. We don't know how to generate it in the lab

   2. Until recent decades, Science as a whole treated BL with an
      attitude of emotionally hostile disbelief. 


The first is obviously a serious problem, since we are limited to studying
BL as it occurs naturally, and it is a rare phenomena.  Progress in
understanding BL is extremely slow as a result.  The second is a question
of science-ethics and the psychology of scientists: researchers who
maintain a long-held public stance of hostile disbelief in Ball Lightning
have a very hard time confronting the fact that they were wrong and that
BL does exist.  For this reason, BL remains a controversial topic, and the
researchers who maintain a disbelieving attitude, though shrinking in
number, still have significant political clout in the sciences.
Therefore, funding for BL research is far below the level that any other
similar phenomenon would attract, and research into BL has been seriously
slowed by this unfortunate emotional attitude. 


For an more information on Ball Lightning ee the following links: 

Scientific American Magazine ASK A SCIENTIST:
Does Ball Lightning Exist?



Ball Lightning Article at New Scientist magazine 


Report on ISBL-97
International Research Seminar on BL 


BL Research Conference: ISBL-99
in Antwerp, Belgium



Ball Lightning Page