Ball lightning is still the most mysterious among all natural phenomena. Eyewitnesses of this amazing phenomenon claim that there is an impression of “meaningfulness” in the actions of the flying sphere: choosing targets, maneuvering during flight, changing speed.
Ball lightning is usually called a spherical luminous object that appeared either after a flash / strike of linear lightning, or suddenly materialized inside an enclosed space, for example: flying out of a socket, telephone receiver, electrical panel or dashboard of a vehicle. Witnesses of the rare phenomenon describe this object as a luminous sphere ranging in size from 5 centimeters to 1 meter in diameter.
If the ball lightning flies close, then you can hear crackling and hiss. Different eyewitnesses described the glow of the object in different ways: someone said that the lightning was white, someone saw streaks of blue, and someone had a chance to collide with a red ball lightning. There are no obstacles for this phenomenon, the luminous ball can fly through walls and glass, and travels along electric wires as in its native element.
This diagram reflects several theories about the structure of ball lightning.
Despite the many years of work of the best minds of the planet, working on the issues of studying the nature of the origin of ball lightning, an answer has not yet been received to the question of what this mysterious phenomenon is of what it consists of and which mechanics of physical laws is subject to. A lot of hypotheses have been put forward, but none of them can be considered true.
So even in the age of manned space flights and the creation of quantum computers, the natural phenomenon that accompanies humanity throughout history remains hidden by a veil of mystery. According to statistics, more than 500 cases of observation of ball lightning passages are recorded annually in Russia.
According to the analysis, most of the observations occur in summer, in the daytime, at the time of the onset or shortly before the onset of a thunderstorm. Although this does not mean that ball lightning cannot appear at other times of the year and under different conditions, I repeat that the nature of this phenomenon has not yet been properly studied.
Promotional video:
Ball lightning arrives "to visit"
On August 4, 2000, a ball lightning flew into the house of a pensioner from the village of Rodniki, located in the Troitsky district of the Chelyabinsk region. According to the memoirs of the hostess of the house, as soon as it became clear that a thunderstorm would break out in the very near future, all electrical appliances were de-energized in the house, and the hostess herself settled down in front of the window to drink tea.
Suddenly there was a crash in the room, and a second later, a ball of light the size of a soccer ball appeared in front of her. For some time the spherical "something" hung motionless in the air, but then began to rush around the room, flying through walls and objects.
The first target the lightning chose was the lamp of the lamp, then the dressing table, after passing through the wall and leaving small traces of charring on it, it evaporated, leaving the wiring, while the electrical wiring assembly became unusable. Despite the early blackout in the apartment, ALL electronics were out of order.
Trace on the wall from the flight of ball lightning. The incident occurred in 2013, in the village. Small, Simferopol district. This photo clearly demonstrates the traces left in the apartment after the appearance of ball lightning, similar to the described episode.
On August 7, 1958, ball lightning appeared in an apartment in a house located on Kotin Street in Chelyabinsk. According to eyewitnesses, when the thunder roared outside the window, ball lightning appeared inside the apartment. The flight of the glowing ball was short-lived, but quite noisy. Hanging in the air for several seconds, the lightning exploded with an indescribable crash. None of the household members suffered, but the apartment needed repairs: the wallpaper was burnt, the wiring was out of order and the window panes cracked.
Fire terror in Yemanzhelinka
In June 2013, an unusual phenomenon caused fires in the village of Emanzhelinka, which, by the way, became famous all over the world after the fall of the Chelyabinsk meteorite in February of the same year. On an ordinary summer evening, an ordinary thunderstorm began, which ended in real tragedy.
According to eyewitnesses, before observing the ball lightning, they heard thunderclouds rumble a couple of times, after which a strange glow formed in the sky above the village, which simultaneously transformed into two ball lightning that scattered around the village. The first chose as her goal the roof of a two-story house, going through the slate and the attic, she got straight into a residential apartment, after which a fire broke out there.
The photo from the scene clearly shows the damage to the roof.
Most of the premises burned out, but most of all went to the kitchen, apparently, the lightning, once inside the apartment, was attracted by the greatest concentration of electrical appliances, which caused a short circuit in their work, which led to a fire.
A series of photographs from the damaged apartment:
The second ball lightning went to another part of the village and landed in a cottage on Sovkhoznaya Street, where it also provoked the arson of one of the apartments, most likely, the events unfolded according to a similar scenario. By a lucky coincidence, the tenants of both apartments were not at home, so no one was hurt.
Ball lightning in a tram
On the evening of July 13, 2000, at about 22.00, a ball lightning hit one of the Chelyabinsk trams. The electric transport was approaching the Shoe Factory stop, when suddenly a small ball lightning flew into the driver's cab. After flying in the cockpit for a few seconds, the lightning hit the shield of electrical appliances. A fire started.
The tram driver tried to open the doors, but the resulting short circuit blocked the ability to leave the vehicle in the usual way. The driver herself broke the window in the cab and with minor injuries was able to get out.
Not succumbing to emotions and rationally assessing the situation, someone remembered a special hammer, fixed in case of an emergency in every passenger compartment of public transport.
As a result, through the broken window, all the few passengers of the evening route got out safe and sound. By the way, the tram burned out in just ten minutes and the delay or the absence of a small hammer could end in tragedy.
Death in an open field: a mystical repetition of tragedy
Cases of observation of ball lightning do not always end more or less well. On July 17, 2014, in the vicinity of Chelyabinsk, near the small town of Kopeisk, an extremely tragic and rather mystical story happened. A 16-year-old boy and his grandfather were riding a motorcycle across the field.
The young man drove the vehicle, and his 64-year-old passenger sat in a wheelchair. At one point, a luminous ball flew by next to the motorcycle, blinding both men with a flash of bright light, while a strong roar was heard, as if the thunderbolt had removed literally over their heads. As the 64-year-old man later recalled, he closed his eyes for a few seconds, and when he opened it, he did not find his grandson driving a motorcycle. For about ten meters the motorcycle moved without a driver.
Having stopped the vehicle, the man got out of the sidecar and a few meters from the motorcycle, in the bushes on the side of the road, he found the lifeless body of his grandson. The guy died instantly, probably did not even have time to understand what happened.
As medical experts later established, the ball lightning hit the boy right in the head, the energy potential from the blow was so powerful that even the cap on the guy's head was torn to shreds. Abrasions and burns characteristic of the victims of electrical discharges were found throughout the body. As it turned out later, a few years ago, the young man's uncle died under similar circumstances. A man was making hay when a sudden fireball struck his head.
The very fact of death from a lightning strike, according to statistics, is estimated at a probability of 1 in 83 930 cases, there are no analysts on deaths from ball lightning at all. Such a strange coincidence, when, years later, ball lightning kills the second member of the family is nothing but mysticism.
What if you see ball lightning?
If you have become an eyewitness of ball lightning, then you should remember the extreme danger of this phenomenon. Do not under any circumstances try to brush aside a ball approaching you or try to run - in both cases, attempts are obviously doomed to failure.
All your actions should be smooth and not create unnecessary air vibrations. Despite all its mystery, ball lightning is still a physical phenomenon and moves in the air not along a meaningful trajectory, but under the influence of air currents.
So if suddenly a bunch of energy has flown to your home, then the only correct solution would be to slowly approach the window and open the window - a draft will pull the lightning out. Remember that ball lightning is deadly.