Mysterious ball lightning, appearing from nowhere, moving by no one knows how, attract close attention of a person. Many scientists tried to unravel their mystery, proposed hundreds of theories and hypotheses, but so far none can explain this unique natural phenomenon.
Petersburg, July 26 (August 6, new style) 1753 A thunderstorm is approaching. Professor Georg Richman, together with the artist Ivan Sokolov, are conducting a dangerous experiment: they are testing a device for measuring the atmospheric electric field. Richman is closely watching the device, and suddenly there is a loud thunder.
Sokolov sees a fist-sized fireball erupt from a thick iron rod and punches the professor in the temple. The artist is knocked down, the room is filled with smoke. Richman could not be saved. In a report submitted to the Academy of Sciences, it was recorded that on the left temple of the deceased there was a red spot "the size of a ruble." Ivan Sokolov created an engraving depicting the tragedy of a man who gave his life in the name of science.
On earth, in heaven and at sea
After analyzing hundreds of cases, the researchers compiled a "portrait" of the phenomenon. In shape, such lightning bolts are not only spherical, eyewitnesses talked about pear-shaped, oval and even jellyfish-shaped. Their diameter usually ranges from 5 to 30 cm, the "life" time - from a few seconds to a minute or more. In colors, the "ball" does not limit itself: it appears in red, orange, yellow, likes blue, white or blue colors less. The uninvited guest enters the room not only through an open door or window, but even seeping through cracks in the glass.
The behavior of ball lightning is unpredictable. It can fly over and disappear without causing any harm, or it can explode with a roar, like a grenade, mutilate, kill. In some cases, ball lightning hovers motionless in the air, in others it obeys a weak breeze, in the third it manages to fly against the wind. It usually appears during or after a thunderstorm, but sometimes in clear weather. In general, he does what he wants. Some scientists, desperate to understand this phenomenon, declare that it … simply does not exist, and numerous eyewitnesses become victims of optical illusion.
Meanwhile, the "deception" is at least 2.5 thousand years old. Aristotle mentioned fireballs. Seneca referred to the works of the 1st century. BC e. Greek philosopher and historian Posidonius, who distinguished six types of lightning, including ball.
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In the VI century. Frankish historian Gregory of Tours described the appearance of a dazzlingly bright fireball during the consecration ceremony of the city chapel. Hundreds of witnesses to the incident were horrified, but then filled with awe, believing that they had witnessed a miracle. In the memoirs of the XVI century. we find a mention of an amazing incident with Diana of France: on the day of her wedding with the Duke of Montmorency, “flame flew into the bedroom of the newlywed”. It circled the room, then approached the bed, singing the sheet and hair of the woman.
In 1896 in Sweden, after a severe thunderstorm, six people, peacefully chatting at breakfast, suddenly saw a luminous white ball hovering over the table. A moment later, it exploded with a blinding flash, throwing everyone present on the backs of chairs. One had his hair and clothing slightly scorched, but no one was seriously injured. Interestingly, immediately after the explosion, ordinary lightning struck a tree near the house.
Eyewitnesses also told about two balls connected to each other. In Italy, they were observed during the eruption of Vesuvius in 1794, and in Germany in 1912, four people talked about two orange spheres connected by a vertical luminous thread. An interesting detail: all four unanimously asserted that in the part of the sky where the "balls" appeared, there was not a single flash of linear lightning.
The balls appeared suddenly, they flew about 100 m above the ground, while remaining on the same vertical line. Gradually, the distance between them increased, the thread stretched and soon disappeared. The "balls" flew in different directions: the lower one disappeared behind the trees, and the upper one disappeared into the air.
Some witnesses claim that ball lightning can be a source of sparks, rays, or even discharges that resemble ordinary lightning. In 1849, when the inhabitants of Paris watched the frequent flashes of fire that illuminated the cloudless sky over the city, a large red balloon suddenly appeared, which was initially mistaken for an air balloon. But the delusion was short-lived - sparks and flames suddenly burst out of the lower part of the sphere. There was a violent explosion, and zigzag flashes of lightning flew in all directions.
One of them hit the house and punched a hole in the wall the size of a cannonball, the blast wave knocked three passers-by off their feet, and a bright white flame that looked like fireworks sparkled at the site of the explosion. All this took less than a minute.
Ball lightning was also observed over the sea, they traveled over long distances. In 1749, about three miles from the ship Lizard, the sailors noticed a blue fireball, which, upon reaching the ship, exploded with a terrible roar, spreading a strong smell of sulfur. The ship remained afloat, but the attack resulted in two damaged masts and severe burns of one of the sailors.
Ball lightning can also be encountered in the sky. In 1956, this happened with the Soviet propeller-driven aircraft Li-2, flying at an altitude of 3.3 thousand meters through the thunderstorm front. An orange-red fireball circled the cockpit, hit the right propeller and exploded. A stream of fire swept along the fuselage, and the plane shook violently. But the crew was lucky: everything cost a little damage to the propeller blade. Nine years later, another Li-2 met with fireball, that "ball" added a lot of gray hair to the pilots.
The plane flew over the Kola Peninsula, bypassing the cyclone. The ball hit the nose of the plane, and a sound like a gun shot was heard. The crew and passengers saw red stripes of discharges slipping along the skin. After the collision, the needle of the magnetic compass was randomly tossed from side to side for several minutes. It turned out that the compass and all of the aircraft's radio equipment were out of order. The pilots still made it to the airfield. Upon landing, they found several damaged rivets in the front of the fuselage and two holes 1.5-2 cm in diameter in the trailing edge of the elevator.
Of course, not all stories are to be taken for granted. Many eyewitnesses are prone to fantasy and exaggeration, but it is impossible to dismiss the phenomenon, the existence of which has been confirmed by photography and filming. Therefore, ball lightning is studied by both eminent scientists and numerous enthusiasts.
Suha theory, my friend …
Explore this mysterious phenomenon for a century and a half. The pioneer was the French physicist Dominique Arago - the author of the book, which described 30 cases of observation of ball lightning. Of course, we cannot compare with modern statistics (about 10 thousand only documented episodes), but let's not forget that in the 19th century. scientists treated ball lightning as an optical illusion. However, it was soon possible to identify a direct connection between the "ball" and manifestations of atmospheric electricity - in other words, the usual linear lightning, flashes of which accompany any thunderstorm. But this lightning is thoroughly studied and quite predictable, and the "ball" seems to play with scientists, sometimes refuting all their knowledge.
Some outstanding minds, including Nikola Tesla and Petr Kapitsa, reported that they managed to obtain a spherical glowing gas discharge under laboratory conditions. The Soviet scientist even changed the color and brightness of the discharge glow, adding various organic compounds. Is the mystery solved? Not. No one has ever been able to prove that the resulting gas discharge is ball lightning. In addition, laboratory experiments are one thing, and field conditions are quite another.
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How is a phenomenon formed in nature, how to explain the bizarre trajectory of the "ball" that can deftly fly around objects in its path, how does it penetrate rooms through small cracks, why in some cases the touch of lightning does no harm, while in others it leaves severe burns? There is no logical scientific explanation, but there are ideas.
All reasoning designed to explain the nature of ball lightning can be conditionally divided into two groups. The first unites theories according to which ball lightning is dependent on energy received from outside. The second includes the hypothesis that the "ball" after its appearance becomes completely independent of external energy sources. Many scientists are inclined to the version of Academician Kapitsa, who explained the phenomenon by the appearance of short-wave electromagnetic oscillations in the space between thunderclouds and the earth's surface. But the nature of these fluctuations could not be explained. And it is even more incomprehensible how ball lightning can appear in clear weather.
Trying to explain their unusual properties, scientists suggest that the "balls" have the ability to accumulate the electricity accumulated during a thunderstorm by individual areas of the earth's surface and objects on them. This theory can explain the appearance of ball lightning after a thunderstorm and the trajectory of its movement (from one "recharge" to another). It also becomes clear why a person, upon contact with the "ball", can remain unharmed, or be seriously injured - it depends on the strength of the lightning charge. However, this is again just a hypothesis …
While scientists are struggling to solve the phenomenon, enthusiasts put forward many of their own, sometimes amusing explanations, including the tricks of aliens, flashes of "hellfire" and even … penetration of intelligent beings from a parallel world in the form of lumps of unknown energy. The appearance of such conjectures is quite understandable, because scientists know very little for certain about our fiery guests.
Do not come to our light
Long-term studies of ball lightning have made it possible to explain only some of the features of this phenomenon. But since the properties, appearance and behavior of "balls" are too diverse, it can be assumed that, most likely, there are several types of ball lightning. Therefore, hardly one theory can fully explain all the tricks of the fiery guests.
According to some scientists, the "ball" can appear much more often than we think, because it is possible that this is as common a phenomenon as linear lightning. NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) experts suggest that in about two cases out of five, a linear lightning strike is accompanied by a ball.
Why do we see her so rarely? Because, unlike the flashes of "simple" lightning that illuminate the sky, a small fireball with a diameter of several centimeters can be seen only close. In addition, luminous objects hovering above the ground can be hidden from prying eyes by trees, hills or buildings. Therefore, eyewitnesses record only a few cases of the appearance of ball lightning.
Theoretically, each of us can meet with the fiery guest. He is able to come to any house where there is an electrical outlet, TV, telephone, heating battery or even an ordinary nail driven into the wall. Each of the listed items can become a potential "conductor" from which a mysteriously flickering ball suddenly emerges.
What should be done if ball lightning makes an unexpected visit? First of all, do not panic: leave the room without making any sudden movements. If it is impossible to sneak away, stay in place and wait until the lightning leaves by itself (it will not test your patience for a long time). You should not show excessive curiosity and play with the "ball" - nothing good will come of this venture. It is best to calmly and carefully observe what is happening. And then share the information received with scientists, adding to their database the results of their observations and - who knows! - his own original and bold hypothesis regarding the nature of the mysterious phenomenon.