Phenomena believed to be ball lightning have been described for at least hundreds of years. One of the first preserved descriptions comes from 1638. An almost 2.5-meter ball of energy was said to have entered the British church in Widecombe in the Moor. Witnesses described that the church was almost destroyed as a result of the incident, and that there was an odor of sulfur and dark, thick smoke.
This was over 100 years before Benjamin Franklin showed the world the lightning rod (he did it in 1748). Over the following centuries, humanity managed to harness electricity, fly to the Moon, explain the genesis of the Universe and split the atom. All this happened before the study of ball lightning, which scientists managed to do only in 2012. And even today, its true nature remains a mystery, partly in the sphere of guesses and hypotheses.
He saw ball lightning with his own eyes. “This bullet made the whole field bright”
Dr. Stefan Gierlotka, a researcher dealing with electrical discharges and a former court expert in the field of electric shock accidents, emphasized in an interview with Next.Gazeta.pl that the scientific study of ball lightning poses some difficulties. Not only is it difficult to physically observe it, but for a long time this phenomenon was impossible to reproduce. And science deals with repeatable things, which allows it to clarify the principles that govern them. In the case of ball lightning, however, it is difficult to obtain such data. This does not mean that we are dealing with magic, a miracle or a hallucination – as one of the hypotheses says. So what could ball lightning be?
I observed such a phenomenon once, in the 1990s. The lightning glowed blue and made a characteristic hissing sound, similar to that made by power lines during rain. This is the so-called partial discharges. It all ends with a bang that ball lightning makes when discharged
– Dr. Stefan Gierlotko told us.
He described the event as follows: “On a July night a few years ago, I was driving a car on the route between Włocławek and Toruń. There was a storm, it was raining and lightning struck frequently. I observed lightning flashing from a low cloud at a distance of about 180 meters, which was about 3 m high. above the ground, it transformed into a glowing ball. This ball had an irregular shape, about 1 meter in diameter, and it glowed white with a bluish tint. From this ball, the entire field became bright, just like you hear on a foggy rainy day under the line high voltage. The ball was not uniform – it gave the impression that there were many internal electric discharges inside it, creating a ball shape. The phenomenon lasted about 8 seconds and disappeared with another ball lightning discharge nearby.
What is ball lightning?
Ball lightning most likely occurs after a linear discharge, i.e. classic lightning, strikes. Appropriate conditions mean that such a discharge can transform into ball lightning, but this is an extremely rare phenomenon. It usually occurs during a storm or just after it – wrote Dr. Gierlotko in 2008. In a conversation with us, he mentioned the hypothesis of the Russian researcher Piotr Kapica, who believed that ball lightning is plasma. Dr. Gierlotko stated that this theory seemed to correspond to reality. Plasma was a good explanation for why ball lightning glows so brightly. But there have been several problems with this hypothesis. The principle of conservation of energy did not fully apply. Moreover, plasma is lighter than air, so why don’t ball lightning bolts fly up and stay close to the ground? And why do they usually move in the opposite direction to the air current? If they are lighter than him, his movements should determine the direction of the ball.
Various hypotheses have been developed over the decades. T The reactions involving this element explained many facts related to ball lightning. In addition, the researchers discovered that the duration of the phenomenon was regulated by the appropriately selected amount of water, thanks to which the reaction could take place for a longer time. And this would explain the different observed durations of ball lightning.
which is created when ordinary lightning “walks” in the same line repeatedly.
However, the best description of ball lightning comes from a decade ago. In 2012, scientists from China, Jianyong Cen Ping Yuan and Simin Xue, observed a storm by complete coincidence, which lasted for 1.6 seconds and traveled 10-15 meters during this time.
The results of the study were made public in 2014 and turned out to be consistent with the theory of Abrahamson and Dinniss, previously cited here, according to which a lightning strike instantly transfers energy to silicon particles. As a result of the impact, they rise into the air, where they oxidize and release the accumulated energy, which gives a characteristic glow. But this hypothesis also has gaps and does not explain, for example, ball lightning that was observed during airplane flights at high altitudes.
Various descriptions make it difficult to understand the nature of ball lightning. How to protect yourself against it?
As you can see, due to the fleeting nature of ball lightning, there has not yet been a theory that would be able to explain all the features attributed to this phenomenon. Dr. Stefan Gierlotka estimates that their sizes range from several to several dozen centimeters, but there are also larger ones. Their surface may be blurred, without a clear border or with distinct shapes. Their colors range from the most common blue, which turns into purple, through yellow, orange and green. They can also be blindingly white. They are most often seen just above the earth’s surface, but they have also been observed – as we have already mentioned – from airplanes. They can move horizontally, but sometimes they also make horizontal jumping movements. Perhaps there is a grain of truth in each of the above hypotheses? Some ball lightning seen on the ground may be a gaseous cloud of silicon charged with lightning energy, and those seen at higher altitudes may be an optical illusion.
The best way to avoid ball lightning is to stay at home or in your car during a storm. In 85 percent cases, the phenomenon appears outside – wrote Dr. Stefan Gierlotko in 2008. However, it sometimes happens that traveling ball lightning entered the room.
Therefore, it is better to close doors and windows during a storm, especially if we witness such a phenomenon. Ball lightning can be stopped by contact with other objects. It then gives them the accumulated energy in the form of heat, and then discharges itself, which ends with thunder, as we have already mentioned. However, there are reports in which ball lightning penetrated through walls. It is better to avoid such a ball of energy, because the effects of touching it will be similar to being struck by lightning, and its explosion may even worsen the effects of getting too close to ball lightning.
Source: Gazeta
Mabel is a talented author and journalist with a passion for all things technology. As an experienced writer for the 247 News Agency, she has established a reputation for her in-depth reporting and expert analysis on the latest developments in the tech industry.
