The Ball Lightning Phenomenon

Ball lightning is one of the most elusive and poorly understood atmospheric phenomena. Witnesses describe glowing spheres ranging from golf ball to beach ball size, appearing during thunderstorms, moving independently through the air, passing through solid objects, and either exploding or fading silently. Despite centuries of reports and occasional photographs, ball lightning has rarely been captured or measured scientifically.

Historical Accounts

The first detailed account comes from Widecombe-in-the-Moor, Devon, England, on October 21, 1638. During a severe thunderstorm, a ball of fire reportedly entered the church, causing significant damage and killing and injuring several people. The event was attributed to demonic intervention at the time but matches later descriptions of ball lightning.

Tsar Nicholas II of Russia claimed to have witnessed ball lightning as a child, watching a glowing ball float through a church before disappearing.

Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, reports accumulated from pilots, scientists, and ordinary witnesses. The phenomenon was real, whatever its explanation.

Description

Ball lightning is typically described as a luminous sphere, usually between four and twelve inches in diameter, though sizes from marble to several feet have been reported. The color is most commonly yellow or orange, though white, blue, green, and red have been reported.

The spheres move independently of air currents, sometimes floating, sometimes bouncing, sometimes moving in straight lines. They have been observed to pass through glass windows, enter and exit rooms through small openings, and apparently travel through solid walls.

Duration ranges from a few seconds to several minutes. Ball lightning may disappear silently, explode violently, or simply fade away.

Notable Incidents

In 1984, ball lightning reportedly entered a Soviet passenger aircraft through the cockpit, traveled down the aisle, and exited through the rear, causing no injuries but leaving holes in the fuselage.

In 2012, Chinese scientists observed ball lightning during a thunderstorm and captured spectrographic data for the first time. Analysis suggested the ball contained silicon, iron, and calcium—elements found in soil—supporting theories that ball lightning forms when lightning strikes the ground.

Numerous pilots have encountered ball lightning inside aircraft, with the spheres appearing and disappearing without apparent cause.

Theories

Multiple theories attempt to explain ball lightning. These include:

Vaporized silicon from lightning-struck soil forming a slowly burning sphere.

Plasma vortexes created by electromagnetic fields during thunderstorms.

Microwave radiation from lightning interacting with atmospheric gases.

Burning mixtures of gases created by lightning.

No theory fully explains all reported characteristics, particularly ball lightning’s ability to pass through solid objects.

Skeptical Perspectives

Some scientists have questioned whether ball lightning exists as a distinct phenomenon, suggesting that reports may represent misidentified ordinary phenomena, optical illusions, or the effects of electrical stimulation on the visual cortex during lightning strikes.

However, the consistency of reports across centuries and cultures, occasional physical evidence including burn marks and damage, and rare photographic and spectroscopic data support the phenomenon’s reality.

Assessment

Ball lightning represents a genuine atmospheric phenomenon that has resisted scientific explanation for centuries. Its rarity, unpredictability, and brief duration make systematic study nearly impossible.

The phenomenon demonstrates that our understanding of atmospheric electricity remains incomplete. Something forms during thunderstorms—glowing, moving, occasionally dangerous—and science has yet to fully explain what it is.