[meteorite-list] Ball Lightning May Explain Some Fireball Sighting

Sat Dec 4 11:04:04 EST 2010

Back in the 1970's when I was growing up in Florida, I saw some wicked
ball lightning during an electrical storm.

My father and I looked out the window and saw a brilliant flash of
light, followed by a glowing ball of plasma that "bounced" across the
neighbor's yard, near the ground.  It left a trail of purple, reddish
and yellow light behind it.  It persisted for about 10 seconds and
then vanished.  From our vantage point, it appeared to be the size of
a beachball.

I've never seen anything like it since.

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Mike Gilmer - Galactic Stone & Ironworks Meteorites

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On 12/4/10, Steve Dunklee <steve.dunklee at yahoo.com> wrote:
> this sounds like good science to me. Lightning can be produced by volcanos.
> Plate tecktonics and other phenomenom. So why not from the energy of a
> fireball? Cheers Steve
>
> On Fri Dec 3rd, 2010 7:00 PM EST Ron Baalke wrote:
>
>>
>>http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11877842
>>
>>Ball lightning 'may explain UFOs'
>>By Jonathan Amos
>>BBC News
>>November 30, 2010
>>
>>Some UFO sightings could be explained by ball lightning and other
>>atmospheric phenomena, claims Australian astrophysicist Stephen Hughes.
>>
>>The scientist has made a detailed study of an unusual event in 2006 when
>>large meteors were observed over Brisbane.
>>
>>Their appearance occurred at the same time as a brilliant green object
>>was seen to roll over nearby mountains.
>>
>>Dr Hughes has put forward a theory linking the object - presumed to be
>>ball lighting - to the fireballs.
>>
>>His idea is that one of the fireballs may have momentarily triggered an
>>electrical connection between the upper atmosphere and the ground,
>>providing energy for the ball lightning to appear above the hills.
>>
>>He has written up his explanation <http://eprints.qut.edu.au/38939/> in
>>a journal of the Royal Society <http://rspa.royalsocietypublishing.org/>.
>>
>>Dr Hughes says the extraordinary episode, which occurred during a night
>>of fine weather, is just the sort of happening that might lead some to
>>think they had witnessed UFO activity.
>>
>>"If you put together inexplicable atmospheric phenomena, maybe of an
>>electrical nature, with human psychology and the desire to see something
>>- that could explain a lot of these UFO sightings," he told BBC News.
>>
>>Rendering of fireball Eyewitnesses were asked to draw what they saw.
>>This is how graphic designer David Sawell recalled a fireball
>>
>>The scientist, who is a senior lecturer at the Queensland University of
>>Technology, initiated the study after being called in by the local TV
>>station to look over and explain photos of the fireballs captured by
>>members of the public on camera phones.
>>
>>Fireballs are exceptionally bright meteors and are produced by fragments
>>of space rock larger than the sand-grain-sized particles responsible for
>>shooting stars; but like shooting stars they cross the sky at great speed.
>>
>>It seems at least three individual fireballs were seen on the night of
>>16 May 2006.
>>
>>Fireball over Brisbane (Roy Soc) This photo gives a sense of the intense
>>brightness of one of the fireballs
>>
>>A subsequent survey organised by the university brought forward many
>>more eyewitnesses, including a farmer who recalled seeing a luminous
>>green ball rolling down a slope of the Great Divide, a mountainous ridge
>>about 120km west of Brisbane.
>>
>>This object described as being about 30cm in diameter appeared to jump
>>over some rocks and follow the path of a metal fence for "some minutes".
>>The farmer said he saw the green object come into view just after a
>>fireball had passed overhead.
>>
>>He thought at first he was witnessing a plane crash and called the
>>police, but a search the following day found no wreckage.
>>
>>Ball lightning seems an obvious explanation, says Dr Hughes. These
>>bright, hovering spheres of light are not fully understood. They are
>>known to be associated with thunderstorms, but not always, and there was
>>certainly no electrical storm activity in the vicinity of the Great Divide.
>>
>>Dr Hughes does not offer a new explanation for the causes of ball
>>lightning, merely how enough energy might have been put into the ground
>>to trigger it.
>>
>>He proposes that the natural flow of current that exists between the
>>upper-most reaches of the atmosphere, the ionosphere, and the ground was
>>increased by the passage of the meteor that streamed charged particles
>>and other conductive materials in its wake.
>>
>>The Great Divide The ball lightning was seen to roll down the slope
>>following the line of a wire fence
>>
>>"Could it be that the meteor descending through the atmosphere, having
>>passed through the ionosphere, actually created a transient conductive
>>connection between the ionosphere and the ground, even if it was only
>>for a few seconds? Was that enough to put charge into the ground, and
>>then with the discharge form some kind of plasma ball above?
>>
>>"Think of the ionosphere and the ground as the terminals on the battery
>>and you put a wire between those two terminals and current flows, and
>>literally you get a spark."
>>
>>Other scientists have suggested that charges dissipating through the
>>ground can create balls of glowing ionised gas above it.
>>
>>Dr John Abrahamson from the University of Canterbury, NZ, championed the
>>idea 10 years ago that ball lightning consisted of vaporised mineral
>>grains kicked out of the soil by a conventional lightning strike, an
>>idea later tested with some success by Brazilian researchers.
>>
>>He described Dr Hughes' work as "relatively feasible" and something
>>which made "interesting connections".
>>
>>"There's a long way to go before everyone will be happy and satisfied
>>that we have a full solution," he told BBC News.
>>
>>Dr Hughes said his publication in Proceedings of the Royal Society A:
>>Mathematical and Physical Sciences was intended to start a debate.
>>
>>"It's not a vigorous theory; it's more a suggestion that may be worth
>>exploring," he said.
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>
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