Fox_Weather_News's Blog

The CBS prime time drama Numb3rs incorporated an interesting phenomenon called ball lightning into the plot of their Oct. 30 episode.

The American Meteorological Society defines ball lightning as a "rare and randomly occurring bright ball of light observed floating or moving through the atmosphere close to the ground." It can have a radius anywhere from 15 to 50 centimeters, and can be orange or red in color. It is most often seen in the vicinity of thunderstorms or lightning strikes.  National Geographic reported that typical ball lightning can be equivalent to a 100-watt bulb and only lasts a few seconds before exploding or fading away.

Although ball lightning has been seen by thousands of people throughout the course of history, scientists still do not have an official explanation for how it occurs. One theory to explain ball lightning has been that plasma clouds consist of charged particles that glow with light when the particles combine into atoms. Another is that the silica from Earth's soil will form a vapor when struck by lightning. The particles of the vapor will then combine with oxygen in the air and burn through oxidation.

In January of 2007, two Brazilian scientists - Physicist Antonio Pavão and doctoral student Gerson Paiva of the Federal University of Pernambuco - succeeded in creating electric orbs from silicon combustion that imitated the movement of ball lightning.

The earliest sighting of ball lightning may have been on Oct. 21, 1638, during "The Great Thunderstorm" at Widecombe-in-the-Moor in Dartmouth, England. During the thunderstorm, a "great ball of fire" struck the church, damaging the building.

Perhaps one of the most famous incidents of ball lightning was sighted on board the HMS Warren Hastings during an afternoon thunderstorm in 1809. It was reported that "three distinct balls of fire were emitted from the heavens," lighting the main mast on fire and killing several men. The ball lightning was accompanied by a "nauseous, sulfurous smell" that lasted for sometime after the storm ended.

It is difficult to find photos of real ball lightning, but you can see a possible example at the Natural Disasters Web site.

---

Brittany Stoner

Fox Weather Correspondent

Penn State University, Print Journalism and Spanish