Table Of ContentBall Lightning
An Unsolved Problem in
Atmospheric Physics
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Ball Lightning
An Unsolved Problem in
Atmospheric Physics
Mark Stenhoff
B.Sc., M.Phil. (Lond.), C.Phys., M.lnst.P.,
F.R.A.S., F.R.Met.S.
Kluwer Academic / Plenum Publishers
New York, Boston, Dordrecht, London, Moscow
eBookISBN: 0-306-47092-6
Print ISBN: 0-306-46150-1
©2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers
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Print ©1999 Kluwer Academic / Plenum Publishers
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Foreword: Ball Lightning
Looking back at twentieth-century science, one may discern three broad
frontiers of research—the very large, the very small, and the very complex.
Thus astronomy and cosmology continue to spring surprises in the form of
puzzling new objects in the depths of the universe. In the microscopic realm, particle
physicists have struggled to make sense of a plethora of subatomic fragments.
Finally, the burgeoning subject of complexity theory hints at deep linkages between
physics and biology, and touches on topics as diverse and bewildering as chaos,
turbulence, and even ecology.
We are so used to dramatic developments being concentrated in these three
frontier categories that it comes as a bit of a surprise to find an unexplained
phenomenon that falls outside of any of them. Ball lightning isn’t very large, very
small, or seemingly very complex, yet it has baffled some of the best investigators
in the business. Here, it seems, under our very noses, is the sort of mystery that
should have been solved a century ago, but wasn’t.
I have never witnessed ball lightning personally, but I have read many reports
of it and interviewed a number of witnesses. Although it can take a variety of forms,
a typical lightning ball is a glowing sphere a few centimeters across that floats across
ground for a few seconds before either fading away or exploding. Most alarming
of all are those cases where a ball is seen inside a room or even in an aircraft.
The bizarre nature ofthephenomenon has led to acertain amount ofneglect
in scientific circles. Some years ago it was common for scientist to pooh-pooh the
whole subject. Attempts were made to explain ball lightning reports away as optical
illusion, will o’ the wisps, or hoaxes. Today, however, the weight of evidence is
compelling that a genuine unexplained physical phenomenon underlies the majority
of sightings.
v
vi Foreword: Ball Lightning
Hardest to understand is how such a large amount of energy can be confined
in a spherical form and remain stable for so long. Although estimates are rather
unreliable, some lightning balls appear to pack a lot of punch, and can cause serious
injury and damage. There have been many attempts to model ball lightning as some
sort of energetic glowing plasma trapped by suitably configured electric and
magnetic fields. Ironically, physicists have for years tried to confine hot plasmas
electromagnetically, in order to create a controlled nuclear fusion reaction that
might serve as a potential power supply. After 40 years of effort, their attempts are
still plagued by plasma instabilities. Yet if the reports of ball lightning are to be
believed, nature has found a way to create stable plasma balls without any sophis-
ticated equipment.
The phenomenon becomes really puzzling when the peculiar properties of ball
lightning are examined. How is a ball of plasma able to pass through a window pane
without disruption? Or glide down the aisle of an aircraft? Why should such a ball
shoot up a chimney, roll along electric power lines, or bounce along the ground?
What produces the curious hissing or sizzling sound reported in some sighting?
MarkStenhoffis aphysicistwho has alongprofessional association withthe
subject of ball lightning and related phenomena. He has personally studied a great
many cases and thoroughly researched the literature. In this book he provides us
with a welcome review of the phenomenon and the different theories put forward
to explain it. He relates some of the more startling incidents in a sober and
methodical fashion, and makes some useful suggestions for how our understanding
ofthemysterycanbeadvanced.
The subject of ball lightning falls on the edge of what we might call respectable
science. Because ball lightning has so far proved impossible to recreate in the
laboratory (aside from some very short-lived small balls), most of the information
available has been gleaned from eyewitness reports. Since members of the public,
when presented with an unexpected and alarming phenomenon, are notoriously
unreliable, it is hard to know how much credence to give the details of the reports.
Might the witnesses have exaggerated the size, duration, or brightness of the ball?
Could the reported damage have been caused by something else, like an associated
conventional lightning strike?
It must be remembered that untrained observers also report flying saucers,
ghosts, poltergeists, and alien beings. Are scientists supposed to take these seriously
too? Indeed, Stenhoff points out that some reports of unidentified flying objects
(UFOs) bear many of the hallmarks of ball lightning, so if the puzzle of ball
lightning is solved, then at least some UFOs may become IFOs (identified flying
objects). In spite of its slightly wacky overtones, ball lightning deserves to be taken
seriously. There can be little doubt that some interesting and as yet ill-understood
physical phenomenon is taking place, and we may learn some very interesting
physics by studying the reports more carefully.
Foreword: Ball lightning vii
Ball lightning researchers are fond of citing the case of meteorite falls, long
derided by scientists as stories by crackpots, but eventually accepted as a real
astronomical phenomenon. The comparison is pertinent. Both meteorites and ball
lightning are unpredictable, alarming, and transient, and both emanate from the sky,
the source of so many mysteries. A vast amount of important scientific information
has been gleaned from the study of meteorites. A similar cornucopia may await us
in the phenomenon of ball lightning.
Paul Davies
Adelaide, South Australia
*Paul Davies was formerly Professor of Natural Philosophy at The University of Adelaide. He took early
retirement from the university to devote himself full-time to his popular book writing and media
activities.
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Preface
Down comes a deluge of sonorous hail,
Or prone-descending rain. Wide-rent, the clouds
Pour a whole flood, and yet, its flame unquenched,
Th’unconquerable lightning struggles through.
Ragged and fierce, or in red whirling balls,
And fires the mountains with redoubled rage.
Black from the stroke, above, the smould’ring pine
Standsasadshatteredtrunk; and,stretchedbelow,
Alifeless grouptheblastedcattlelie.
JamesThompson, “TheSeasons”(1727)
Ihave been investigating ball lightning for more than two decades. I published
a ball lightning report in Naturein 1976 that received worldwide publicity and
consequently many people wrote to me with accounts of their own experiences.
Within a very short time, I had accumulated about 200 firsthand accounts, and the
file has continued to grow steadily since then. Several things impressed me. Few
of those who wrote to me had any detailed foreknowledge of ball lightning at the
time of their observation. Nonetheless, once reports of other phenomena such as
St. Elmo’s fire had been eliminated, the remaining descriptions were remarkably
consistent. Furthermore, nearly all who contacted me were keen to have an
explanation of what they had seen and seemed entirely sincere.
Most of my ball lightning research has been at the grassroots level of analyzing
eyewitness reports and conducting field visits. For several years, I was director of
the Ball Lightning Division of the Tornado and Storm Research Organisation
(TORRO). TORRO continues to do invaluable work in documenting various
interesting meteorological phenomena, and its publication, the Journal of Meteor-
ology, has become one of the most popular journals in which to publish ball
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