UFOs or ball lightning?

[Buckwild]

Ooops, I forgot to give you the link to one of the latest paper on BL and MLOs ( Mobile Luminous Objects) :

Ball Lightning Model as a Possible Explanation of Recently Reported Cavity Lights*
David Fryberger**
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
2575 Sand Hill Road, MS 20
Stanford University
Menlo Park, California 94025 USA

http://www.slac.stanford.edu/cgi-wrap/g ... -13583.pdf

ps : Go to page 29 to take a look at what is supposed to be an EL (Earth Light) captured in Hessdalen (Norway)


Enjoy ,
Buck

[LCARS24]

I saw what I would consider ball lightning once. There was an awesome-enough bolt of regular lightning, and the zigzag broke up into a string of beads then dissipated. Maybe that's called something else, but I stood there in awe and chalked one up for ball lightning. If I'm wrong to call it that, okay, I'll just stand here in my wrongness and admit I'm wrong. Regardless, what I saw over San Francisco on that occasion (early '80s) was truly spectacular.

The video, however, looks likes nonsense to me, although I'm not claiming any expertise on ball lightning in general.

[chrLz]

I saw what I would consider ball lightning once. There was an awesome-enough bolt of regular lightning, and the zigzag broke up into a string of beads then dissipated.

Me too, sadly only on two occasions, despite living in a pretty thundery sort of region.. And even more sadly I've never caught it on film, but a 'bead lightning' search on Google will find some.

The video, however, looks likes nonsense to me, although I'm not claiming any expertise on ball lightning in general.

There, we are in total agreement.

[LCARS24]

Okay, bead lightning, then. I never investigated after seeing it. So I was wrong to categorize it as ball lightning. "Eight bead in the corner pocket."

I think those pictures of bead lighting were taken too soon, though, before the bolt fully broke up into several balls (oops, beads), each like Venus at it's brightest. That's when, if only for a moment, it's an awesome sight. And part of the spectacle is the surprise of seeing the bolt suddenly change like that.

[chrLz]

..I think those pictures of bead lighting were taken too soon, though, before the bolt fully broke up into several balls (oops, beads), each like Venus at it's brightest. That's when, if only for a moment, it's an awesome sight. And part of the spectacle is the surprise of seeing the bolt suddenly change like that.

Yeah.., but when photographing lightning, realistically the only way to 'time' it is to be filming/videoing continuously, and then pick and choose your best frames later. Most still images of lightning are time exposures, so the connectedness is inevitable in those.

I've actually got a reasonable amount of lightning footage, but none of it contains any good 'beading' (nor is it very aesthetic, I'm embarrassed to admit). I need to try harder. It's on my bucket list..!

[LCARS24]

..I think those pictures of bead lighting were taken too soon, though, before the bolt fully broke up into several balls (oops, beads), each like Venus at it's brightest. That's when, if only for a moment, it's an awesome sight. And part of the spectacle is the surprise of seeing the bolt suddenly change like that.

Yeah.., but when photographing lightning, realistically the only way to 'time' it is to be filming/videoing continuously, and then pick and choose your best frames later. Most still images of lightning are time exposures, so the connectedness is inevitable in those.

I've actually got a reasonable amount of lightning footage, but none of it contains any good 'beading' (nor is it very aesthetic, I'm embarrassed to admit). I need to try harder. It's on my bucket list..!

I know. The transition stage is very brief, hardly noticeable, and not the good part of the show. The orginal bolt remains for a moment, and the bead stage seems to form instantly then fade. The storm itself was a rare sight in that area. I was in San Francisco, and the storm was somewhere over Silicon Valley. I was already standing there enjoying the spectacle and got an unexpected surprise. If Spielberg had been there doing the same, I have no doubt he would have made a sketch, taken notes, and tried to do it justice in a flim. Since you've seen it, you must know what I mean.

But the topic is ball lightning, which can hardliy account for UFO cases like Lakenheath-Bentwaters or RB-47 (1957) or Alasaka JAL 1628 any more than can calling all involved pilots, crew, and radar operators in hundreds of cases liars or unfit for duty. I think Ruppelt and Hynek both disliked attributing cases to ball lightning, even those with no radar confirmation. Next, someone will be calling Santa Claus ball lightning.

But guy-wires CAN create the illusion of impossibly fast flying objects at night every time a car goes by, especially if viewed on video, not giving the viewer the chance to see what's really going on. To a lesser extent, so can convex traffic mirrors. One near my house gives the illusion of meteors ascending.