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	Ball lightning - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		Ball lightning takes the form of a short-lived, glowing, floating object often the size and shape of a basketball, but size can be as small as a golf ball or smaller.
		Ball lightning discharges were once thought to be extremely rare occurrences, but recent research shows that a few percent of the US population have been witnesses.
		Ball lightning has been seen in places as diverse as "escorting" World War II bombers, flying alongside their wingtips.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Ball_lightning (1668 words)

	ball lightning
		A typical ball is 4½ to 9 inches in diameter (with a maximum range between about half an inch and three feet) and glows most commonly red, orange, or yellow in color, though occasionally blue or white, with about the brightness of a domestic electric light.
		Ashby and Whitehead proposed that ball lightning was caused by tiny grains of antimatter.
		The likelihood remains that ball lightning is some kind of esoteric electromagnetic effect – a sphere of ionized gas, or plasma, held together by electric and magnetic fields.
	www.daviddarling.info /encyclopedia/B/ball_lightning.html (2436 words)

	Tornadoes and Ball Lightning - Paper by Edward Lewis
		Tornadoes and ball lightning are identified, and described as plasmoid phenomena.
		Certain anomalous characteristics of tornadoes and ball lightning are described and shown to be similar to the behavior of the plasmoid phenomena produced by electrolysis and discharge apparatus; in part, as evidenced by certain kinds of micrometer sized traces in nuclear emulsions and marks in materials.
		Some ball lightning constantly discharge electricity, and by measuring the change of the earth electric and magnetic field in the vicinity of a tornado, some tornado researchers(22) have estimated that tornadoes are associated with a steady current of hundreds of Amperes for minutes at a time.
	www.padrak.com /ine/ELEWIS3.html (4160 words)

	Ball Lightning (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-07)
		Ball lightning (boules de feu or foudre spherique; Kugeblitz) is the name given to the mobile luminous spheres which have been observed during thunderstorms.
		Sometimes ball lightnings are reported to occur near the ground in the absence of a lightning discharge.
		For example, the ball lightning that attaches to conductors may be different from the free-floating ball lightning; and the ball lightning that appears near ground may be different from the ball lightning that hangs high in the air or the ball lightning that falls out of a cloud.
	polarmet.mps.ohio-state.edu /~bdaye/balligh.html (3637 words)

	Ball Lightning
		In some cases, the ball was observed to descend down the path of recent lightning strike and stop near the ground at the bottom.
		Balls have been observed to compact down in order to fit through cracks or holes, and reform to the original shape after emerging from the other side.
		Ball lightning does not discharge when it touches a conductor, which causes serious problems for any theories involving electric charge.
	www.tbns.net /mediapoet/tech19b.htm (1316 words)

	Ball Lightning
		Ball lightning is generally accepted as concentrated energy in shape of a sphere.
		This resulted in a ball of ionized gas that typically bounce slowly from the cubical along the after engine room deck plating (always covered with a thin coating of diesel fuel) and quietly dissipate at the forward end of the engine room.
		The ball lightning effect is very similar to those reported in more common locations and perhaps the account could be tested to prove the existence of the phenomena.
	www.meta-religion.com /Paranormale/Ball_Lightning/ball_lightning.htm (678 words)

	Ball Lightning and Fireball (Experiment) (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-07)
		"Lightning hit the surface of the lake and then, the orange color ball of which diameter was 10 to 20 centimeters was rising from the water.
		Especially, in 1955, Kapitza predicted that ball lightning should be produced at the region of the highest intensity of radio waves caused by thunderstorms [7].
		And this experiment reproduced a lot of eyewitness observations of ball lightning such as motion against the wind and the ability to pass through a ceramic board intact without causing any damage or melting.
	page.freett.com /kamogawa/bl&fb.html (914 words)

	Ball Lightning
		For Professor Jennison also reported that the ball was witnessed by another person, 'a terrified air hostess who was strapped in her seat on the opposite side and farther to the rear of the aircraft.
		Ball lightning has also been photographed, although some scientists are wary of such evidence, believing that it is easy to confuse some other light phenomenon for the real thing.
		Among them that the phenomenon usually occurs after stroke of conventional lightning, the ball is, on average 15 cm radius, usually coloured yellow to red, is not markedly hot and often gives off a hissing sound.
	web.ukonline.co.uk /Members/ad.johnson/text/bl.htm (2407 words)

	Great Moments in Science - Ball Lightning (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-07)
		And probably the weirdest of all are balls of lightning - which have invaded high-flying jets and scared the daylights out of the passengers.
		Ball lightning is a really weird type of slow-moving lightning that can move through walls.
		Lightning struck the lightning rod, and a glowing blue-white sphere of ball lightning, the size of a baseball, erupted from his measuring apparatus, and struck him in the head, killing him instantly.
	www.abc.net.au /science/k2/moments/s127660.htm (762 words)

	I. Langmuir's Ball Lightning Tube (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-07)
		It is perhaps not certain that ball lightning is anything more than a psychological phenomenon, but if it has objective reality, it may possibly be due to causes similar to those which give rise to the globules described above.
		The ions of a highly ionized gas, such as the electrified atmosphere, recombine on solid particles forming small spheres, the solid particles being retained within the ball by their charges and the electric field being retained at the surface of the ball.
		This theory is very effectively supported by the marked resemblance between ball lightning and the globules of liquid fire produced in Dr. Langmuir's experiments.
	www.eskimo.com /~billb/freenrg/balllg1.html (1856 words)

	TANGMONKEY.COM [ Ball Lightning ]
		Ball lightning is the name given to floating balls of light/electricity often observed during thunderstorms, or in the days following thunder storms.
		Ball lightning has been known to be cool to the touch.
		Ball lightning has been known to be white, yellow, red or green.
	www.tangmonkey.com /balllight (286 words)

	Chapter 2
		Jack believes that these fire balls are not balls of lightning but rather bits of molten slag trapped in an air bubble.
		It is a scientific analysis of the essence, behavior and the emission of great quantities of energy from ball lightning which cannot be explained with the known physical laws.
		Natural ball lightning sinks in the atmosphere indicating that its density is greater than that of air.
	www.angelfire.com /scifi2/zpt/chapter2.html (2599 words)

	Ball Lightning--Spherical Balls of Light (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-07)
		Ball lightning decays in an explosive fashion sometimes because the nonharmonics can be influenced externally or simply start creating a chain-reaction type of greater, induced, nonharmonic fields.
		While the ball on top of a flag pole might reduce the chance that lightning will hit, if lightning does strike a pole with a round end on it, it seems to me that this would increase the likelihood that ball lightning will be formed.
		Or, using current lightning experimental equipment, it is should be possible to shoot rockets into thunderhead clouds that trail a conducting wire in order to force lightning to jump a gap such as in this experiment...
	www.grandunification.com /hypertext/Ball_Lightning.html (579 words)

	Ball Lightning Answer
		Ball Lightning is almost always seen during a thunderstorm in the form of some kind of glowing, sparkling, sphere of yellow or even blue light.
		It appears that Ball Lightning is a collection of electrons and ions forming a hot ball of gas called plasma which is electrically neutral so it’s bark is worse than it’s bite.
		She said that she was sitting on a couch when this 'ball of lightning came through one window, rolled across the floor and went out the window on the other side of the room.' She was frightened, but unharmed.
	www.weathernotebook.org /transcripts/1998/06/12.html (1786 words)

	New Scientist Breaking News - Ball lightning scientists remain in the dark
		Ball lighting is still baffling, scientists admit in a new report.
		Ball lightning is probably the product of a family of different processes.
		Scientists think that if they can understand ball lightning fully and make it in the lab, it might provide a new way to contain high-temperature reactions that are useful to industry.
	www.newscientist.com /article.ns?id=dn1720 (577 words)

	The Straight Dope: Does ball lightning really exist?
		In your recent column about lightning, what intrigued me the most was your mention of "ball lightning--a rare, poorly understood phenomenon that behaves like a mixture of electricity and fire." The accompanying anecdote was incredible.
		He collected numerous case reports, directed the ball lightning division of a UK storm research center, wrote a book--in short, he made a career out of the thing.
		She saw the ball continue to travel down the aisle and finally disappear towards the lavatory at the end.
	www.straightdope.com /columns/040917.html (731 words)

	High Voltage Mystery: Ball Lightning (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-07)
		BALL LIGHTNING does not look like "lightning." Instead, it usually appears as a mysterious glowing sphere which drifts horizontally through the air.
		It is typically the size of a grapefruit, but sometimes appears as small as a pea, or as large as a bus.
		Ball Lightning and St. Elmo's Fire as Forms of Thunderstorm Activity
	www.eskimo.com /~billb/tesla/ballgtn.html (498 words)

	[No title] (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-07)
		TORRO BALL LIGHTNING QUESTIONNAIRE We understand that you may have observed ball lightning, and would be very grateful if you could provide further information by completing and returning this form with details of the event.
		Please indicate the best description of the ball's brightness: as bright as an ordinary lightning stroke [ ] bright enough to illuminate nearby objects [ ] bright enough to be clearly visible in daylight [ ] bright enough to be barely visible in daylight [ ] unknown [ ] 25.
		Please draw a sketch of the appearance of the ball lightning.
	www.torro.org.uk /quebltxt.htm (1312 words)

	Report Your Unusual Phenomea: Ball Lightning (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-07)
		Lightning struck his metal mast, and witnesses said that a ball of fire flew out and struck him on the forehead, killing him instantly.
		The ball of light was around the size of a water melon (approx 6 inches) it had a bright violet core and turning to pink toward the edges.
		I don't know if this was ball lightning, or just the ground preparing to shoot the sky, but the light moved so slow that it took around 10-12 seconds for it to go along the fence and up the tree.
	www.amasci.com /weird/unusual/bl.html (19875 words)

	BBC News \| SCI/TECH \| New lead for fireball riddle
		Their experiments show that when ordinary forked lightning hits the ground, mineral grains in the soil can be converted into tiny particles of silicon and its compounds with oxygen and carbon.
		Because the ball would become visible only over the latter part of its lifetime, it would appear to materialise out of thin air after a lightning strike.
		This one, however, unifies an awful lot of the properties of ball lightning under one theoretical umbrella, so I think it stands a very good chance of perhaps being correct.
	news.bbc.co.uk /1/hi/sci/tech/628709.stm (642 words)

	POWERLABS's Microwave Experiments Page!
		Ball lightning has been known for centuries, and yet no one can explain those mysterious balls of plasma that seem to appear during thunderstorms (more specifically when there are lightning strikes) and move around, sometimes fading away, other times exploding.
		My record is a 10cm diameter sphere that lasted little over 3 minutes, which brings me to the phenomena of disappearing BL: It disappears when it reaches a "dead spot": a place where the microwaves are at their lowest energy.
		Ball Lightning buzzes inside microwave ovens because the half-wave voltage doubler causes the magnetron to pulse 50 times a second (or 60 if the input is 60Hz).
	www.powerlabs.org /uwavexp.htm (1365 words)

	Ball Lightning bibliography
		Amirov A.K., Bychkov V.L., "ANOVA of the parameters of ball lightning from the SKB data bank in correspondence to its location (indoors/outdoors)", Physica Scripta, Nov. 1994, Vol.50, n.5.
		Amirov A.K., Bychkov V.L., "Ball lightning diameter-lifetime statistical analysis of SKB databank", Physica Scripta, March 1995, Vol.51, n.3.
		Lowke J.J., "A theory of ball lightning as an electric discharge", Journal of Physics D, 1996, Vol.29, n.5.
	www.fis.unipr.it /~albino/documenti/Bibliografia_BL.html (1547 words)

	ball lightning in microwave ovens
		This is the "ball lightning" effect in the 700-watt oven in my dorm, captured
		The reason the "ball lightning" is formed is that hot ionized gas in flames and arcs is a pretty good conductor,
		The flame itself is a little difficult, since it needs to be put in the right place in the oven's fields to absorb sufficient power.
	www.angelfire.com /electronic/cwillis/microwave.html (780 words)

	Ball lightning (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-07)
		ref: 2245/WB Werner Burger was watching a storm on a summer night in 1978 and had his camera to hand to photograph lightning flashes.
		He snapped a fireball and captured what may be the rare phenomenon of ball lightning.
		This photograph is copyright and may not be copied or reproduced without permission.
	www.forteanpix.demon.co.uk /ball-lig.html (52 words)

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