Ball lightning- a rare and rather poorly studied phenomenon, but no less dangerous. The first mentions of it date back to the 2nd century BC, when chronicles told about mysterious phenomena that took place in Rome. Similar precedents also occurred in the Middle Ages. IN modern world the study of the nature of the occurrence of ball lightning began in the 19th century, when D. Arago described this phenomenon. Since then, there has been a lot of research, but humanity still cannot unravel its secret, and that is why it is so afraid. We will try to figure out why ball lightning is dangerous, as well as how to protect yourself from it.

Specifics of the impact of ball lightning

This phenomenon is usually striking in its brightness. In this case, the color of lightning can be very different:

• dazzling white;
• blue-blue;
• black;

But the most common shades are:

• orange;
• red;
• yellow.

Ball lightning can appear both in good weather, for example, on a sunny July morning, and during a thunderstorm. Science does not fully know the exact nature of its occurrence, because it can manifest itself both in open space: inside clouds, in the air, above the ground; and in enclosed spaces, including residential buildings, through a socket or glass window. The real temperature of ball lightning is also unknown to scientists. According to their forecasts, it can fluctuate greatly: some experts believe that it is equal to 1000°C, while others think that it is a little over 100°C. Lightning can suddenly change its direction while moving. There are cases of ball lightning appearing simultaneously with ordinary linear lightning. This relationship has not yet been precisely described, but this fact exists. This variability explains the difficulties in studying ball lightning. Many experts believed that such a phenomenon did not exist at all, and that it was simply some kind of optical illusion.

People who have encountered this effect say (and scientists echo them) that the phenomenon can be divided into 2 types:

1. A red object descends from the sky. When it collides with anything it explodes.
2. It moves parallel to the earth's surface, the source of attraction for it is power plants, transmission lines and even household appliances.

Ordinary people may be unreliable, but they are the most informed source, so scientists often turn to them when studying this issue. Many people indicate that it “hisses”, and the duration of its glow ranges from a fraction of a second to half a minute. It is still a big mystery for scientists how ball lightning is formed, because we can only observe it at the final stage of its existence. Also of particular interest is its shape. That is why a number of hypotheses have been put forward regarding this phenomenon.

Where does ball lightning come from?

It is extremely difficult for scientists to describe the nature of its occurrence, since it is very difficult to capture it. It is not easy to take a photo of ball lightning, because this phenomenon sometimes lasts a fraction of a second. Some witnesses claim to have seen a long glow. Sometimes it just quietly disappears, but there are times when it explodes and you can get a real ball lightning strike.

Many important points need explanation:

1. Conditions of creation. After all, there is evidence indicating that she appeared not only during a thunderstorm, but also on an ordinary sunny day.
2. Structure of matter. Ball lightning can pass through glass, walls, openings and at the same time restore its original shape.
3. The nature of radiation. Is energy taken only from the surface or from the entire volume of the ball?

D. Arago, who was one of the first to become seriously interested in this issue, believed that this phenomenon occurs due to the interaction of nitrogen and oxygen with the release of energy. This hypothesis was developed by another scientist - Ya. Frenkel. He argued that the ball contained active gases formed as a result of this reaction. Based on this, we can say that the energy is located inside the object.

Physicist P. Kapitsa did not agree with this assumption. He believed that the reason for everything was additional energy in the form of radio waves resulting from electromagnetic oscillations between clouds and the ground during a thunderstorm. It accumulates and at some point begins to interact with a natural phenomenon. But this theory is also imperfect, because does not explain the appearance of ball lightning on sunny days.

Thanks to observations from the ground and air, the dimensions of existing spark charges are now well known. Their size ranges from 1 cm to 1 m or more. Most often, people have to deal with lightning with a diameter of 10-20 cm.

M. Yuman tried to repeat this process in the laboratory, but his experiment failed. In order to find out the speed of ball lightning, its structure and features, it is necessary to regularly conduct experiments. However, since all of them are very complex and costly, their implementation in practice is constantly postponed.

How to escape from ball lightning

Ball lightning poses a great danger to humans. As a result of contact with it, at best you will get a serious burn, and most often incidents occur with fatal. The most important thing is not to jerk sharply and panic. If you don’t know what to do if there’s ball lightning nearby, then the simplest advice is don’t run. She is very susceptible to various air vibrations, so she will immediately follow you, and her speed is much higher.

It is necessary to try to move away from the path along which the object is moving, while it is strictly forbidden to turn your back to it. If possible, stay away from all your gadgets, and also avoid contact with synthetic materials, as they are very electrified. If you are wearing such clothes, then it is better to just freeze and stay in place. Then there is a chance that the threat will simply pass by. If this could not be avoided, and the victim has burns, then you need to send him to a ventilated room, and then wrap him warmly. You must try to help the victim by doing artificial respiration, if necessary. This will help stabilize his condition a little. However, the first thing you need to do is immediately contact Ambulance. Now you know what to do when encountering ball lightning.

It doesn’t matter whether you encounter a phenomenon on the street or in an apartment, do not try to disturb its structure in any way (for example, by throwing something inside). By doing this, you can only harm yourself, since the likelihood of an explosion increases significantly. How to escape from ball lightning in the house?

Immediately warn your loved ones or colleagues (if you are at work) about the existing threat. Also try to prevent panic. It is necessary to approach the window as carefully as possible and open the window. There is a high probability that the ball will simply come out. In this case, you need to be as collected as possible, not hesitate, but also avoid sudden movements.

Ball lightning not only easily passes through walls, but can also completely destroy even a strong building. In order to prevent this, it is better to make sure that your home is safe in advance. We recommend that you read the article “Protecting your home from direct lightning strikes. Lightning protection: lightning rod, lightning rod, grounding device.” It presents all the current security methods.

Places where ball lightning occurs

It is simply impossible to predict any specific location where it will appear, so no one is protected from such a threat. There have been cases where repeated occurrences have been recorded this effect in one area. Ball lightning in a city near Pskov was noticed several times during the year. But at the same time, the nature of its occurrence remained unknown. Scientists even tried to calculate it, but the destructive force was so great that all instruments became unusable. There is a chronicle from other places confirming the danger of this phenomenon, for example, INCREDIBLE footage of ball lightning (5 videos):

The consequences can be dire. You already know what ball lightning looks like, so you can imagine the extent of its destructive effect. At best it will long-term treatment. It all depends on the degree of burns received and the strength of the discharge. Hearing and vision are seriously damaged. As mentioned earlier, the flash can be blindingly bright.

Naturally, this also negatively affects the heart and muscular systems. The main rule in such cases is to provide quick and qualified assistance. This is what will help save the victim not only life, but also full physical state. Photos of eyewitnesses of ball lightning are amazing.

At the same time, history knows interesting cases, when, after contact with such an object, people discovered in themselves unusual abilities, their illnesses disappeared. But these are exceptions and miracles, but in reality, if ball lightning hits a person, then he is in danger of great trouble. The likelihood of receiving a dangerous electrical discharge remains not only while thunder is roaring, but also after. There is a video called “Ball Lightning - Unique Videos of Eyewitnesses,” in which people are amazed by the phenomenon and are not afraid to film what is happening. In this case, the usual radius is on average 10 km.

Ball lightning, the voltage of which is much higher than ordinary lightning, can permanently cripple life. Therefore, it is worth thinking about your safety right now. Products and services from the Alef-Em company will help you with this, where real professionals work who will take care of you. You need to think about ways to improve the protection of your apartment and not be afraid to face danger.

How to protect yourself from ball lightning using the services we provide

Lightning rods from "Alef-Em" are reliable protection in emergency situations. All you need to do is go to our website and select the products you need to protect yourself. Our sales consultants, who have extensive experience, will help you with this. You can talk to them on different topics regarding the safety of your home both during a thunderstorm and when ball lightning occurs.

You already know how to behave if ball lightning has flown into your house. But by using our services, you will be able to minimize, or even avoid, this probability. The charges will be directed into the ground; such lightning rods have already been tested many times. The main evidence of their quality is not certificates at all, but grateful customer reviews.

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• metal base;
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• cable acting as a connector.

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Many of us have heard of such a concept as “ball lightning”. It must be said that few people imagine what this phenomenon is. Not to mention ordinary people, even physicists and chemists still do not know what ball lightning is. Some eyewitnesses described what it looked like, but not everyone was able to “touch” it, so to speak. Of course, every self-respecting astrophysicist tries to inform the entire scientific world that he has discovered something new, say, unknown planets or galaxies. But here it’s worth coming down to earth, because on our planet there are a lot of unexplored natural phenomena.

What is ball lightning?

Today, official science cannot provide an explanation for what is commonly called ball lightning. Even leading experts in this field do not know what ball lightning looks like and how it is formed.

The point here is that theoretical physicists still cannot agree on a common opinion: is it plasma or electricity. Unfortunately, they know what ball lightning looks like, but no one has been able to “shove” it into a test tube for research.

What's in the movies, what's in real life We can very often observe such specific effects. Not many directors allow themselves to recreate them, much less shoot in real life. As is already clear, this is fraught with unpredictable consequences.

The point of view of official physics

What do teachers who teach physics in schools and applicants for doctoral dissertations tell us? Yes, absolutely nothing. Officially, in the question of what ball lightning looks like, or what effect it can have on a person, only about appearance Much has been said, but not about the nature of the phenomenon itself.

Today it is believed that ball lightning is a plasma clot. True, official science still does not provide an explanation for the fact that such a plasma clot is capable of emitting electricity of millions of volts. It turns out that questions about what ball lightning looks like and how this phenomenon is formed remain unanswered.

Despite all our knowledge accumulated over the centuries, we still cannot give a definite answer to the question that interests us. But let's try to approach the concept itself from a slightly different point of view. First, let's look at the dangers of encountering lightning of this type.

What does ball lightning look like and why is it dangerous?

First of all, you need to clearly understand that ball lightning usually looks like a bright ball with light that hurts the eyes, which “floats” above the surface of the earth. Again, physicists do not agree on what ball lightning looks like (the photo will be shown below).

If you come into contact with such a thing, you can either receive a high-voltage shock or burn alive, as evidenced by numerous cases.

But here's what's interesting. Some people have survived such situations and emerged victorious. Now we will not name their names, but official science confirms that a short-term impulse can have a fairly strong impact on the human brain centers. Almost everyone has heard about what ball lightning looks like, but it is precisely by the effects of its active manifestations that only people called psychics can guess. By the way, many of them at one time, if they did not survive an encounter with ball lightning, then certainly received an electric shock. More on this later.

The most common manifestations of ball lightning

In general, on the European part of our continent, the question of what ball lightning looks like, how this object is formed, and what consequences it brings, in principle, can not be considered. But climbers say that in high mountain areas the appearance of ball lightning is considered normal.

There is nothing surprising about this. If we consider the topic “Ball lightning: what does it look like?”, it is worth paying attention to those places that are the most dangerous, where it is believed that an encounter with ball lightning is almost guaranteed.

These are the so-called places of tectonic faults. Take the 37-38 parallel. Absolutely all currently known pyramids (Egypt, Mexico, India, etc.) were built along it.

Where is it most often found?

Could it be that ancient humans or aliens protected their buildings or access to certain data in this way?

Ball lightning, as proof of this, was encountered on the path of many explorers, including the discoverers of Tutankhamun’s tomb. As you know, they all died an incomprehensible death in one year. Unfortunately, none of them left any clear diary indicating what ball lightning was. True, they knew what she looked like, but meeting her was considered fatal.

And Egypt is not the only indicator. Almost all places associated with the construction of pyramids or ancient burials are in one way or another associated with the appearance of ball lightning (probably as a regulator of access to some of their functions, about which we, alas, have no idea).

Education process

Now let's dive a little into the area of ​​the process that involves the formation of such a clot of matter.

There is no need to say that this is precisely matter. For those who understand the essence of the issue, we immediately note that ball lightning has mass, which means it is not light expressed in transmission by photons with zero mass. This is not a neutrino. Such particles are capable of penetrating not only the Earth, but each of us every second. What then?

The connection between plasma and electricity

It’s not enough to talk about what ball lightning looks like; you need to know the root causes of its physical occurrence. As is commonly believed, a plasma formation in the form of ball lightning carries a charge of static electricity, which can be transformed into a dynamic component and transmitted over a distance even under direct physical contact. If we consider the question of what ball lightning looks like (see photo of a conventional discharge below), it is worth noting the relationship between these two phenomena.

The founder of almost all theory and practice of using electric current and transmitting it to any distance without wires is believed by a brilliant physicist named Nikola Tesla.

It was he who conducted the first experiments on creating the same ball lightning in a local version. Unfortunately, all these developments are deeply classified by US intelligence agencies.

Why should you beware of such formations?

Surprisingly, you need to be very careful with forms like ball lightning. The fact is that the electric discharge following touching such a substance produces a completely inadequate effect on the human body.

Some believe that people who have experienced a shock from ball lightning have the so-called third eye opened, where the individual can predict and predict future events. Here it is worth paying attention to Holy Scripture. It contains clear indications that these are the machinations of the devil. How true this is, we will not delve into now, however, even many researchers of paranormal phenomena are inclined to believe that the question of what ball lightning looks like and what this phenomenon is, note the fact that this phenomenon has simply not been studied , not to mention whether he is a divine or truly diabolical force.

Effect on the human body and brain

Unfortunately, our body is influenced by many factors. Who hasn't heard of full moon when dark forces in the form of vampires or werewolves are on the loose?

Yes, indeed, the Earth’s satellite is capable of exerting a fairly large influence on a person, but certainly no one thinks about the fact that almost the same effect can be obtained when ball lightning appears (this in most cases happens much faster, and in people exposed to influenced by outside forces or believed to have psychic abilities).

What does ball lightning look like in a house? And how to behave correctly when it appears?

Now we come to one of the most pressing issues. If such a formation in the form of a ball or hemisphere flies into the house, first of all, you need not to move, since ball lightning reacts precisely to movement, and it is not always clear why.

Some professionals who are experts in detailed phenomena recommend lying on the floor and not standing upright. It is believed that in this case the ball can simply fly from above without affecting a person, since it itself does not cause air vibrations, thereby creating an area low blood pressure, where ball lightning can move initially.

In general, this is not an isolated case. It is only worth noting that almost any person who encounters such a unique natural phenomenon as ball lightning is exposed to a certain risk, not to mention death.

Nevertheless, one can cite quite a lot of examples when people even experienced contact with such a “touchy” thing as a physical substance in the form of ball lightning, and after that they received superpowers that were not characteristic of ordinary people at birth. It is believed that some electromagnetic pulses transmitted in the form of the impact of ball lightning may be responsible for this process in the transformation of DNA (the main chain of genes at birth). In addition, it is possible that some encoded information may be hidden here, hidden from prying eyes.

Conclusion

So, in fact, we briefly reviewed the main topic “Ball lightning: what does this phenomenon look like?” As is already clear, regarding the explanation of this unique phenomenon There is still no consensus even among scientists. One can only guess what is actually hidden behind it.

Ball lightning is the so-called plasma clots that form during thunderstorms. But the true nature of the formation of these fireballs makes it impossible for scientists to come up with a sound explanation for the unexpected and very frightening effects that typically occur when ball lightning occurs.

The appearance of the "devil"

For a long time, people believed that the mythical deity Zeus was behind the eruption of thunder and lightning. But the most mysterious were the ball lightnings, which appeared extremely rarely and unexpectedly evaporated, leaving only the most terrible stories of their origin.

The first occurrence of ball lightning was attested in the description of one of the most tragic incidents, which happened on October 21, 1638. Ball lightning literally flew through the window into the church in the village of Widecombe Moor at high speed. Eyewitnesses said that a sparkling fireball with a diameter of more than two meters, still incomprehensible to them, somehow knocked out a couple of stones and wooden beams from the church walls.

But the ball didn't stop there. Then this fireball broke in half wooden benches, and also broke many windows and after that filled the room with thick smoke with the smell of some kind of sulfur. But local residents who came to the church for the service were in for another not-so-good experience. a pleasant surprise. The ball stopped for a few seconds and then split into two parts, two fireballs. One of which flew out the window, and the other disappeared into the church building.

After the incident, four people died, and about sixty villagers were seriously injured. This incident was called the “coming of the devil,” in which parishioners who played cards during the sermon were blamed.

Horror and fear

Ball lightning is not always spherical in shape; you can also find oval, drop-shaped and rod-shaped ball lightning, the size of which can range from several centimeters to several meters.

Small ball lightning is often observed. In nature, you can find ball lightning red, yellow-red, completely yellow, and in rare cases white or green. Sometimes ball lightning behaves quite intelligently, floating in the air, and sometimes it can suddenly stop without any reason, and then fly forcefully into absolutely any object or person and completely discharge into it.

Many witnesses claim that during the flight the fireball makes a quiet, perceptible sound, similar to hissing. And the appearance of ball lightning is usually accompanied by the smell of ozone or sulfur.

Touching ball lightning is strictly prohibited! Such cases ended in severe burns and even loss of consciousness of the person. Scientists say this is incomprehensible a natural phenomenon can even kill a person with its electric discharge.

In 1753, physics professor Georg Richmann died from ball lightning during an experiment with electricity. This death shocked everyone and made them wonder what ball lightning actually is and why does it even occur in nature?

Witnesses often notice that when they see ball lightning, they feel a sense of horror that, in their opinion, ball lightning inspires them. After meeting this fireball on its way, eyewitnesses experience a feeling of depression and severe headaches, which may not go away for a very long time and no painkillers help.

Scientists' experience

Scientists have come to the conclusion that ball lightning has no similarities with ordinary lightning, since they can be observed in clear, dry weather, including in the winter.

Many theoretical models have appeared that describe the very origin and direct evolution of ball lightning. Today their number is more than four hundred.

The main difficulty with these theories is that all theoretical models are recreated using various experiments, only with some limitations. If scientists begin to equate the artificially created environment with the natural one, then what they get is only a kind of “plasmoid” that lives for a couple of seconds, but nothing more, while natural ball lightning lives for half an hour, while constantly moving, hovering, chasing people around completely for some unknown reason, it also passes through walls and can even explode, so the model and reality are still far from each other.

Assumption

Scientists have found out that in order to find out the truth, it is necessary to catch and also conduct a thorough study of ball lightning directly in an open field; soon the scientists’ wish came true. July 23, 2012 at a later date evening time the fireball was caught using two spectrometers that were installed directly on the Tibetan plateau. Physicists from China who carried out the study were able to record within a few seconds the glow that real ball lightning produced.

Scientists were able to make an incredible discovery: compared to the spectrum of simple lightning familiar to the human eye, which mainly contains lines of ionized nitrogen, the spectrum of natural ball lightning turned out to be completely saturated with veins of iron, as well as calcium and silicon. All of these elements act as the main components of the soil.

Scientists have come to the conclusion that inside ball lightning there is a process of combustion of soil particles that were thrown into the air by a simple thunderstorm strike.

At the same time, Chinese researchers say that the secret of the phenomenon has been revealed prematurely. Let's assume that in the center of the ball lightning itself, soil particles burn. How is the ability of ball lightning to pass through walls or the effect on people through emotions explained? By the way, there have been cases when ball lightning appeared right inside submarines. How then can this be explained?

All this is still shrouded in mystery and even scientists have not been able to explain the phenomenon of ball lightning for many years or even centuries. Will this mystery really remain unsolved by the scientific world?

There are more than 400 hypotheses explaining its occurrence

They always appear suddenly. Most scientists involved in their study have never seen the subject of their research with their own eyes. Experts have been arguing for centuries, but have never reproduced this phenomenon in the laboratory. However, no one puts him on a par with a UFO, Chupacabra or poltergeist. We are talking about ball lightning.

Scientists propose to concentrate efforts to search for a signal from extraterrestrial civilizations in the transit zone. Scientists from Germany insist on narrowing the search zone for potentially habitable planets. Rene Hellery and Ralph Pudritz spoke about this in an interview with Astrobiology magazine. According to them, there are currently several methods for searching for exoplanets - planets that orbit other stars. The main one is the so-called transit method, the essence of which is that astronomers observe a decrease in the brightness of a star when a planet passes between an observer from Earth and the star.

DOSSIER ON THE HELL BALL

As a rule, the appearance of ball lightning is associated with strong thunderstorms. The overwhelming number of eyewitnesses describe the object as a ball with a volume of about 1 cubic meter. dm. However, if you analyze the testimonies of airplane pilots, they often mention giant balls. Sometimes eyewitnesses describe a ribbon-like "tail" or even several "tentacles". The surface of the object most often glows evenly, sometimes pulsates, but there are rare observations of dark ball lightning. Occasionally, bright rays are mentioned escaping from the inside of the ball. The color of the surface glow can be very different. It can also change over time.

An encounter with this mysterious phenomenon is very dangerous: many cases of burns and deaths from contact with ball lightning have been recorded.

VERSIONS: GAS DISCHARGE AND PLASMA CLUTCH

Attempts to unravel the phenomenon have been made for a long time.

Back in the 18th century. The outstanding French scientist Dominique François Arago published the first, very detailed work on ball lightning. In it, Arago summarized about 30 observations and thus laid the foundation for the scientific study of the phenomenon.

Of the hundreds of hypotheses, until recently, two looked most likely.

GAS DISCHARGE. In 1955, Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa presented a report “On the nature of ball lightning.” In that work, he tries to explain both the very birth of ball lightning and many of its unusual features by the emergence of short-wave electromagnetic oscillations between thunderclouds and earth's surface. The scientist believed that ball lightning is a gas discharge moving along the power lines of a standing electromagnetic
waves between clouds and ground. It doesn’t sound too clear, but we are dealing with a very complex physical phenomenon. However, even such a genius as Kapitsa could not explain the nature of the short-wave oscillations that provoke the appearance of the “hell ball”. The scientist’s assumption formed the basis of a whole trend that continues to develop to this day.

PLASMA CLUTCH. According to the outstanding scientist Igor Stakhanov (he was called “the physicist who knows everything about ball lightning”), we are dealing with a bunch of ions. Stakhanov's theory agreed well with eyewitness accounts and explained both the shape of lightning and its ability to penetrate holes, re-taking its original form. However, experiments to create a man-made bunch of ions were unsuccessful.

ANTIMATTER. The above hypotheses are quite working, and research continues on their basis. However, it is worth giving examples of more daring flights of thought. Thus, American astronaut Jeffrey Shears Ashby suggested that ball lightning is born during the annihilation (mutual destruction with the release of a huge amount of energy) of antimatter particles that enter the atmosphere from space.

CREATE LIGHTNING

Creating ball lightning in laboratory conditions is a long-standing and not yet completely dream come true many scientists.

TESLA'S EXPERIMENTS. The first attempts in this direction were made by the brilliant Nikola Tesla at the beginning of the 20th century. Unfortunately, there are no reliable descriptions of either the experiments themselves or the results obtained. In his work notes there is information that, under certain conditions, he managed to “ignite” a gas discharge that looked like a luminous spherical ball. Tesla allegedly could hold these mysterious balls in his hands and even throw them around. However, Tesla’s activities have always been shrouded in mystery and riddles. So it’s impossible to understand where truth and fiction are in the story about hand-held ball lightning.

WHITE CLUTTS. At the US Air Force Academy (Colorado) in 2013, it was possible to create bright balls by exposing a special solution to powerful electrical discharges. Strange objects were able to exist for almost half a second. Scientists have cautiously chosen to call them plasmoids rather than ball lightning. But they expect that the experiment will bring them closer to the solution.

Plasmoid. The bright white ball only existed for half a second.

AN UNEXPECTED EXPLANATION

At the end of the 20th century. appeared new method diagnostics and treatment - transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). The idea is that by exposing an area of ​​the brain to a focused strong magnetic field, you can make nerve cells(neurons) react as if they received a signal through nervous system.

This can cause hallucinations in the form of fiery disks. By shifting the point of influence on the brain, you can make the disk move (as perceived by the test subject). Austrian scientists Joseph Peer and Alexander Kendl suggested that during thunderstorms powerful magnetic fields that provoke such visions. Yes, this is a unique set of circumstances, but ball lightning is rarely seen. Scientists point out that there is a greater chance if a person is in a building or an airplane (statistics confirm this). The hypothesis can only explain part of the observations: encounters with lightning that resulted in burns and deaths remain unsolved.

FIVE BRIGHT CASES

Reports of encounters with ball lightning come in constantly. In Ukraine, one of the latest took place last summer: such a “hellish ball” flew into the premises of the Dibrovsky village council in the Kirovograd region. No people were touched, but all the office equipment was burned. In science and popular science literature, a certain set of the most famous collisions between man and ball lightning has been formed.

1638. During an autumn thunderstorm in the village of Widecombe Moor in England, a ball with a diameter of more than 2 m flew into the church. According to eyewitnesses, lightning broke benches, broke windows and filled the church with smoke that smelled of sulfur. In this case, four people died. The “culprits” were soon found - they were declared to be two peasants who allowed themselves to play cards during the sermon.

1753. Georg Richmann, a member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, conducts research into atmospheric electricity. Suddenly a bluish-orange ball appears and hits the scientist in the face with a crash. The scientist is killed, his assistant is stunned. A small purple spot was found on Richman's forehead, his jacket was burned, and his shoes were torn. The story is familiar to everyone who studied at Soviet time: Not a single physics textbook of that time was complete without a description of Richmann’s death.

1944. In Uppsala (Sweden), ball lightning passed through a window glass (a hole with a diameter of about 5 cm was left at the site of penetration). The phenomenon was observed not only by people who were on the spot: the lightning tracking system of the local university also worked.

1978. A group of Soviet climbers stopped for the night in the mountains. A bright yellow ball the size of a tennis ball suddenly appeared in the tightly buttoned tent. It crackled and moved chaotically in space. One climber died from touching the ball. The rest received multiple burns. The case became known after publication in the magazine "Technology - Youth". Now not a single forum for fans of UFOs, the Dyatlov Pass, etc. can do without mentioning that story.

2012. Incredible luck: in Tibet, ball lightning falls into the field of view of spectrometers, with the help of which Chinese scientists studied ordinary lightning. The devices managed to record a glow of 1.64 seconds in length. and obtain detailed spectra. Unlike the spectrum of ordinary lightning (there are nitrogen lines there), the spectrum of ball lightning contains many lines of iron, silicon and calcium - the main chemical elements soil. Some of the theories of the origin of ball lightning have received significant arguments in their favor.

Mystery. This is how an encounter with ball lightning was depicted in the 19th century.

DOES BALL LIGHTNING EXIST?

Behind long history studying ball lightning with the most frequently asked questions there were no questions about how this ball is formed or what its properties are, although these problems are quite complex. But most often the question was asked: “Does ball lightning really exist?” This persistent skepticism is largely due to the difficulties encountered in attempts to experimentally study ball lightning through existing methods, as well as the lack of a theory that would give a sufficiently complete or at least satisfactory explanation of this phenomenon.

Those who deny the existence of ball lightning explain reports about it by optical illusions or erroneous identification of other natural luminous bodies with it. Often cases of the possible appearance of ball lightning are attributed to meteors. In some cases, phenomena described in the literature as ball lightning apparently actually were meteors. However, meteor trails are almost invariably observed as straight lines, while the path characteristic of ball lightning, on the contrary, is most often curved. Further, ball lightning appears, with very rare exceptions, during thunderstorms, while meteors were observed under such conditions only by chance. An ordinary lightning discharge, the direction of the channel of which coincides with the observer’s line of sight, may appear to be a ball. As a result, an optical illusion can occur - the blinding light of the flash remains in the eye as an image, even when the observer changes the direction of the line of sight. This is why it has been suggested that the false image of the ball appears to be moving along a complex trajectory.

In the first detailed discussion of the problem of ball lightning, Arago (Dominique François Jean Arago is a French physicist and astronomer who published the first detailed work on ball lightning in the world scientific literature, summarizing the 30 eyewitness observations he collected, which marked the beginning of the study of this natural phenomenon) touched on this issue. In addition to a number of apparently reliable observations, he noted that an observer seeing the ball descending at a certain angle from the side cannot experience an optical illusion such as the one described above. Arago's arguments apparently seemed quite convincing to Faraday: while rejecting theories according to which ball lightning is an electric discharge, he emphasized that he did not deny the existence of these spheres.

50 years after the publication of Arago's review of the problem of ball lightning, it was again suggested that the image of ordinary lightning moving directly towards the observer was preserved for a long time, and Lord Kelvin in 1888 at a meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science argued that ball lightning - This is an optical illusion caused by bright light. The fact that many reports cited the same dimensions of ball lightning was attributed to the fact that this illusion was associated with a blind spot in the eye.

A debate between supporters and opponents of these points of view took place at a meeting of the French Academy of Sciences in 1890. The topic of one of the reports submitted to the Academy was the numerous luminous spheres that appeared in tornadoes and resembled ball lightning. These luminous spheres flew into houses through chimneys, punched round holes in windows, and generally exhibited very unusual properties attributed to ball lightning. After the report, one of the Academy members noted that amazing properties ball lightning, which were discussed, should be taken critically, since observers apparently became victims optical illusions. In the heated discussion that broke out, the observations made by uneducated peasants were declared not worthy of attention, after which those present at the meeting former emperor Brazil, a foreign member of the Academy, stated that he also saw ball lightning.

Many reports of natural luminous spheres were explained by the fact that observers mistakenly mistook the lights of St. for ball lightning. Elma. Lights of St. Elma is a relatively commonly observed luminous area formed by a corona discharge at the end of a grounded object, say a pole. They occur when atmospheric tension electric field increases significantly, for example, during a thunderstorm. With particularly strong fields, which often occur near mountain peaks, this form of discharge can be observed on any object raised above the ground, and even on the hands and heads of people. However, if we consider the moving spheres to be the lights of St. Elm, then we must assume that the electric field continuously moves from one object, playing the role of a discharge electrode, to another similar object. They tried to explain the message that such a ball was moving over a row of fir trees by saying that a cloud with a field associated with it was passing over these trees. Proponents of this theory considered the lights of St. Elma and all the other balls of light separated from their original attachment point and flew through the air. Since a corona discharge necessarily requires the presence of an electrode, the separation of such balls from a grounded tip indicates that we are talking about some other phenomenon, perhaps a different form of discharge. There are several reports of fireballs that were initially located on points acting as electrodes, and then moved freely in the manner described above.

Other luminous objects have been observed in nature, which were sometimes mistaken for ball lightning. For example, the nightjar is a nocturnal insectivorous bird, to whose feathers luminous rotten insects sometimes stick from the hollow in which it nests, flies in zigzags above the ground, swallowing insects; from some distance it can be mistaken for ball lightning.

The fact that in any given case ball lightning may turn out to be something else is a very strong argument against its existence. A major researcher of high-voltage currents once noted that, for many years observing thunderstorms and photographing them panoramicly, he had never seen ball lightning. In addition, when talking with alleged eyewitnesses of ball lightning, this researcher was always convinced that their observations could have a different and completely justified interpretation. The constant resurgence of such arguments emphasizes the importance of detailed and reliable observations of ball lightning.

Most often, the observations on which knowledge about ball lightning is based have been questioned because these mysterious balls were seen only by people who did not have any scientific training. This opinion turned out to be completely wrong. The appearance of ball lightning was observed from a distance of just a few tens of meters by a scientist, an employee of a German laboratory studying atmospheric electricity; lightning was also observed by an employee of the Tokyo Central Meteorological Observatory. Ball lightning was also witnessed by a meteorologist, physicists, a chemist, a paleontologist, the director of a meteorological observatory and several geologists. Among scientists of various specialties, ball lightning was more often seen and astronomers reported on it.

In very rare cases, when ball lightning appeared, an eyewitness was able to obtain photographs. These photographs, as well as other information concerning ball lightning, have often received insufficient attention.

The information collected convinced most meteorologists that their skepticism was unfounded. On the other hand, there is no doubt that many scientists working in other fields take a negative view, both due to intuitive skepticism and the unavailability of data on ball lightning.