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Anthropology
Related: About this forumMysterious lightning phenomenon recorded in ancient medieval text
28 January 2022
/Amalyah Hart
Benedictine monk documented the still-mysterious wonder of ball lightning.
Unlike traditional lightning (pictured), ball lightning is exceptionally rare and as yet poorly understood by the scientific community. Image credit: Alexandre Brochard Photographies/Getty Images
British researchers have uncovered what they believe to be the earliest written account in England of a bizarre and poorly understood phenomenon known as ball lightning, chronicled in a medieval text written by a Benedictine monk who lived just under 1000 years ago.
What is ball lightning?
Usually associated with thunderstorms, ball lightning has been described as a bright spherical object, on average 25 centimetres across but sometimes reaching several metres in diameter.
The phenomenon has mystified humans for centuries, with the previous oldest written account having been found in a 1638 report, which described a ball of fire flying into a church, accompanied by a great peal of thunder.
Scientists dont really understand what causes ball lightning, and have long been on the hunt for an explanation. One possible answer is that lightning striking the ground vaporises some of the minerals in the soil, which then, floating in the air, react with oxygen and release heat and light to produce an unearthly glow. This explanation seems supported by a 2014 study, which identified trace evidence of silicon, iron and calcium all abundant in soil in a flash of ball lightning.
More:
https://cosmosmagazine.com/history/ancient-text-mysterious-lightning-phenomenon/

lapfog_1
(31,212 posts)my family tells the story of how, during a bad thunder storm in Wichita Kansas, ball lightning "struck" or landed on our porch and rolled into the house through the front door. It left faint scorch marks as it moved and hit a wall where it then dissipated or discharged or whatever.
SergeStorms
(19,696 posts)weather-wise, anyway. I'd surely love to.
I've seen St. Elmo's Fire in the rigging of sailboats, which is pretty amazing in itself, but ball lightning has so far evaded me. I'm always watching though.
druidity33
(6,809 posts)SergeStorms
(19,696 posts)The bioluminescent fungus? I've seen that before many years ago.
If you're talking about something else, then no.
druidity33
(6,809 posts)i saw it a couple of times in the Ozarks. I've not yet seen bioluminescent alga(?) in the water, though i hear in warmer climes that is observable...
unc70
(6,457 posts)On the beach in NC. It was just bouncing or floating along.