Dume Off - Ball Lightning on the railway

The other plasma.
Lovely.

nearly five years ago (come summer 2020) I was standing in a parking lot adjacent to my home talking to a bunch of young friends, overhead black clouds were rapidly rolling in - there was no rain yet. In front of me - approximately 60 feet ahead , a shower of sparks emanated from a power line connector and an orange ball, about the size of a beach ball floated across the street and over a rat rod Jeep in my driveway - it must had taken several seconds to go that distance. It died in a flash between the Jeep and the driveway's hillside.

I knew what it was but didn't own a cell phone/camera and the younger folks did not know (nor probably care) how rare an event they'd just seen (bet all of them had good cell phones). As rain was starting, I walked up the driveway and as went by the Jeep, a second plasma ball came off the lines and floated roughly the same path but a bit higher - it died in a flash right behind and above us - perhaps no more than 10 feet away. The other folks still standing and conversing at the parking lot saw it flash and die.

There was no smell of ozone. What I thought was very interesting was the "ZZZzzztt" sound it made when it hit the bank and died. That sound was distinctly like a partial cycle of a 60Hz "Jacobs Ladder". Why might the ball had an AC component ? Static electricity (DC) goes with a "SNAP" and not a "Buzzz".

I also wonder what would have happened if one those balls hit a person?

That Russian video looks odd - faked with the arc discharges from the sphere - but maybe not (?)

Here's a rough impression of the path of ball I saw using "Paint"

This is western Wv

[link to i.imgur.com (secure)]

Last Edited by blob-o-matic on 04/27/2020 04:55 AM

this was posted here before, its fake, it was uploaded on youtube and creator even said its fake.

the railway thing looked faked for sure. What I saw (and heard) was real. I'd like to know why the ball which popped near me had that alternating current sound - did it pick that up from the 60Hz power lines? (I've played with Jacobs ladders and have a 720w Tesla coil so know arc sounds - the girl with me probably had far better hearing but none of that aural and flash experience would resonate with her other than being a bit scared)


[link to i.imgur.com (secure)]

Last Edited by blob-o-matic on 04/27/2020 01:33 PM