A rare and poorly understood luminous, spherical phenomenon, typically reported during thunderstorms, that appears as a glowing orb ranging from the size of a pea to several feet across and can persist for several seconds, far longer than an ordinary lightning flash. Eyewitness accounts describe it moving erratically before vanishing silently or with a small explosion, and despite centuries of recorded sightings, no single physical explanation has been conclusively confirmed by controlled observation.
Facts
PeriodicityNot periodic. Individual events are brief, usually appearing almost simultaneously with an ordinary cloud-to-ground lightning strike, and typically last from about one second to just over a minute. 1 ScaleMost reported balls measure ten to twenty centimeters across, with a documented range from pea-sized up to about a meter in diameter. 1 First DescribedThe chronicle of the English monk Gervase of Canterbury contains what historians consider possibly the earliest known written account, dated 7 June 1195. 1 Identification
Distinguishing AppearanceA glowing sphere or pear-shaped ball with fuzzy edges, most often red, orange or yellow, that moves and persists in ways ordinary lightning does not. 1 Sources
1. Ball Lightning (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationCharacteristics section
They are generally spherical or pear-shaped with fuzzy edges
Gervase of Canterbury section
The chronicle of Gervase of Canterbury, an English monk, contains what is possibly the earliest known reference to ball lightning, dated 7 June 1195.
Characteristics section, 1972 literature review
The lifetime of each event is from one second to over a minute with the brightness remaining fairly constant during that time
Characteristics section, 1972 literature review, diameter range
Their diameters range from 1-100 cm (0.4-40 inches), most commonly 10-20 cm (4-8 inches)
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