UFO Map

EN PL

Mystery lights

Ball lightning

For centuries ball lightning was considered a fairy tale, although it was described by scientists, pilots and residents of struck houses. The ball floats slowly, can pass through a windowpane and disappears after a few seconds – silently or with an explosion. The first spectrum of ball lightning was recorded by chance by Chinese researchers in 2012, but the mechanism is still debated.

cases
4
years
1638–2012

Disputed: 4

  1. 17th century

    1. 1638 Ball lightning · Disputed The Great Thunderstorm at Widecombe-in-the-Moor St Pancras Church, Widecombe-in-the-Moor, Dartmoor, Devon, United Kingdom During a Sunday service in 1638, a ball of fire burst into a church on Dartmoor – four people were killed and dozens were injured.

  2. 18th century

    1. 1753 Ball lightning · Disputed Death of Georg Richmann in St. Petersburg Richmann’s house in St. Petersburg, Russia Physicist Georg Richmann was killed in 1753 during an experiment with atmospheric electricity – according to a witness, he was struck by a glowing ball.

  3. 1960–1969

    1. 1963 Ball lightning · Disputed Ball of Light Aboard an Eastern Airlines Flight In flight from New York to Washington, U.S. East Coast, United States In 1963 physicist Roger Jennison watched a glowing ball about the size of a soccer ball drift down the aisle of a passenger plane.

  4. 2010–2019

    1. 2012 Ball lightning · Disputed First Spectrum of Ball Lightning – Qinghai Plateau Qinghai Plateau on the Tibetan Plateau, Qinghai Province, China In July 2012, Chinese scientists studying ordinary lightning recorded ball lightning by chance and measured its spectrum for the first time.