The Largest Ball of Lightening

[Catty1]

I get these in my email every weekday. There have been horrid storms in the US and in parts of Canada - but I never have seen ball lightening. I can imagine seeing this one...

Did you know...

... that today is Big Ball Lightning Day? Normally the size of a bowling ball, ball lightning is a sphere of glowing light that strikes during thunderstorms. In 1977, a ball of lightning the size of a bus bounded down a hillside in Wales, the largest sized ball of lightning ever to be recorded.

[phesina]

I have never seen or heard of this either, Candace. Thanks for this "enlightening" information, which is quite interesting to learn about.

I sure hope I never get bounded on by one the size of a bus!

[kokopup]

I am a retired Electrical Engineer, while I have never seen ball lightning, I have seen and created the equivalent while testing high current DC Motors. The Interrupter ( like a circuit breaker) for DC current has arch chutes that help extinguish the current when they open for protection. I have created arc balls bigger that a beach ball that travels as much a 50 feet. The sound that accompanies these balls is like a cannon going off. This is quite a sight and very nerve racking when you know the consequence of the interrupter not working.