Re: Tesla Coils & Ball Lightning

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: "Malcolm Watts" <m.j.watts@xxxxxxxxxxxx>

Just for the record, if were ever lucky enough to see BL I wouldn't
hesitate to inform list members. More below:

On 6 Aug 2005, at 17:20, Tesla list wrote:

> Original poster: Terry Fritz <vardin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>
> Hi Bill,
>
> ..........
> >Has anyone here ever been afraid of being seen as a "lightning-ball
> >quack?"  Since the 1980s the attitude towards BL has lightened up
> >immensely.  In earlier decades, the scientific community thought that
> >reports of BL were as bad as reports of alien abduction or bigfoot:
> >since BL didn't exist, if you reported seeing it, you were either
> >lying or crazy or a very poor observer, no other choice.  Today quite
> >a few researchers are convinced that BL exists, and many more are
> >unsure about it, so they wouldn't assume that a BL eyewitness must be
> >lying or delusional.
>
> Ball lightning and the accounts of seeing it do not have nearly the
> same "hype" attraction as being abducted by aliens from Mars.  There
> is just not a lot of glory in lying about it, so we assume that most
> of the folks reporting it are probably honest.  Those that tell of
> ball lightning sightings are not going to get a lot of fame from it
> other than a few folks asking for the usual details...
>
>
> > >  We like
> > > to talk about unusual stuff.  If there IS such a thing as ball
> > > lightning I'd like to see it under safe circumstances.
> >
> >:)     I'd like to see it even if there was a danger of serious
> >injury!
>
> There are claims it is nasty:
>
> http://www.pharmachip.hu/zyx/gombvillam/gv0007_small.jpg
>
> http://www.pharmachip.hu/zyx/eng/fireball.htm
>
>
> I wonder what the "protocol" should be for a ball lightning
> encounter?  Many of us have seen it in the past, and many will see it
> in the future.
>
> I would think it would be best just to calmly observe it and note as
> much about it as possible.  Probably no time to get a camera.  If it
> comes near, it is certainly best to avoid touching it.  Since folks
> here on the list are more educated about sparks than average, I would
> think it would be best to try and get as much new information as
> possible from an encounter.  Maybe we should plan ahead for the next
> sighting.

That's exactly the problem. We might discuss at length what tests
should be conducted (e.g. static and dynamic e-field monitoring
etc.), what instrumentation should be used, whether to poke something
like an insulated then earthed metal rod at it etc. Problem is of
course, not being able to produce it on demand means the likelihood
of having any instrumentation at the right place at the right time is
near zero and yet that is just what needs to happen if we are to come
any closer to understanding and producing it. This could amount to
being one of the most frustrating searches in the history of science.

Malcolm