Re: Ball Lightining (was- Christmas Tree Musings)

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "Ed Phillips by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <evp-at-pacbell-dot-net>

Tesla list wrote:
> 
> Original poster: "John H. Couture by way of Terry Fritz
<twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <couturejh-at-mgte-dot-com>
> 
> Steve -
> 
> I can tell you how to make basketball size ball lightning on demand because
> I have done it - accidentally. It takes a 750 KVA power transformer that is
> short circuited and then instantaneously disconnected. The fast
> disconnection is the secret. In my case a loose large bolt fell across
> energized copper buss bars in switchgear I was testing. The bolt was
> immediately thrown off the buss bars by the short circuit current forces.
> The plasma ball that was formed lasted only about 2 seconds and then
> disappeared with no noise. The buss bars had only small nicks due to some
> fusing. The electrician and I were shook up to say the least.
> 
> John Couture

	I would be "all shook up" too!  I suspect that the ball you observed
had a core of molten copper, which perhaps bounded along the floor
leaving burn marks as it went. 

	On the subject of "ball lightning", I have seen it twice.  In both
cases I happened to be out in the open during a summer thunder storm and
was looking directly at a tree when it was hit by a lightning bolt. 
After the flash I could see a string of folden ball-like objects
floating in the sky.  In retrospect, I am positive that these were an
illusion created by retinal fatigue.

Ed