Re: Anyone ever successful with Ball Lightning generation here. . . .

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

Original poster: "S & J Young by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <youngs-at-konnections-dot-net>

Here is some interesting stuff regarding ball lightning and of course TCs:

Ball lightning
As a phenomenon, lightning blasts its attention upon us, but there is more
to lightning than just the intense flash and the ear-resonating noise that
is all too familiar. There is also ball lightning, known for a century, seen
by very few, and only recently produced in the laboratory by Robert Golka,
Jr.
I first heard of ball lightning about 50 years ago. It occurs in many
varieties, yet has been mystifying scientists since it couldn't be
reproduced.
It has been described as a self sustaining light-emitting plasma-like ball
that moves along for seconds before disappearing with a bang. Lightning
balls have been reported to last as long as 30 s on submarines during WW II,
where high current switches are employed to transfer power between
batteries, or between batteries and generators. It is not St. Elmo's fire, a
discharge-like electrical phenomenon that is encountered on ships and
aircraft during atmospheric conditions that generate high electric
potentials.
Golka uses a 150-kW transformer capable of providing 10,000 A at 15-V 60
cycles; thick 1-in. stranded wire leading into a plastic tank with water;
and a 1/4-in. thick 4 ¥ 6-in. aluminum plate. The wire and plate are short
circuited about 1/4 in. below the surface of the water and this produces 1/4
in. dia. fireballs. They sizzle and hiss and skim around on the surface,
occasionally taking to the air and leaving spiraling smoke trails that
suggest the balls are spinning.
Golka has seen these fireballs dance onto the floor and he reports them hot
to the touch. Their color is white with an aluminum electrode and yellow
with iron.
There is no theory for ball lightning, although in Golka's case his
fireballs consume the aluminum and may obtain their energy from the burning
of the metal.
Those readers who have witnessed ball lightning are invited to send me a
paragraph about their experience.
Contacts:
? Igor Alexeff, Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Univ. of Tennessee,
Knoxville, TN 37996.
? Robert Golka Jr., Phone: 508/586-8033.
? Richard Weiss, c/o SPIE, P.O. Box 10, Bellingham, WA 98227-0010.
Prof. Richard J. Weiss reports monthly on research in universities,
industry, and government.

Pictures of Golka's tesla coil in action in a large handover at Wendover,
Utah
http://home1.gte-dot-net/res07cmo/hv/Golka/golka.htm
Interesting historical overview of Robert Hull & company's development of
magnifiers.
http://f3wm.free.fr/tesla/magnifier.html
First hand accounts of ball lightning observations
http://www.amasci-dot-com/weird/unusual/bl.html
Project Tesla