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Re: Tesla Coils & Ball Lightning
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.
Cheers,
Terry