This actually works. Such a mass of heavy ions would have a natural
channel to follow down to the ground generated by the lightening
stroke itself and this would even draw it down and likely shape its
dimensionality.
We have all naturally presumed that ball lightening consisted of a
blob of electrons but that never made any sense at all. Mass
confinement is certainly sufficient to allow a twenty second dwell
time.
This problem has been kicking around forever and every high school
physics student knows of its existence. Bravo!
Goodness, Gracious,
Great Balls of Lightning!
Oct. 18, 2012 —
Australian scientists have unveiled a new theory which explains the
mysterious phenomenon known as ball lightning.
Sightings of balls of
lightning have been made for centuries around the world -- usually
the size of a grapefruit and lasting up to twenty seconds -- but no
explanation of how it occurs has been universally accepted by science
Sightings of balls of
lightning have been made for centuries around the world -- usually
the size of a grapefruit and lasting up to twenty seconds -- but no
explanation of how it occurs has been universally accepted by
science. Even more mysterious are sightings of balls of lightning
forming on glass and appearing in homes and in airplanes.
CSIRO scientist John
Lowke has been studying ball lightning since the sixties. He's never
seen it, but has spoken to eye witnesses and in a new scientific
paper, he gives the first mathematical solution explaining the
birth of ball lightning -- and how it can pass through glass.
Previous theories have
cited microwave radiation from thunderclouds, oxidizing aerosols,
nuclear energy, dark matter, antimatter, and even black holes as
possible causes. Lowke disputes these theories.
He proposes ball
lightning is caused when leftover ions (electric energy), which
are very dense, are swept to the ground following a lightning strike.
As for how they pass through glass, he says this is a result of a
stream of ions accumulating on the outside of a glass window and the
resulting electric field on the other side excites air molecules to
form a ball discharge.
According to Lowke
ball lightning is rare, but it has been witnessed in Australia many
times. People just don't realize what it is when they see it.
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