[extropy-chat] Re: Ball lightning

[Dirk Bruere]

J. Andrew Rogers wrote:

>Dirk wrote:
>  
>
>>A report from a (now dead) father of a friend who saw some form once.
>>He said it was created where two parts of the lightning discharge crossed.
>>    
>>
>
>
>It has nothing to do with "crossed discharges".  The Great Plains of the United States has 
>extremely energetic and unusual storm systems that are largely unique to that region, and in 
>the couple years I lived out there as a teenager, I saw "ball lightning" twice.
>
>My take:  It is clearly an energetic electromagnetic phenomenon, but I would also assert that 
>it has little to do with lightning; it is a phenomenon that occurs in proximity to lightning 
>storms because there are similar prerequisites.  It tends to only interact with conductive 
>materials.  And it passes through neutral materials like cellulose and glass without 
>interacting at all.
>
>In fact, if I had to make a wild-ass guess, the basic properties and peculiarities of it makes it 
>look like an energetic EM phenomenon in something like the microwave range.  Imagine, for 
>example, if the peculiar electromagnetic meteorological structures of the region acted as 
>resonators, EM waveguides, or even massive magnitron tubes (or masers?).  If you've seen 
>some of the bizarre energetic structure of these storms in the several cubic kilometer range, 
>it would not be surprising.
>
>
>  
>
I rather doubt the uwave explanation.
The kind of intensity that would create and sustain a ball of plasma 
would have serious effects well outside of that zone as well.
I suspect that it is some kind of self confining plasma with very high 
currents flowing in very low resistance paths.

-- 
Dirk

The Consensus:-
The political party for the new millenium
http://www.theconsensus.org



-- 
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.300 / Virus Database: 265.6.10 - Release Date: 10/01/2005