Ball lightning
Videos
Ball lightning is a rare and unexplained phenomenon described as luminescent spherical objects that vary from pea-sized to several meters in diameter. Though usually associated with thunderstorms, the
Ball lightning entering via the chimney (1886)
A demonstration of the water discharge experiment
St. Elmo's fire
Videos
St. Elmo's fire is a weather phenomenon in which luminous plasma is created by a corona discharge from a rod-like object such as a mast, spire, chimney, or animal horn in an atmospheric electric field
Ball lightning
…thunderstorms, the observed phenomenon is reported to last considerably longer than the split-second flash of a lightning bolt and is distinct from St. Elmo's fire and will-o'-the-wisp. Some 20th-century reports describe balls that eventually explode and leave behind an odor of sulfur. Descriptions of ball lightning…
Illustration of St. Elmo's fire on a ship at sea
St. Elmo's fire on the flaps and flap track fairings of an A350 while going through a cumulonimbus cloud