Even 250 years ago, the famous American scientist and public figure Benjamin Franklin established that lightning is an electrical discharge. But so far, it has not been possible to fully reveal all the secrets that lightning holds: it is difficult and dangerous to study this natural phenomenon.
(20 photos of lightning + video Lightning in slow motion)
Inside the clouds
You can't confuse a thundercloud with an ordinary cloud. Its gloomy, leaden color is explained by its great thickness: the lower edge of such a cloud hangs at a distance of no more than a kilometer above the ground, while the upper one can reach a height of 6-7 kilometers. 
What is going on inside this cloud? The water vapor that makes up clouds freezes and exists as ice crystals. The ascending currents of air coming from the heated ground carry small pieces of ice up, forcing them to constantly collide with large ones settling down. 
By the way, in winter the earth heats up less, and at this time of the year, there are practically no powerful updrafts. Therefore, winter thunderstorms are extremely rare. 
In the process of collisions, the ice floes become electrified, just as it happens when various objects are rubbed against one another, for example, combs against hair. Moreover, small pieces of ice acquire a positive charge, and large ones - a negative one. For this reason, the upper part of the lightning-forming cloud acquires a positive charge, and the lower part acquires a negative one. There is a potential difference of hundreds of thousands of volts at every meter of distance - both between the cloud and the ground, and between parts of the cloud. 
Development of lightning
The development of lightning begins with the fact that in some place of the cloud a focus appears with increased concentration ions - molecules of water and gases that make up air, from which electrons were taken away or to which electrons were added. 
According to some hypotheses, such an ionization center is obtained due to the acceleration of free electrons in the electric field, which are always present in the air in small quantities, and their collision with neutral molecules, which are immediately ionized. 
According to another hypothesis, the initial push is caused by cosmic rays, which penetrate our atmosphere all the time, ionizing air molecules. 
Ionized gas serves as a good conductor of electricity, so current begins to flow through ionized areas. Further - more: the passing current heats up the area of ionization, causing more and more high-energy particles that ionize nearby areas - the lightning channel spreads very quickly. 
Follow the leader
In practice, the development of lightning occurs in several stages. First, the leading edge of the conducting channel, called the "leader", moves in jumps of several tens of meters, each time changing direction slightly (this makes the lightning turn tortuous). Moreover, the speed of advancement of the "leader" can, at some moments, reach 50 thousand kilometers in one single second. 
In the end, the "leader" reaches the ground or another part of the cloud, but this is not yet the main stage of the further development of lightning. After the ionized channel, the thickness of which can reach several centimeters, is “pierced”, charged particles rush along it at a tremendous speed - up to 100 thousand kilometers in just one second, this is lightning itself. 
The current in the channel is hundreds and thousands of amperes, and the temperature inside the channel, at the same time, reaches 25 thousand degrees - that's why lightning gives such a bright flash, visible from tens of kilometers away. And instantaneous temperature drops, thousands of degrees, create the strongest drops in air pressure, propagating in the form sound wave- thunder. This stage lasts a very short time - thousandths of a second, but the energy that is released during this is huge. 
final stage
At the final stage, the speed and intensity of movement of charges in the channel decreases, but still remain sufficiently large. It is this moment that is most dangerous: the final stage can last only tenths (and even less) of a second. Such a rather long-term impact on objects on the ground (for example, on dry trees) often leads to fires and destruction. 
Moreover, as a rule, the matter is not limited to one category - new “leaders” can move along the beaten path, causing repeated discharges in the same place, reaching up to several dozen in number. 
Despite the fact that lightning has been known to mankind since the appearance of man himself on Earth, it has not yet been fully studied to date. 
Lightning is a powerful electrical discharge. It occurs when there is a strong electrification of the clouds or the earth. Therefore, lightning discharges can occur either within a cloud, or between neighboring electrified clouds, or between an electrified cloud and the ground. A lightning discharge is preceded by the occurrence of a difference in electrical potentials between neighboring clouds or between a cloud and the ground.
Electrization, that is, the formation of attractive forces of an electrical nature, is well known to everyone from everyday experience.
If you comb clean dry hair with a plastic comb, they begin to be attracted to it, or even sparkle. After that, the comb can attract other small objects, such as small pieces of paper. This phenomenon is called electrification by friction.
What causes clouds to become electrified? After all, they do not rub against each other, as happens when an electrostatic charge forms on the hair and on the comb.
A thundercloud is a huge amount of steam, some of which is condensed in the form of tiny droplets or ice floes. The top of a thundercloud can be at a height of 6-7 km, and the bottom hangs above the ground at a height of 0.5-1 km. Above 3-4 km, the clouds consist of ice floes of different sizes, since the temperature there is always below zero. These ice floes are in constant motion caused by updrafts. warm air from the heated surface of the earth. Small pieces of ice are easier than large ones to be carried away by ascending air currents. Therefore, "nimble" small ice floes, moving to the upper part of the cloud, all the time collide with large ones. Each such collision leads to electrification. In this case, large pieces of ice are charged negatively, and small pieces are positively charged. Over time, positively charged small pieces of ice are at the top of the cloud, and negatively charged large ones at the bottom. In other words, top thundercloud positively charged, and negatively charged.
The electric field of the cloud has a huge intensity - about a million V/m. When large oppositely charged regions come close enough to each other, some electrons and ions, running between them, create a glowing plasma channel through which the rest of the charged particles rush after them. This is how lightning occurs.
During this discharge, huge energy is released - up to a billion J. The temperature of the channel reaches 10,000 K, which gives rise to the bright light that we observe during a lightning discharge. Clouds are constantly discharged through these channels, and we see the external manifestations of these atmospheric phenomena in the form of lightning.
The incandescent medium expands explosively and causes a shock wave, perceived as thunder.
We ourselves can simulate lightning, albeit a miniature one. The experiment should be carried out in a dark room, otherwise nothing will be visible. We need two oblong balloons. Let's inflate them and tie them up. Then, making sure that they do not touch, simultaneously rub them with a woolen cloth. The air that fills them is electrified. If the balls are brought together, leaving a minimum gap between them, then sparks will begin to jump from one to the other through a thin layer of air, creating light flashes. At the same time, we will hear a faint crackle - a miniature copy of thunder during a thunderstorm.
Everyone who has seen lightning has noticed that it is not a brightly glowing straight line, but a broken line. Therefore, the process of formation of a conductive channel for a lightning discharge is called its "step leader". Each of these "steps" is the place where the electrons accelerated to near-light speeds stopped due to collisions with air molecules and changed the direction of movement.
Thus, lightning is a breakdown of a capacitor, in which the dielectric is air, and the plates are clouds and earth. The capacitance of such a capacitor is small - about 0.15 microfarads, but the energy reserve is huge, since the voltage reaches a billion volts.
One lightning usually consists of several discharges, each of which lasts only a few tens of millionths of a second.
Lightning most often occurs in cumulonimbus clouds. Lightning also occurs during volcanic eruptions, tornadoes, and dust storms.
There are several types of lightning according to the shape and direction of the discharge. Discharges can occur:
- between the storm cloud and the earth,
- between two clouds
- inside the cloud
- move out of the clouds into the clear sky.
Municipal educational institution
Gymnasium "Laboratory Salakhov"
creative work in physics
on the topic: Electrical phenomena in nature: lightning
Story
The electrical nature of lightning was revealed in the studies of the American physicist B. Franklin, on the basis of which an experiment was carried out to extract electricity from a thundercloud. Franklin's experience in elucidating the electrical nature of lightning is widely known. In 1750 he published a work describing an experiment using a kite launched into a thunderstorm. Franklin's experience was described in the work of Joseph Priestley.
Physical properties of lightning
The average lightning length is 2.5 km, some discharges extend in the atmosphere for a distance of up to 20 km.
lightning formation
Most often, lightning occurs in cumulonimbus clouds, then they are called thunderclouds; sometimes lightning is formed in nimbostratus clouds, as well as during volcanic eruptions, tornadoes and dust storms.
Linear lightnings are usually observed, which belong to the so-called electrodeless discharges, since they begin (and end) in clusters of charged particles. This determines some of their still unexplained properties that distinguish lightning from discharges between electrodes. So, lightning is not shorter than a few hundred meters; they arise in electric fields much weaker than the fields during interelectrode discharges; The collection of charges carried by lightning occurs in thousandths of a second from billions of small, well-isolated particles located in a volume of several km³. The process of development of lightning in thunderclouds has been most studied, while lightning can pass in the clouds themselves - intracloud lightning, and can strike the ground - ground lightning. For lightning to occur, it is necessary that in a relatively small (but not less than some critical) volume of the cloud an electric field with a strength sufficient to start an electric discharge (~ 1 MV / m) is formed, and in a significant part of the cloud there is a field with an average strength sufficient to maintain the discharge that has begun (~ 0.1-0.2 MV / m). In lightning, the electrical energy of the cloud is converted into heat and light.
ground lightning
The process of ground lightning development consists of several stages. At the first stage, in the zone where the electric field reaches a critical value, impact ionization begins, initially created by free electrons, always present in a small amount in the air, which, under the action of electric field acquire significant speeds towards the earth and, colliding with the molecules that make up the air, ionize them. According to more modern ideas, the discharge is initiated by high-energy cosmic rays, which trigger a process called runaway breakdown. Thus, electron avalanches appear, turning into threads of electric discharges - streamers, which are well-conducting channels, which, merging, give rise to a bright thermally ionized channel with high conductivity - a stepped lightning leader.
Leader's move to earth's surface occurs in steps of several tens of meters at a speed of ~ 50,000 kilometers per second, after which its movement stops for several tens of microseconds, and the glow is greatly weakened; then, in the subsequent stage, the leader again advances several tens of meters. At the same time, a bright glow covers all the steps passed; then a stop and a weakening of the glow follow again. These processes are repeated when the leader moves to the surface of the earth from average speed 200,000 meters per second.
As the leader moves towards the ground, the field strength at its end increases and under its action a response streamer is thrown out of the objects protruding on the Earth's surface, connecting with the leader. This feature of lightning is used to create a lightning rod.
In the final stage, the leader-ionized channel is followed by a reverse (from bottom to top), or main, lightning discharge, characterized by currents from tens to hundreds of thousands of amperes, a brightness that is noticeably higher than the brightness of the leader, and a high advance speed, initially reaching ~ 100,000 kilometers per second , and at the end decreasing to ~ 10,000 kilometers per second. The temperature of the channel during the main discharge can exceed 25,000 °C. The length of the lightning channel can be from 1 to 10 km, the diameter is several centimeters. After the passage of the current pulse, the ionization of the channel and its glow weaken. In the final stage, the lightning current can last hundredths and even tenths of a second, reaching hundreds and thousands of amperes. Such lightning is called protracted, they most often cause fires.
The main discharge often discharges only part of the cloud. Charges located at high altitudes can give rise to a new (arrow-shaped) leader moving continuously at a speed of thousands of kilometers per second. The brightness of its glow is close to the brightness of the stepped leader. When the swept leader reaches the surface of the earth, a second main blow follows, similar to the first. Lightning usually includes several repeated discharges, but their number can reach up to several dozen. The duration of multiple lightning can exceed 1 second. The displacement of the channel of multiple lightning by the wind creates the so-called ribbon lightning - a luminous stripe.
Intracloud lightning
Intracloud lightning usually includes only leader stages; their length varies from 1 to 150 km. The share of intracloud lightning increases with the shift to the equator, changing from 0.5 in temperate latitudes to 0.9 in the equatorial strip. The passage of lightning is accompanied by changes in electric and magnetic fields and radio emission, the so-called atmospherics. The probability of a ground object being struck by lightning increases as its height increases and with an increase in the electrical conductivity of the soil on the surface or at a certain depth (the action of a lightning rod is based on these factors). If there is an electric field in the cloud that is sufficient to maintain the discharge, but not enough to cause it to occur, a long metal cable or an airplane can play the role of the lightning initiator - especially if it is highly electrically charged. Thus, lightning is sometimes “provoked” in nimbostratus and powerful cumulus clouds.
"In every second, about 50 lightning strikes the earth's surface, and on average each square kilometer of it is struck by lightning six times a year."
The most powerful lightnings cause the birth of fulgurites.
people and lightning
Lightning is a serious threat to human life. The defeat of a person or animal by lightning often occurs in open spaces. electric current follows the shortest path "thundercloud-earth". Lightning often hits trees and transformer installations on the railway, causing them to ignite. It is impossible to be struck by an ordinary linear lightning inside a building, however, there is an opinion that the so-called fireball can penetrate through cracks and open windows. Ordinary lightning is dangerous for television and radio antennas located on the roofs of high-rise buildings, as well as for network equipment.
In the body of the victims, the same pathological changes are noted as in case of electric shock. The victim loses consciousness, falls, convulsions may occur, breathing and heartbeat often stop. On the body, you can usually find "current marks", the points of entry and exit of electricity. In the event of a fatal outcome, the cause of the cessation of basic vital functions is a sudden cessation of breathing and heartbeat, from the direct action of lightning on the respiratory and vasomotor centers of the medulla oblongata. So-called signs of lightning often remain on the skin, tree-like light pink or red stripes that disappear when pressed with fingers (they remain for 1-2 days after death). They are the result of expansion of capillaries in the zone of lightning contact with the body.
When struck by lightning, the first medical aid should be urgent. In severe cases (stopping breathing and palpitations), resuscitation is necessary, it should be provided, without waiting for medical workers, by any witness of the misfortune. Resuscitation is effective only in the first minutes after a lightning strike, started after 10 - 15 minutes, as a rule, it is no longer effective. Emergency hospitalization is necessary in all cases.
lightning victims
1. In mythology and literature:
1. Asclepius, Aesculapius - the son of Apollo - the god of doctors and medical art, not only healed, but also revived the dead. To restore the disturbed world order, Zeus struck him with his lightning.
2. Phaeton - the son of the sun god Helios - once undertook to drive the solar chariot of his father, but could not restrain the fire-breathing horses and almost destroyed the Earth in a terrible flame. Enraged Zeus pierced Phaethon with lightning.
2. Historical figures:
1. Russian academician G. V. Richman - in 1753 he died from a lightning strike.
2. On July 4, 2009, people's deputy of Ukraine, ex-governor of the Rivne region V. Chervoniy died from a lightning strike.
· Roy Sullivan survived after being struck by lightning seven times.
· American Major Summerford died after a long illness (the result of a third lightning strike). The fourth lightning completely destroyed his monument in the cemetery.
· Among the Andean Indians, a lightning strike is considered necessary to reach the highest levels of shamanic initiation.
Trees and lightning
The trunk of a lightning-struck poplar
Tall trees are a frequent target for lightning. Long-lived relict trees can easily be found with multiple lightning scars. It is believed that alone standing tree more commonly struck by lightning, although in some forested areas, lightning scars can be seen on almost every tree. Dry trees catch fire when struck by lightning. Most often, lightning strikes are directed at oak, least often at beech, which, apparently, depends on the different amount of fatty oils in them, which present a great resistance to electricity.
Lightning travels in a tree trunk along the path of least electrical resistance, with the release of a large amount of heat, turning water into steam, which splits the trunk of a tree or more often tears off sections of bark from it, showing the path of lightning. In subsequent seasons, the trees usually regenerate damaged tissue and may close the entire wound, leaving only a vertical scar. If the damage is too severe, wind and pests will eventually kill the tree. Trees are natural lightning rods and are known to provide lightning protection for nearby buildings. Planted near the building, tall trees trap lightning, and the high biomass of the root system helps to ground the lightning strike.
From trees struck by lightning, they make musical instruments giving them unique properties.
"physical phenomenon"
A giant electrical spark discharge in the atmosphere, usually manifested by a bright flash of light and accompanying thunder. The electrical nature of lightning was revealed in the studies of the American physicist B. Franklin, on the basis of which an experiment was carried out to extract electricity from a thundercloud.
Most often, lightning occurs in cumulonimbus clouds, then they are called thunderclouds; sometimes lightning is formed in nimbostratus clouds, as well as during volcanic eruptions, tornadoes and dust storms.
The process of ground lightning development consists of several stages. At the first stage, in the zone where the electric field reaches a critical value, impact ionization begins, initially created by free electrons, always present in a small amount in the air, which, under the action of an electric field, acquire significant speeds towards the ground and, colliding with air atoms, ionize them. That. electron avalanches appear, turning into filaments of electric discharges - streamers, which are well-conducting channels, which, merging, give rise to a bright thermally ionized channel with high conductivity - a step leader.
The movement of the leader to the earth's surface occurs in steps of several tens of meters at a speed of ~ 5 * 10,000,000 m/sec, after which its movement stops for several tens of microseconds, and the glow is greatly weakened; then, in the next stage, the leader again advances several tens of meters. A bright glow covers all the steps passed; then a stop and a weakening of the glow follow again. These processes are repeated when the leader moves to the earth's surface at an average speed of 2*100,000 m/sec. As the leader moves towards the ground, the field strength at its end increases and under its action a response streamer is thrown out of the objects protruding on the Earth's surface, connecting with the leader.
lightning shapes
Line lightning
A discharge of linear lightning occurs between clouds, inside a cloud or between a cloud and the ground, and usually has a length of about 2-3 km, but there are lightnings up to 20-30 km long.
It looks like a broken line, often with numerous branches. Lightning color - white, yellow, blue or reddish
Most often, the diameter of the thread of such lightning reaches a couple of tens of centimeters. This type is the most common; we see it most often. Linear lightning appears when the electric field of the atmosphere is up to 50 kV / m, the potential difference in its path can reach hundreds of millions of volts. The lightning current of this kind is about 10 thousand amperes. A thundercloud that produces a linear lightning discharge every 20 seconds has an electrical energy of 20 million kW. The potential electrical energy stored in such a cloud is equal to the energy of a megaton bomb.
This is the most common form of lightning.
Flat zipper
Flat lightning looks like a scattered flash of light on the surface of clouds. Thunderstorms, accompanied only by flat lightning, are classified as weak, and they are usually observed only in early spring or late autumn.
Tape zipper
Ribbon lightning - several identical zigzag discharges from clouds to the ground, parallel shifted relative to each other with small or no gaps.
Bead lightning
A rare form of electrical discharge during a thunderstorm, in the form of a chain of luminous dots.The lifetime of bead lightning is 1–2 seconds. It is noteworthy that the trajectory of bead lightning often has a wave-like character. Unlike linear lightning, the trail of beaded lightning does not branch - this is distinctive feature this kind.
rocket lightning
Rocket lightning is a slowly developing discharge, lasting 1–1.5 seconds. Rocket lightning is very rare.
Fireball
Ball lightning is a bright luminous electric charge of various colors and sizes. Near the ground, it most often looks like a ball with a diameter of about 10 cm, less often it has the shape of an ellipsoid, a drop, a disk, a ring, and even a chain of connected balls. The duration of the existence of ball lightning is from several seconds to several minutes, the color of the glow is white, yellow, light blue, red or orange. Usually this type of lightning moves slowly, almost silently, accompanied by only a slight crackling, whistling, buzzing or hissing. Ball lightning can penetrate into enclosed spaces through cracks, pipes, windows.
A rare form of lightning, according to statistics, there are 2-3 ball lightning per thousand ordinary lightning.
The nature of ball lightning is not fully understood. There are many hypotheses about the origin of ball lightning, from scientific to fantastic.
curtain zipper
Curtain lightning looks like a wide vertical band of light, accompanied by a low low rumble.
Volumetric lightning
Bulk lightning is a white or reddish flash with low translucent clouds, with a strong crackling sound “from everywhere”. It is more often observed before the main phase of a thunderstorm.
strip zipper
Strip lightning - strongly resembles the aurora, "laid on its side" - horizontal stripes of light (3-4 stripes) are grouped on top of each other.
Elves, jets and sprites
Elves (English Elves; Emissions of Light and Very Low Frequency Perturbations from Electromagnetic Pulse Sources) are huge, but dimly luminous flash cones with a diameter of about 400 km, which appear directly from the top of a thundercloud.
The jets are blue tube-cones.
Sprites - a kind of lightning, beating up from the cloud. For the first time this phenomenon was recorded in 1989 by accident. Very little is known about the physical nature of sprites.
Jets and Elves form from the tops of the clouds to the lower edge of the ionosphere (90 kilometers above the Earth's surface). The duration of these aurora is a fraction of a second. To photograph such short-lived phenomena, high-speed imaging equipment is needed. Only in 1994, flying in an airplane over a big thunderstorm, did scientists manage to capture this amazing sight.
Other phenomena
flashes
Flashes are white or blue silent flashes of light observed at night in partly cloudy or clear weather. Flashes usually occur in the second half of summer.
Zarnitsa
Zarnitsy - reflections of distant high thunderstorms, visible at night at a distance of up to 150 - 200 km. The sound of thunder during lightning is not heard, the sky is cloudy.
Volcanic Lightning
There are two types of volcanic lightning. One arises at the crater of the volcano, and the other, as seen in this image of the Puyehue volcano in Chile, electrifies the smoke of the volcano. Water and frozen ash particles in the smoke rub against each other, and this causes static discharges and volcanic lightning.
Lightning Catatumbo
Catatumbo lightning is an amazing phenomenon that is observed in only one place on our planet - at the confluence of the Catatumbo River into Lake Maracaibo ( South America). The most amazing thing about this type of lightning is that its discharges last about 10 hours and appear at night 140-160 times a year. Catatumbo lightning is clearly visible at a fairly long distance - 400 kilometers. Lightnings of this kind were often used as a compass, from which people even nicknamed the place of their observation - “Maracaibo Lighthouse”.
Most say that Catatumbo lightning is the largest single ozone generator on Earth, because. winds coming from the Andes cause thunderstorms. Methane, which is abundant in the atmosphere of these wetlands, rises to the clouds, fueling lightning discharges.
Ball lightning is a unique natural phenomenon: the nature of occurrence; physical properties; characteristic
To date, the only and main problem in the study of this phenomenon is the inability to recreate such lightning in scientific laboratories.
Therefore, most assumptions about the physical nature of a spherical electric bunch in the atmosphere remain theoretical.
The first to suggest the nature of ball lightning was the Russian physicist Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa. According to his teachings, this type of lightning occurs during a discharge between thunderclouds and the earth on the electromagnetic axis along which it drifts.
In addition to Kapitsa, a number of physicists put forward theories about the sound and frame structure of the discharge or about the ionic origin of ball lightning.
Many skeptics have argued that this is just a visual illusion or short-term hallucinations, and such a natural phenomenon does not exist. At present, modern equipment and apparatus has not yet recorded the radio waves necessary to create lightning.
How ball lightning is formed
It is formed, as a rule, during a strong thunderstorm, however, it has been noticed more than once in sunny weather. Ball lightning occurs suddenly and in a single case. It can appear from clouds, from trees or other objects and buildings. Ball lightning easily overcomes obstacles in its path, including falling into confined spaces. Cases are described when this type of lightning arose from a TV, aircraft cockpit, sockets, indoors ... At the same time, it can bypass objects in its path, passing through them.
Repeatedly, the occurrence of an electric clot was recorded in the same places. The process of movement or migration of lightning occurs mainly horizontally and at a height of about a meter above the ground. There is also a sound accompaniment in the form of a crunch, crackle and squeak, which leads to interference in the radio.
According to the descriptions of eyewitnesses of this phenomenon, two types of lightning are distinguished:
Characteristics
The origin of such lightning is still unknown. There are versions that an electric discharge occurs either on the surface of lightning, or comes out of the total volume.
Scientists do not yet know the physical and chemical composition, thanks to which such a phenomenon of nature can easily overcome doorways, windows, small cracks, and again acquire its original size and shape. In this regard, hypothetical assumptions were put forward about the structure of the gas, but such a gas, according to the laws of physics, would have to fly into the air under the influence of internal heat.
- The size of ball lightning is usually 10 - 20 centimeters.
- The color of the glow, as a rule, can be blue, white or orange. However, witnesses of this phenomenon report that a permanent color was not observed and it always changed.
- The shape of ball lightning is in most cases spherical.
- The duration of existence was estimated to be no more than 30 seconds.
- The temperature has not been fully investigated, but according to experts, it is up to 1000 degrees Celsius.
Without knowing the nature of the origin of this natural phenomenon, it is difficult to make assumptions about how ball lightning moves. According to one theory, the movement of this form of electrical discharge can occur due to the force of the wind, the action of electromagnetic oscillations, or the force of attraction.
Why ball lightning is dangerous
Despite the many different hypotheses about the nature of the occurrence and characteristics of this natural phenomenon, it must be taken into account that interaction with ball lightning is extremely dangerous, since a ball filled with a large discharge can not only injure, but also kill. An explosion can lead to tragic consequences.
- The first rule to follow when meeting with a fireball is not to panic, do not run, do not make quick and abrupt movements.
- It is necessary to slowly leave the trajectory of the ball, while keeping a distance from it and not turn your back.
- When ball lightning appears in a closed room, the first thing to do is to try to carefully open the window in order to create a draft.
- In addition to the above rules, it is strictly forbidden to throw any objects into the plasma ball, as this can lead to a fatal explosion.
So in the Lugansk region, lightning the size of a golf ball killed a driver, and in Pyatigorsk, a man, trying to brush off a luminous ball, received severe burns on his hands. In Buryatia, lightning descended through the roof and exploded in the house. The explosion was so strong that the windows and doors were knocked out, the walls were damaged, and the owners of the household were injured and received a shell shock.
Video: 10 Facts about ball lightning
This video presents to your attention the facts about the most mysterious and amazing natural phenomenon.
