One of the earliest and most destructive occurrences was reported to have taken place during The Great
Thunderstorm at Widecombe-in-the-Moor, Devon, in England, on October 21, 1638. Four people died and around 60 were injured when, during a severe dark storm that had already made it impossible to see or read during service inside the church, an 8''
ball of fire struck and entered the church, nearly destroying it. Large wall stones were hurled far and buried. One person had the back of his head
burnt off without any face damage, several people had their skulls opened, a clump of hair was flung and embedded into a piece of wood, many had their skin burnt, some lost their memories temporarily. Other people sitting next to burnt people were entirely unhurt. Some people had only their underclothes burnt, some only their overclothes. The ball of fire smashed the pews and many windows, and filled the church with a foul sulphurous pitch odor and dark thick smoke lasting ~ 1/2 hour. The ball of fire split into two, one smashing another window and wall on its way out, the other disappearing inside the church. The explanation at the time, because of the fire and sulphur smell and smoke and tar, was that the ball of fire was the devil or the actual flames of hell. About 1000 witnesses confirmed that incident and related neighboring
lightning strikes and large hail. <4><5> Another report, from 1753, depicts ball lightning as having violence. Professor Georg Richmann, of Saint Petersburg, Russia created a kite flying apparatus similar to that built by Benjamin Franklin a year earlier. He was attending a meeting of the Academy of Sciences, when he heard thunder. The Professor ran home with his engraver to capture the event for posterity. While the experiment was underway, ball lightning appeared, collided with Richmann''s forehead and killed him, leaving a red spot. His shoes were blown open, parts of his clothes singed, the engraver knocked out; the doorframe of the room was split, and the
door itself torn off its hinges.<6><7> Tsar Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia, reported witnessing what he called "a fiery ball" while in the company of his
grandfather, Tsar Alexander II: "Once my parents were away," recounted the Tsar, "and I was at the all-night vigil with my grandfather in the small church in Alexandria. During the service there was a powerful thunderstorm, streaks of lightning flashed one after the other, and it seemed as if the peals of
Thunder would shake even the church and the whole world to its foundations. Suddenly it became quite dark, a blast of wind from the open door blew out the flame of the candles which were lit in front of the iconostasis, there was a long clap of thunder, louder than before, and I suddenly saw a fiery ball flying from the window straight towards the head of the Emperor. The ball (it was of lightning) whirled around the floor, then passed the chandelier and flew out through the door into the park. My heart froze, I glanced at my grandfather - his face was completely calm. He crossed himself just as calmly as he had when the fiery ball had flown near us, and I felt that it was unseemly and not courageous to be frightened as I was....After the ball had passed through the whole church, and suddenly gone out through the door, I again looked at my grandfather. A faint smile was on his face, and he nodded his head at me. My panic disappeared, and from that time I had no more fear of storms." <6> British occultist Aleister Crowley also reported witnessing what he referred to as "globular electricity" during a thunderstorm on Lake Pasquaney in New Hampshire in 1916. As related in his Confessions, he was sheltered in a small cottage when he "noticed, with what I can only describe as calm amazement, that a dazzling globe of electric fire, apparently between six and twelve inches in diameter, was stationary about six inches below and to the right of my right knee. As I looked at it, it exploded with a shreport quite impossible to confuse with the continuous turmoil of the lightning, thunder and hail, or that of the lashed water and smashed wood which was creating a pandemonium outside the cottage. I felt a very slight shock in the middle of my right hand, which was closer to the globe than any other part of my body.<8> On 30 April 1877, a ball of lightning entered the Golden Temple at Amritsar, India, and exited through a side door. This event was observed by a number of people, and the incident is inscribed on the front wall of Darshani Deodhi.<7> <
citation needed>Nikola Tesla reportedly could consistently make ball lightning in his Colorado lab, with one account saying that he was able to temporarily contain the balls in wooden boxes. Pilots in World War II described an unusual phenomenon for which ball lightning has been suggested as an explanation. The pilots saw small balls of light "escorting" bombers, flying alongside their wingtips. Pilots of the time referred to the phenomenon as "foo fighters," initially believing that the lights were from enemy planes. However, there are other theories as to the identity of the foo fighters.
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