Rare Ball Lightning Video in Sioux Falls, SD

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  • čas přidán 16. 07. 2015
  • July 16, 2015 Looking East towards spectacular Luverne, MN thunderstorm...Extremely rare footage at 37 secs of what appears to be ball lightning.

Komentáře • 1,1K

  • @1997LionKing
    @1997LionKing Před 9 lety +453

    Guys, slow down the video to 0.25 times. Notice the glowing ball originally starts out as a black ball at the very top most cloud level.

    • @tzDub92
      @tzDub92 Před 8 lety +33

      +Lion King good eye. it's like the lightning hit it

    • @yorkiedanMC
      @yorkiedanMC Před 8 lety +22

      +Lion King That's awesome good spotting, it's like it starts above the cloud in the ionosphere.

    • @snackentity5709
      @snackentity5709 Před 8 lety +139

      +Lion King people are so fucking retarded when they want so much to believe something. have some sense of skepticism and maybe some depth perception. you can see the firefly not lit up as a black dot moving, then it lights up. you can see it move in front of the trees that really close by.. that means it's really fucking close and did not start at the cloud. it started in the air 5 feet from the camera and turned on it's little insect ass-light .. almost like this is a video of lightning in the background, and a fucking firefly flies by during the video.. nah that's too unrealistic.. it's definitely the ball lightning phenomenon that everyone wants to see.

    • @nocomment1469
      @nocomment1469 Před 7 lety +6

      omg ... it's Lucifer

    • @uhbyoihbloiybloihybolgiyh
      @uhbyoihbloiybloihybolgiyh Před 7 lety +9

      no comment it's... not natural. Someone call Sam and Dean, sheriff Mills needs backup

  • @cmmmmmmmw
    @cmmmmmmmw Před 8 lety +83

    Nice work, Teddy from Bob's Burgers.

  • @SpectrumHazard
    @SpectrumHazard Před 8 lety +974

    I got you fam 0:36

  • @whatabouttheearth
    @whatabouttheearth Před 4 lety +131

    This guy needs to be earths designated UFO camera guy, no shaking, no blurriness
    That thing flew behind the trees, if that was a firefly it would of been the size of a dog.

    • @naturesquad9174
      @naturesquad9174 Před 3 lety +4

      He probably has a stabilizer or something. The reason why ufo videos are shaky and blurry is 100% because the object is zoomed in from far away, and the slightest movement makes the camera appear to shake violently, no matter who is filming

    • @alexc1485
      @alexc1485 Před 3 lety +6

      Except it clearly flew in front of the trees before fading out? Don't know how people are saying it went behind the trees. Theres a solid 5-6 frames of it in front of the trees if you go frame-by-frame. Not saying it definitely isn't ball lightning, but it doesn't really seem conclusive by any means.

    • @3v2
      @3v2 Před 2 lety

      have you ever watched pecos hank

  • @lonewolf1936
    @lonewolf1936 Před 6 lety +7

    Damn. You have a clear camera. Now if only everyone that catches things on video have it as clear as you.

    • @stiimuli
      @stiimuli Před 6 lety +1

      and if only people could correctly identify what they see in that video (firefly)

  • @tinkmarshino
    @tinkmarshino Před 6 lety +14

    Damn fantastic! I love thunder storms and have seen ball lightning before but I never knew any one ever caught it on tape!

    • @stiimuli
      @stiimuli Před 4 lety +2

      Ball lightning is not seen anywhere in this video.

    • @stiimuli
      @stiimuli Před 2 lety

      @@gamersquid9987 No. Why?

  • @ShaneD3488
    @ShaneD3488 Před 8 lety +333

    That's a firefly, not ball lightning.

    • @Hi-vy2nl
      @Hi-vy2nl Před 8 lety +6

      -.-

    • @lashAR87
      @lashAR87 Před 8 lety +15

      +Peyton Smart Yep, quite clear if you pause/unpause the vid just before it lights up. Thanks for spotting it.

    • @Hi-vy2nl
      @Hi-vy2nl Před 8 lety

      +Peyton Smart ------------............--------------

    • @lashAR87
      @lashAR87 Před 8 lety

      +Peyton Smart Oops, sorry about that. Hope you saw the firefly this time.

    • @Hi-vy2nl
      @Hi-vy2nl Před 8 lety

      lash txuux bc tcjxtc huh vtzfcxhct fvjxt

  • @twodogs716
    @twodogs716 Před 6 lety +44

    0:37 @ .25 speed

  • @introgauge
    @introgauge Před 2 lety +9

    This is really some amazing footage. Kinda makes you wonder, what's actually going on in there. Positive and negative ions clashing, and the static remnants shoot out cause there's too much friction.

  • @KappaDaKappa
    @KappaDaKappa Před 6 lety +22

    Good observations - Since the object turned from a black dot to a glowing object, could of well been a firefly (who use bioluminescence during twilight to attract mates or prey). I've once seen a floating light blue orb in the sky during a lightning storm that seemed to hover for a bit then shot off at a very high speed (or disappeared), I wonder if that was ball lightning.

    • @vladtherussian9594
      @vladtherussian9594 Před rokem

      holy shit I think you're right, now with that in mind I cannot unsee it

  • @madelineshupe6471
    @madelineshupe6471 Před 8 lety +15

    I have had the rare fortune of seeing ball lightning twice in my life. Once in 2006 in Hong Kong and the 2nd time this summer in Michigan. That video pretty much captures what I have seen. Hope you get to experience it one day.

  • @ewanheneghan1794
    @ewanheneghan1794 Před 8 lety +257

    PK THUNDER!

  • @geffthebricky
    @geffthebricky Před 6 lety +9

    My Nan always said "If there's ever a thunder ball in your house ( how it got in, and assuming it was intent on sticking around) you must open the front and back doors and it would leave of its own accord. She was deadly serious!

    • @al54321x
      @al54321x Před 2 lety

      if thunder balls in house is so common (even somebody told me to saw it) why there is no real footage of it on internet in 2022?? they are all fakes !

    • @shawntootill24
      @shawntootill24 Před 2 lety +2

      @@al54321x Im by no means a crazy, and as A child I was sitting at the living room window watching the lightning when one of these things came through the glass and into the T.V!!

    • @JB-nr8fu
      @JB-nr8fu Před 2 lety +1

      I saw one in my hallway in 1989. It was there briefly then poof it disappeared. Bigger than a basketball. I was terrified and wondered what if I’d been standing there. It happened after lightening struck a gas main across the street, way before cell phone technology

  • @salvadorhuerto338
    @salvadorhuerto338 Před 6 lety +19

    yes after looking this video several times..I come to the conclusion that it is a lighting bug..

    • @plaguedoctor8180
      @plaguedoctor8180 Před 5 lety +1

      That's not what your post 6 months ago said

    • @holly.eq78
      @holly.eq78 Před 3 lety +1

      Believe what u want 🤷🏽‍♀️

    • @stiimuli
      @stiimuli Před 3 lety +1

      @@holly.eq78 Its not about belief. All the evidence in the video indicates firefly

  • @PyroThunder
    @PyroThunder Před 6 lety +50

    0:36 photobombed by a firefly.

    • @whatabouttheearth
      @whatabouttheearth Před 4 lety +4

      That flew behind the trees? That would of been a firefly the size of a dog.

    • @shrrade
      @shrrade Před 4 lety +6

      James Lee didn’t go behind the trees

    • @shrrade
      @shrrade Před 4 lety

      Mi Ti Zu I don’t even know how to reply to this comment, It’s just that dumb

    • @samgamblewhite8600
      @samgamblewhite8600 Před 4 lety

      @Mi Ti Zu bruh

    • @holly.eq78
      @holly.eq78 Před 3 lety

      Way too big to be a firefly

  • @rocketman6100
    @rocketman6100 Před 7 lety +43

    Looks like Goku and Frieza are fighting in the clouds

  • @Trenzalore-gn6xq
    @Trenzalore-gn6xq Před 4 lety +8

    For everyone saying it’s a firefly, look at the video in .25 speed, you can see a flash of light right before it begins to drop, plus it goes behind the trees which were far away

    • @bjek343
      @bjek343 Před 3 lety +1

      it literally goes in front of the trees are you dumb?

    • @stiimuli
      @stiimuli Před 3 lety +6

      not only does it go in FRONT of the trees but you can see it before it lights up. Its a firefly

  • @phapnui
    @phapnui Před 7 lety +4

    As a kid growing up in a new suburb that had been a farm, I saw a lot of firebugs like this one and one ball lightning. About the size of an adult's fist, this bright white light crackled as it floated through the kitchen screen door, floated through the living room and out the front door. The adults in the room just gaped. No one talked about it. For years I never talked about it, fearing people would think I was crazy...or at least crazier than I was.

    • @stiimuli
      @stiimuli Před 6 lety +1

      Ball lightning does occur but what we see in this video is a firefly.

    • @jamesz2574
      @jamesz2574 Před 4 lety +4

      @@stiimuli bruh how many comments you gonna make you pessimistic sob

    • @stiimuli
      @stiimuli Před 4 lety

      @@jamesz2574 At least as many as you.
      and WTF does pessimism have to do with any of this?

    • @kevint1910
      @kevint1910 Před 2 lety +1

      kinda weird though that your "object" does not "drop in to frame" at all it was there the whole time and stays there after the ball of light falls to the ground looks to me like it is just a dark spot maybe a shadow being cast by the cloud on to its self and the ball does not even originate there it lights up well below that part of the frame and a bit farther to the right from vertical as well. i personalty cant say from the vid that it is not an artifact BUT the reaction to it sounds authentic they reacted to something that they could see that appeared to them to be in the distance and you were NOT there and they were so i will take them at their word.

  • @charlessmith263
    @charlessmith263 Před 5 lety +2

    I had saw ball lightning before. 1980 probably. In a strong thunderstorm over the South Side of Chicago near my school. It was heavily raining and I saw a big ball of white in the sky that turned red, and then a really loud concussion. It looked like a large firework salute flashing in the air in the thunderclouds.....

  • @blankface_
    @blankface_ Před 9 lety +1

    Cool! I've always though this was plausible, though I'd feel really dumb if this was fabricated. What did you shoot this with? The quality is great!

    • @stiimuli
      @stiimuli Před 6 lety +4

      It wasn't fabricated, just misidentified. There is no ball lightning in this video. Just some cloud to cloud lightning in e background and a firefly at :36

  • @robertbuehl792
    @robertbuehl792 Před 6 lety +6

    That ball lightning was so rare it didn't even show up in your video.
    Amazing!

    • @generalleenknassknotretire9180
      @generalleenknassknotretire9180 Před 6 lety

      Robert Buehl
      00:36
      Followed by:
      He: Wow.😪
      She: I know, right?😮

    • @stiimuli
      @stiimuli Před 6 lety +2

      Darren
      That's a firefly. The woman likely thought he was 'wowing' at the distant storm cloud and agreed with him.

    • @generalleenknassknotretire9180
      @generalleenknassknotretire9180 Před 6 lety

      stiimuli
      I'd bet you're right.
      It did flicker then vanish, as if it went behind the trees.
      But probably a coincidence.
      Funny, because I've seen a so called: "Spirit Creature moving around" video, that obviously was just a tiny insect causing a moving blur by crawling around the camera lens before.

    • @stiimuli
      @stiimuli Před 5 lety +1

      @@generalleenknassknotretire9180 it actually went in front of the trees. Watch full screen, highest resolution at .25 speed. It starts as a black dot in front of the clouds, then lights up then flies in front of the trees. Its a firefly a few feet from the camera.

    • @styler19721
      @styler19721 Před 3 lety +1

      That's definitely a firefly

  • @DecadeMusic2
    @DecadeMusic2 Před 6 lety +19

    This is an insect, a firefly. If you slow down the video to .25X and watch right before it lights up, you can see its dark body floating down. The light also appears in front of the line of trees in the video, it's a lot closer than that storm is.

    • @billydelrossi
      @billydelrossi Před 5 lety +3

      Inspiring Music they don’t move that fast. this is a real video

    • @jonahwoodward503
      @jonahwoodward503 Před 5 lety +1

      Dude, you're right! I see it move across the cloud and then light up and it goes in front of those trees which are near him.

    • @Cobravenom69
      @Cobravenom69 Před 4 lety

      Or you can simply see the light thru the trees.

    • @stiimuli
      @stiimuli Před 4 lety

      @@Cobravenom69 If that light was behind the trees filtering through it would illuminate the leaves (and other environment) from the other side. It would also change shape. That light does neither. Its a firefly a few feet from the camera.

    • @stiimuli
      @stiimuli Před 4 lety

      @@billydelrossi Just how fast do you think that light is moving? and how fast do you think a firefly a few feet from the camera should move?

  • @AnaiBendai
    @AnaiBendai Před 6 lety +2

    I live in South Dakota and I've seen ball lightning many times in my life. What's really mind blowing is when it moves vertically.

    • @stiimuli
      @stiimuli Před 5 lety

      apparently you've seen fireflies many times and thought it was ball lightning

    • @atlas8447
      @atlas8447 Před 2 lety

      @@stiimuli Yeah ball lightning is most likely real but I highly doubt this person has seen it more than once lol.

  • @MonkeyKong21
    @MonkeyKong21 Před 3 lety +1

    today i learned that ball lightning doesn't come from peeing on an electric fence, but it is sometimes a term used for a firefly

    • @maggiemakgill
      @maggiemakgill Před 2 lety

      Ball lightning is now understood to be a glowing orb of vaporized particles, mostly silicon, that is created when lighting strikes the ground. It is basically glowing dirt. A Chinese research team videotaping and taking spectra of standard light as part of a field research project caught it by luck in both their camera and spectrograph. It lasted about a second. The spectrum indicated it was primary excited silicon and other material in rock/sand/dirt.

  • @Panj0
    @Panj0 Před 8 lety +64

    I wanted this to be real, but it isn't. If you watch it very closely (and slowly) you can see the ball is black and starts at the top of the white cloud. It gets to a point where it suddenly becomes 'yellow'. There was still doubt until I saw the black ball also pass in front of the closer dark grey clouds, which couldn't happen given the starting position.

    • @OGould
      @OGould Před 8 lety +11

      Or how about just that the object is In front of the trees as opposed to way off in the distance with the clouds

    • @jaden6265
      @jaden6265 Před 8 lety

      what

    • @stuartpickles6907
      @stuartpickles6907 Před 6 lety +3

      kcuf0 stop doing meth

    • @elilopez4684
      @elilopez4684 Před 6 lety

      It's ebola.

  • @snh3663
    @snh3663 Před 8 lety +4

    My mother in law spoke about the day ball lightening came into their house, they had to open a door they said and the ball of lightening went out.

  • @jeff_williams
    @jeff_williams Před 9 lety +1

    Very interesting. On July 15, my sister and I were at the family cabin in northern MN (Ely area) and saw ball lightning there that night. I watched it descend from the sky, much slower than what's on your video, and it landed in the woods very close to us, took off again and hovered in front of us for a second; we could see the small white glowing orb at the center. Then it shot off into the woods. Awesome experience.
    Never for a moment did I mistake it for a UFO or for Tinkerbell, but when everything you know doesn't explain what you just saw, it can be a little troubling.

  • @StallionFernando
    @StallionFernando Před 4 lety

    Totally off topic but what type of camera or phone were you using? Really good quality footage specially at night.

  • @animalmother4066
    @animalmother4066 Před 4 lety +22

    Bro I saw the EXACT same phenomena two years ago! Those who say its a damn fire fly simply have never witnessed this ever. I've been studying thunderstorms since a child and have witnessed some weird stuff, but when i saw this exact same scenario of a ball of light zip to the ground i almost wrecked my car. I'll never forget that moment in my life!

    • @stiimuli
      @stiimuli Před 3 lety +4

      All the evidence in the video indicates its a firefly. You can even see it before it lights up

    • @ugellin
      @ugellin Před 3 lety

      There must be some scary fireflies where you live. Out of the millions I've seen in my lifetime this was no different.

  • @THEunderscoreJOKE
    @THEunderscoreJOKE Před 8 lety +114

    You can see the object at 0:36 before it lights up. Clearly not ball lightning... Also you can see it going in front of the nearby trees despite the lightning cloud being MUCH further away than that tree-line.

    • @mashafalkov
      @mashafalkov Před 8 lety +6

      +THEunderscoreJOKE It actually darkens as it goes behind the trees. If it's real ball lightning, trees wouldn't be completely opaque to it as it could shine brightly in between the branches and leaves. So to a camera with low resolution it could still be just a bright spot. :-)

    • @arcticbadger1
      @arcticbadger1 Před 8 lety

      +THEunderscoreJOKE well said!

    • @arcticbadger1
      @arcticbadger1 Před 8 lety

      +Julian Bonilla whaaaaaaaaat the!

    • @caleidoo
      @caleidoo Před 8 lety +8

      +Masha Falkov Why would a ball of lighting start way above a thunder cloud? And start as a black ball first? Which you can see clearly at 0:35 -0:36. It's a bug flying into the street lights and going in the dark again in front of the trees across the street. Not a single doubt about it.

    • @Tenskwatawa4U
      @Tenskwatawa4U Před 7 lety

      Yup.

  • @hawkintelligence
    @hawkintelligence Před 7 lety +1

    yeah this is a bug. The transition between 36/37 seconds, you can see the black down against the white cloud. Then as it falls, it lights up. It was a very cool effect and perspective wise, yeah, I thought it was ball lightning too.

  • @RealMycoNation
    @RealMycoNation Před 3 lety +1

    I live for scenes like this. What a perfect shot!

  • @winterdesert1
    @winterdesert1 Před 6 lety +4

    You can see a dark object fall into the frame (before it lights up) just about 37 secs like everyone is saying. It falls into the frame right in the middle of cloud break at the top. The break is between right side of the anvil, and that puffy cumulus just to the right of that. If you slow it down you'll definitely see a dark blurry object (probably because its much closer) pass down in front of the white clouds, then curve slight to the left as it lights up. Obviously not ball lightning, because lightning would never appear as a dark object.

    • @shawntootill24
      @shawntootill24 Před 2 lety

      Please research the formation of ball lightning before making such claims. the nearest field of research is known as Exotic Vacuum Objects. And most certainly to the best of my knowledge the black spec is a CLEAR sign that this is ball lightning. Or a "Exotic Object"

  • @bitter-bit
    @bitter-bit Před 7 lety +25

    While ball lightning is indeed real, this is a firefly wanting to be included in stardom. Fantastic video regardless.

  • @thefourwafflelords1639
    @thefourwafflelords1639 Před 8 lety +1

    I've seen ball lightning before!!!now that I've seen what ball lightning looks like I remember seeing this a while ago. Nice footage!

    • @unluckycharms1683
      @unluckycharms1683 Před 8 lety +4

      its a firefly

    • @stiimuli
      @stiimuli Před 5 lety

      you may want to question what you think you've seen before because this video shows a firefly. Not the cloud to cloud lightning in the background.

  • @Annatizer
    @Annatizer Před 8 lety +1

    That was pretty fascinating. What I found more fascinating though was that the static I could hear in the background was synchronized with each flash of lightning, which was the microphone likely picking up electromagnetic waves... Or however such things actually work. Wish I had paid more attention in science classes back in high school. :-(

    • @stiimuli
      @stiimuli Před 6 lety

      If you had paid more attention in science class you would know that ball lightning appears nowhere in this video. We see some nice cloud to cloud lightning in the background and a firefly at :36.

  • @Mic_Glow
    @Mic_Glow Před 8 lety +43

    Extremely common footage of what appears to be click bait. Other video from this guy is a 10p video of a helicopter called "ufo".

    • @plaguedoctor8180
      @plaguedoctor8180 Před 5 lety

      Also. It says UFO QUESTION-MARK.

    • @plaguedoctor8180
      @plaguedoctor8180 Před 5 lety

      Not clickbait. If it was clickbait it wouldn't have made the news in Sioux Falls.. nor would it just be two videos

    • @nexus1g
      @nexus1g Před 5 lety

      @@plaguedoctor8180 Slow news day? It's clearly a lightning bug.

    • @stiimuli
      @stiimuli Před 4 lety +1

      I don't think its deliberate "click bait". I just think the guy that shot the video misidentified what he saw and hasn't changed the title and description (which he should)

  • @fatlizzard19
    @fatlizzard19 Před 8 lety +3

    it was a lightning bug/firefly, you can tell by the color and the speed, ball lightning is known to move relatively slow

    • @stiimuli
      @stiimuli Před 4 lety

      @csknives2140 Its true that it is very rare and little is known about it but most reports do mention it moving relatively slowly

  • @NeidalRuekk
    @NeidalRuekk Před 9 lety

    Congrats on getting a shot of such a spectacular phenomenon!

    • @stiimuli
      @stiimuli Před 6 lety +3

      yes, fireflies are so spectacular!

  • @Theogvineofthedead
    @Theogvineofthedead Před 8 lety +1

    I'd be speechless too bro that's beautiful

  • @ryank1273
    @ryank1273 Před 8 lety +13

    Sorry to burst your bubble, but that isn't ball lightning.

    • @boejiden6587
      @boejiden6587 Před 5 lety

      what is it then

    • @stiimuli
      @stiimuli Před 5 lety +1

      @@boejiden6587 its a firefly/lightning bug

    • @bassraja1978
      @bassraja1978 Před 4 lety +1

      A bug the size of a car since it is behind the trees
      That makes it even more interesting

    • @ryank1273
      @ryank1273 Před 4 lety

      @@bassraja1978 I don't even forking remember saying this....

    • @bassraja1978
      @bassraja1978 Před 4 lety +1

      @@ryank1273 😋

  • @zenzenchi
    @zenzenchi Před 7 lety +30

    There's a book named ball lightning you should read that

    • @Jay-bz4se
      @Jay-bz4se Před 6 lety +1

      nice book

    • @crazypath573
      @crazypath573 Před 6 lety +3

      There are also numerous pornos under the same moniker. Highly recommend

  • @robertgift
    @robertgift Před 6 lety

    Can you go frame-by-frame and close in on the area?

  • @mrsmel269
    @mrsmel269 Před 3 lety

    nice i would of loved to have the dslr down there that night scoring some great picts . that was a crazy air to ground strike ball too . great video !!! glad you got it .

  • @TakeOnNE1
    @TakeOnNE1 Před 8 lety +3

    Why does your camera feel 3d?

    • @danielgomezjr
      @danielgomezjr Před 8 lety

      It's to make the video stabile.

    • @TakeOnNE1
      @TakeOnNE1 Před 8 lety

      Daniel Gomez
      So it was in 3D? I'm not complaining. I think it looks cool. Was curious what caused the effect.

  • @ryanhelgerson2829
    @ryanhelgerson2829 Před 8 lety +12

    That's a lightning bug aka "firefly". I captured something very similar and after many discussions and close examinations, it was concluded to be so. You can see that it is a small mass dropping fast before illuminating. you can also see that it goes out "infront" of the trees, thus putting it in the foreground, and much closer to the camera than the storm.

    • @plaguedoctor8180
      @plaguedoctor8180 Před 5 lety +3

      You have 4 chromosomes

    • @stiimuli
      @stiimuli Před 5 lety +5

      @@plaguedoctor8180 He's completely right. its a firefly.

    • @milwaukeechris4603
      @milwaukeechris4603 Před rokem +1

      @@plaguedoctor8180 I think MAYBE 5.

    • @timohess3909
      @timohess3909 Před rokem +2

      It was bird getting hit by lightning and falling to the ground in a blaze of electricity and heat .

  • @johnsmith_1942
    @johnsmith_1942 Před rokem

    I notice there is something falling after 0:33, if I put this video on slowest mode.. Somethings dard falls through/infront of the clouds.. enters clouds and turns into a fireball (while changing direction??)

  • @Muonium1
    @Muonium1 Před 3 lety +2

    I was hopeful but, yea, firefly. Go through frame by frame before it lights up and you can clearly see the dark dot silhouetted by the bright clouds top right of center before it starts to flash.

  • @lavinialovecraft1990
    @lavinialovecraft1990 Před 9 lety +10

    Wow, that was amazing! It just shot right out of the cloud!

    • @stiimuli
      @stiimuli Před 6 lety +7

      No it flew *in front* of the cloud as a black dot then lit up yellow and passed in front of the tress.....just as a firefly would.

    • @crewmatewillthrowthesehand7600
      @crewmatewillthrowthesehand7600 Před 5 lety

      @@stiimuli didnt know fire flies are that big

    • @stiimuli
      @stiimuli Před 5 lety +2

      ​@@crewmatewillthrowthesehand7600 That big? Its a dot on the screen.

    • @crewmatewillthrowthesehand7600
      @crewmatewillthrowthesehand7600 Před 5 lety +1

      @@stiimuli compared to the trees in the background? Its clear that's its far away. Even if it isnt ball lightning, all these firefly theorists are just hating for the sake of hating. Didnt know the internet was full of firefly experts. More over the light stretched out in such a highquality video even when the lightning beside it flashing past dont do that, so its not due to low quality footage. I didnt know fireflies can elongate themselves and go at high speeds. Not only that, it only disappeared after it went Behind the trees, thus, its further behind than the trees

    • @stiimuli
      @stiimuli Před 5 lety +3

      @@crewmatewillthrowthesehand7600
      1) You do know how perspective works, don't you? Things that are closer appear bigger. That bug is flying only a few feet from the camera.
      2) Doesn't take any kind of "expert" to recognize a common insect many of us have seen countless times. Entire fields of fireflies at dusk are a common occurrence all over America especially around more heavily wooded areas. Just like it doesn't take an expert to recognize an ant. They are common and familiar.
      3) This has nothing to do with "hating". Some people have misidentified something (including the video uploader) and others are trying to correct that error. That object is clearly a firefly. Every aspect of it in the video shows this.
      4) As for the light "stretching out" that is a simple camera artifact of motion blur. Even with a good quality camera there will be motion blur when an object moves. It takes specialized cameras and shutter speeds to significantly lessen that blur and even those high end cameras can't eliminate all of it. Also, you can't compare the movement of that object with the lightning in the background because the two things are very different phenomena that behave very differently.
      5) Again, it flies *IN FRONT* of the trees at the bottom before it goes dark. Watch the video at .25 speed, highest resolution on the biggest screen you have. You will see the bug fly in front of the clouds before it lights up, change direction and speed, light up for a second, fly in front of the trees and before it goes dark again. Its a firefly =)

  • @Shawnyy09
    @Shawnyy09 Před 8 lety +4

    Something is wrong. It starts out as a black spec coming down and it comes down in FRONT of the tree which is obviously not even close to the storm.. Video is editted or faked.

    • @mtg90
      @mtg90 Před 8 lety +4

      Not edited or fake, but unfortunately I do not believe it is ball lightning either. Playing back the video at 0.25x speed a few times and you can see that this is likely just a firefly / lighting bug a few feet front of the camera.

    • @doggonemess1
      @doggonemess1 Před 8 lety +1

      +mtg90 I think you're right - it does look like a lightning bug. Still, very cool video of a far-off storm.

    • @smpproductions8859
      @smpproductions8859 Před 8 lety

      +Shawn Jones That is because light can still be seen behind that part of the trees since there are leaves. And it just appeared to get dimmer as it got behind the trees since they were blocking out some, but not all of the light. It is not actually in front of the trees.

    • @Shawnyy09
      @Shawnyy09 Před 8 lety

      Call lightnings do not exist

    • @Shawnyy09
      @Shawnyy09 Před 8 lety

      Ball*

  • @snattler
    @snattler Před 6 lety +1

    I have seen this twice while watching a severe lightning storm. Just like this there was an intensely white ball streaking across the clouds. The only difference was that both times the ball I saw was travelling horizontally at incredible speed.

    • @stiimuli
      @stiimuli Před 6 lety

      The difference here is that light begins as a black dot moving down across the clouds, lights up yellow and passes in front of the trees indicating its close to the camera. Its a firefly.

    • @jamesz2574
      @jamesz2574 Před 4 lety +1

      @@stiimuli the difference here is that fireflies are usually yellow, green or orange in color. And not straight white. Nor do they move so quickly in a perfectly straight line. And nor are they 50 FEET IN DIAMETER

    • @stiimuli
      @stiimuli Před 2 lety

      @@jamesz2574 Sorry, CZcams never notified me of your reply. Just seeing it now.
      We must be talking about different things in the video because the part I'm referring to is clearly yellow, not white and displays every characteristic of a firefly a few feet from the camera. 0:35

  • @3Authoress
    @3Authoress Před 5 lety

    Beautiful storm, beautiful lighting, saw that ball lightning! Can't decide whether I'd prefer to be where the camera guy is watching the storm or experiencing the storm first hand. Can I be two places at once?

    • @stiimuli
      @stiimuli Před 4 lety

      and where exactly did you see that ball lightning because I see none in this video

  • @tomatoplot
    @tomatoplot Před 9 lety +3

    Wow is right! If this is genuine, you may have one of very few videos of the phenomenon!

    • @stiimuli
      @stiimuli Před 6 lety

      Nope. its a firefly. You can even see it flying as a black dot before it lights up.

  • @gerry5134
    @gerry5134 Před 6 lety +3

    Hmm Very convenient the 'ball lightning' you videoed just happened to fall in the area between the trees!
    Also i have actually seen real ball lightning and it seemed to float in the air; it did not drop suddenly like fork lightning !

    • @stiimuli
      @stiimuli Před 6 lety +4

      or a firefly

    • @woodsandcreeks
      @woodsandcreeks Před 5 lety

      There are many kinds of ball lightnings reported. Wiki: ball lightning

    • @stiimuli
      @stiimuli Před 5 lety

      @@woodsandcreeks and none of those are seen in this video. that's a firefly.

    • @jamesz2574
      @jamesz2574 Před 4 lety +1

      Omefherd ive seen bull lightning so im totally trust worthy and not lying to sound smart * snort *

  • @weatherataglance6075
    @weatherataglance6075 Před 3 lety +1

    Holy cow, dude, amazing job!!

  • @JC-11111
    @JC-11111 Před 7 lety

    What are you calling ball lightning? The thing that goes from the clouds downward about two-thirds of the way through the vid?

  • @dangerouspie0319
    @dangerouspie0319 Před 8 lety +3

    I'm really disappointed that this video is fake. First of all, something just looks off about those clouds. At fist, I thought it was probably just his camera making them look like that, but then I realized that there was no thunder for any of the lightning strikes. To be fair, they are pretty far away, so maybe he's just too far for the sound to reach? Nope, because if you turn up the volume, you can hear a 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘩 sound effect when the "ball lightning" goes by. It's not even delayed to fit the time it would take the sound to reach him; just as soon as it appears on the screen, the camera can apparently hear it. Sorry to ruin it.

    • @stiimuli
      @stiimuli Před 6 lety +1

      Its not fake. He just misidentified what he saw in screen. Its just a firefly near the camera position.

    • @plaguedoctor8180
      @plaguedoctor8180 Před 5 lety

      Hey. This storm was so huge it was captured from several thousand miles away. This storm wasn't even IN sioux falls and people could still see it. So of course you couldn't hear the thunder. Also, a firefly is never pure white in color, and does not occur in this month the time this footage was taken, nor do they travel in perfect straight lines.

    • @stiimuli
      @stiimuli Před 5 lety

      @@plaguedoctor8180 except that flash of light at 0:36 wasn't pure white...it was yellow.... and began as a black dot in front of the clouds and ended in front of the trees and didn't fly in a straight line. It was a firefly.

  • @jhenzo
    @jhenzo Před 4 lety +3

    it's literally a firefly lmao.

  • @powderwigwoodenteethmf5037

    What camera are you using? Looks pretty good

  • @shaunrandall4341
    @shaunrandall4341 Před 2 lety

    This is the best video I've seen on this

  • @lashAR87
    @lashAR87 Před 8 lety +40

    +nzsd2003 You should change the name of the vid. That's a firefly.

    • @corby9591
      @corby9591 Před 6 lety +1

      lash You can literally see it flash through the clouds

    • @stiimuli
      @stiimuli Před 4 lety +2

      @@corby9591 you can see it fly IN FRONT of the clouds as a black dot before it lights up. Then it passes in front of the trees at the bottom. Its a firefly a few feet from the camera.

  • @generalleenknassknotretire9180

    Growing up out West,
    I found the Dakotas to be,
    'aesthetically' very boring.
    Until I saw: 'a storm'.
    An incredible site!
    Especially for one who'd never beheld such a massive storm in it's entirety before.
    No landscape to obscure what looked like to me:
    a massive white mountain rapidly moving towards me, with 'lightning' bolting out in all directions.
    I was hitchhiking.
    No one picked me up.
    South Dakota said:
    Fuck you Darren.
    Fuck you.

  • @alessandrogambino420
    @alessandrogambino420 Před 6 lety

    Does anyone know what happens to the spot where the ball lightning hits? It is amazing.

    • @stiimuli
      @stiimuli Před 6 lety

      Hits what? Its a firefly briefly lighting up. Nothing out of the ordinary. Its a nice video though.

  • @Waffle675
    @Waffle675 Před 5 lety +1

    The sky in the dakotas is like looking up on another world

    • @randallkelley3600
      @randallkelley3600 Před 4 lety

      I spent two year and a couple of months at Minot AFB. I worked outside and at night a lot. I saw more sky based natural phenomena in those two years than in all my life since.

  • @Horsenado
    @Horsenado Před 6 lety +11

    you mean the lightning bug/firefly that flew across the screen at 0:37 ? lol

    • @whatabouttheearth
      @whatabouttheearth Před 4 lety +2

      That flew behind the trees? That would of been a firefly the size of a dog.

    • @ryanwysocki7615
      @ryanwysocki7615 Před 4 lety +4

      @@whatabouttheearth it didnt fly behind the trees slow the video to .25x and you can clearly see. ball lightning is real but this is not a video of it

  • @Crushonius
    @Crushonius Před 5 lety +13

    if thats ball lightning
    i am a firefly

  • @rickh5683
    @rickh5683 Před 6 lety +1

    It's awesome you caught that on camera. So rare. How cool

    • @stiimuli
      @stiimuli Před 5 lety +1

      fireflies aren't rare

  • @nuttyotter9200
    @nuttyotter9200 Před 3 lety

    The clouds appear big yet are also far away from the observer and we can see this ‘ball lightning' comes in and disappear in front of the trees infront from the observer. So from this, the ‘ball lighting’ is much closer to the observer filming the thunderstorm than the ‘ball lighting’ being closer to the thunderstorms itself.

  • @legalizeanime8347
    @legalizeanime8347 Před 9 lety +5

    "Guys, slow down the video to 0.25 times. Notice the glowing ball originally starts out as a black ball at the very top most cloud level." -Lion King ...
    Dude, you're absolutely right... this right here is a UFO!

    • @TheKilroyman
      @TheKilroyman Před 8 lety

      +Arthur Ryder If that was a UFO; then why weren't its remains recovered?

    • @xpew75
      @xpew75 Před 8 lety +1

      +TheKilroyman UFO not equal aliens

    • @TheKilroyman
      @TheKilroyman Před 8 lety

      ***** So UFO's don't mean aliens?

    • @k1dicarus
      @k1dicarus Před 8 lety +2

      +Williambcd its most likely a firefly. some 20 feet away. Thats why its first black and then bright when its butt gets lit up.

    • @legalizeanime8347
      @legalizeanime8347 Před 8 lety

      +k1dicarus That's actually very plausible.

  • @billanthony7896
    @billanthony7896 Před 7 lety +3

    Well, I suppose it could be a firefly, but... It's moving at an unusually high rate of speed, in my opinion. Also, I've watched this video repeatedly, and it seems whatever it is appears to disappear behind the treeline. The thunderstorm itself is a magnificent work of nature caught on video. Thanks for posting it! I'll leave it to fellow viewers to argue about what the falling light might or might not be.

    • @sploofmcsterra4786
      @sploofmcsterra4786 Před 6 lety

      Bill Anthony Ball lightning moves much much slower than what it would have to be moving at. At least a firefly is able to reach the speed shown.

    • @stiimuli
      @stiimuli Před 6 lety

      Watch it again at full screen at the highest resolution. it starts out as a black dot moving down in front of the clouds and then stays lit up *in front of the trees* . Its a firefly.

  • @BlueRice
    @BlueRice Před 6 lety

    someone try to steam this through vlc and change the color setting. then you can find out if its a bug. i believe its a bug because as soon the bug is infront of the cloud it its visible. but if you change the color setting you can see if in the sky.

  • @RanderathNic
    @RanderathNic Před 6 lety +1

    Title reflects the video content perfectly except for the lightning bolt

  • @calvincoolidgesimp4380
    @calvincoolidgesimp4380 Před 8 lety +132

    Wow a firefly it sooooo amazing

    • @poopfart785
      @poopfart785 Před 8 lety +4

      thats a joke right?

    • @irevenant1603
      @irevenant1603 Před 8 lety

      I hope

    • @ChanandIerBong
      @ChanandIerBong Před 8 lety +19

      It passes in front of the treeline which is only a couple hundred feet away while the storm is miles away. You can barely even hear the rumbling of the thunder in the video. That light ball is anything but lightning.

    • @adrianmorgan6100
      @adrianmorgan6100 Před 8 lety +3

      No it passes behind the tree line , at one point only half the ball is visible ........being partially blocked by branches.

    • @nateeverett7315
      @nateeverett7315 Před 8 lety +5

      +adrian morgan You still would have heard it. Plus it's much to small to be ball lightning even if it's so far away.

  • @NPC-ro5io
    @NPC-ro5io Před 3 lety +8

    Congrats on filming a cool storm with a guest appearance by a firefly.

  • @time.5316
    @time.5316 Před 6 lety +1

    I don't think it's ball lightning, and I don't think it's a firefly, but it's sure some amazing and beautiful video of a very active, and very large thunderstorm. Thanks for sharing it.

    • @stiimuli
      @stiimuli Před 3 lety

      All the evidence in the video indicates firefly. You can even see it before it lights up

    • @stiimuli
      @stiimuli Před rokem

      @Grammatostomias flagellibarba How would you like me to prove it beyond pointing out every piece of evidence displayed right in the video? Also, why are you so angry?

  • @MostlyMacrosResearch
    @MostlyMacrosResearch Před 8 lety +13

    Hi, I design electronic devices such as Tesla coils and radios. I reviewed your footage a few times. I don't know if any experts have talked to you about this yet, but to me it is very interesting footage. I have studied plasma now for a couple of years. See my CZcams channel "Mostlymacros" or search CZcams for my recent coil build the "VTTC700". I would say it might actually be a peace of plasma that shot off a background strike that is occluded by the cloud. A flash is visible just before and l think that there may be an arc pulled into a sort of convection of current. Events like this can happen when the current (amperage) of a bolt or part of a bolt becomes high enough to stick around due to conductivity of plasma itself and the collective fluctuating currents in the clouds. Such energies can probably make such an arc fly very quickly and vanish once out of power. This is my theory anyway. The 2nd option is that this is a peace of something that got trapped in this thunder head. Possibly something invisible to the camera, such as a balloon that got struck by lighting and caught on fire. To me, it's speed would indicate my first theory but I might be missing something. I only wish we had more angles. Especially since it seems to move in a very straight line downward. Chinese scientists think that it has something to do with soil at least sometimes. This is entirely likely one type of ball lighting as an electrical arc can vaporize almost anything including soil. After doing so it has nothing to connect directly too and becomes and goes possibly through an oscillation of current that is very fast and can make burning plasma move. It is likely to me that there are several types of ball lightning. KF7DFP

    • @orange70383
      @orange70383 Před 8 lety

      +Mostlymacros Once I saw a 20 foot stick of lightning jump off a building and then shoot up and out of sight.

    • @lashAR87
      @lashAR87 Před 8 lety +6

      +Mostly Macros It's a firefly. You're not very good at "reviewing" videos, are you?

    • @MostlyMacrosResearch
      @MostlyMacrosResearch Před 8 lety

      +orange70383 Super cool! That's what I am talking about. I was less then 50ft from a strike myself but no ball lightning event.

    • @unluckycharms1683
      @unluckycharms1683 Před 8 lety +1

      did what lash say totally cross your mind or something?

    • @julienbrown3041
      @julienbrown3041 Před 6 lety

      The Kombine his comment was made before lash

  • @ryugo7713
    @ryugo7713 Před 4 lety +7

    That’s definitely a lightning bug flying in front of your camera.

  • @GeneticHybrids
    @GeneticHybrids Před 8 lety +2

    I think it's crazy the mic picks up the sound of the bugs wings as it flies by

    • @madmanpecos
      @madmanpecos Před 3 lety

      I didn’t know lightning bugs were the size of dogs

    • @stiimuli
      @stiimuli Před 2 lety

      @@madmanpecos What makes you think that bug is the size of a dog?

  • @ify105
    @ify105 Před 7 lety +1

    Finally someone with a good camera!

    • @stiimuli
      @stiimuli Před 5 lety +1

      yet still misidentifies what he sees in it

  • @ccchhhrrriiisss100
    @ccchhhrrriiisss100 Před 6 lety +5

    That's not ball lightning; however, that is still an amazing display of lightning in the clouds.

  • @georgekilburg3805
    @georgekilburg3805 Před 7 lety +4

    In order to pass at this speed and appear so bright a firefly would need to be very close to the camera. The light emitting part of a fireflies body makes up for only a fraction of its total size. If this were a firefly you would easily be able to see an insect traveling along the same flight path before the light appears.

    • @sploofmcsterra4786
      @sploofmcsterra4786 Před 6 lety

      In order for ball lightning to travel this fast, given the distance of the storm, it would have to be travelling many times faster than any ball lightning ever observed. Far more likely to be a firefly.

    • @sploofmcsterra4786
      @sploofmcsterra4786 Před 6 lety +1

      Also, you do see the insect travelling along the same flight path before it appears. Turn your brightness up.

    • @stiimuli
      @stiimuli Před 6 lety

      Watch at full screen at highest resolution. A several frames of the black dot (insect) can be seen before it lights up. Its a firefly.

  • @ghostinthemachine5821
    @ghostinthemachine5821 Před rokem +1

    That's a great camera and shot. 😎👍

  • @sweetemotion2501
    @sweetemotion2501 Před 6 lety

    Do you have anymore video's of this Thunder clouds?

  • @daveofthematthews
    @daveofthematthews Před 7 lety +4

    Beautiful storm structure, But 100% a firefly unfortunately.

  • @TehNetherlands
    @TehNetherlands Před 7 lety +4

    Yep, that's a firely. It even has the color of a firefly. Please change the title. Downvoted.

    • @plaguedoctor8180
      @plaguedoctor8180 Před 5 lety

      Everyone here that says its a firefly has Biggest gay and 2 chromosomes.
      And this isn't reddit.

  • @Sadon06
    @Sadon06 Před 3 lety

    what is worrisome is the fact that more people liked this video than disliked. Its dangerous how people believe what they want to believe so much that they leave their brains behind.

  • @ih8hertz1
    @ih8hertz1 Před 8 lety +1

    i saw ball lightning in Belgium in 1994......this is almost identical to what I witnessed. ...therefore i say its real

  • @tomsaboo577
    @tomsaboo577 Před 5 lety +5

    Easy. That's just the Mjolnir.

  • @caleidoo
    @caleidoo Před 8 lety +13

    FFS, it's just an insect or small bird that passes in front of some lights. You see it being dark, and than it gets all lighted up.

    • @arcticbadger1
      @arcticbadger1 Před 8 lety

      +LS_scape bollox

    • @caleidoo
      @caleidoo Před 8 lety +2

      +Sion Brooks
      1/ it looks nothing like actual ball lightning.
      2/ nobody reacts to it. But the dead give-away for everyone to see for themselves is:
      3/ the insect flies away still IN FRONT of the trees at the bottom - which are miles away from the actual thunderstorm and just across the street from the guy recording. AND it starts unlit ABOVE the giant cloud.

    • @joegrizzly999
      @joegrizzly999 Před 8 lety

      ball lightning is real you dope, its been proven :/

    • @caleidoo
      @caleidoo Před 8 lety +3

      Joegrizzly Wait what? From all the valid points I made, HOW do you come to the conclusion that I claim ball lightning is something that does not exist?

    • @joegrizzly999
      @joegrizzly999 Před 8 lety

      LS_scape because why not

  • @daveco1270
    @daveco1270 Před 8 lety +2

    Was this video taken outside an N/A meeting?

    • @justliam2768
      @justliam2768 Před 8 lety

      All I got was tea and biscuits. :(

    • @daveco1270
      @daveco1270 Před 8 lety

      I heard some AA language in the background. Someone said, "Just don't use tonight." and I think I heard someone say "keep coming back."

    • @justliam2768
      @justliam2768 Před 8 lety +2

      You are correct. It certainly sounded like AA/NA talk! lol.
      Bet they were hugging too.

  • @TheRealOmbreMoon
    @TheRealOmbreMoon Před 8 lety +1

    If you look closely, you can see that the ball originates from the clouds, indicating that it isn't a firefly. Plus, if you go full screen, slow it to 0.25, then you can see that its size relative to its surroundings is bigger than a fireflies light. Just saying.

    • @stiimuli
      @stiimuli Před 6 lety

      How exactly did you determine that it 'originates' from the clouds as opposed to simply flying in front of them like an insect near the camera would? Also, its exactly the size a firefly a few meters from the camera would be.

  • @Salomon_G
    @Salomon_G Před 6 lety +4

    It was a firefly. If you think otherwise, you are slow.

  • @brookestephens6768
    @brookestephens6768 Před 8 lety +4

    ...This is heat lightning. I know this because I am in currently enrolled in a collegiate weather and climate class. Please learn your lightning types before misinforming others.

    • @unluckycharms1683
      @unluckycharms1683 Před 8 lety

      its not even lightning dumbass its a goddamn firefly

    • @justachannel9379
      @justachannel9379 Před 6 lety +5

      Brooke Stephens There is no such thing as heat lighting (or sheet lighting). It's just regular lighting in a distant thunderstorm. (Nor does what is described as heat lighting look like that.) My advice is to drop the class. You aren't getting a thing out of it. And stop being an ass. Or maybe you just need to stop being a trolling ass.
      weather.com/science/weather-explainers/news/heat-lightning-explained

    • @justachannel9379
      @justachannel9379 Před 6 lety

      Just A Regular Guy That's obviously cloud to cloud (looks like mostly) lightning in a storm cell. I can, for the most part, even make out the bolts. It isn't even what's been commonly described as heat lightning.

    • @WarchiefRecords
      @WarchiefRecords Před 6 lety

      Brooke Stephens please stfu nobody cares

    • @sploofmcsterra4786
      @sploofmcsterra4786 Před 6 lety +1

      justachannel You said there is no such thing as heat lightning, but then say it is distant regular lightning? So obviously what Brooke is saying is it is just distant regular lightning?
      And they are correct. The 'ball lightning' never appears. For someone who is very critical of definitions it amazes me that you don't realise that what is obviously a firefly looks nothing like ball lightning, which is slow moving, lasts a relatively long period of time and often if not always explodes.

  • @matthewbrown2314
    @matthewbrown2314 Před 6 lety

    Ball lightning indeed. Ball lightning is not what people talk about passing through their houses at a slow pace. This is indeed true ball lightning

    • @stiimuli
      @stiimuli Před 3 lety

      sorry, no. Its a firefly

  • @stiimuli
    @stiimuli Před 6 lety +2

    looked like a firefly to me dude

  • @dieseluk2k
    @dieseluk2k Před 8 lety

    I saw ball lightening when i was about 7 or 8, I was standing at the window watching the rain and this sphere of light flashed infront of me for a moment just outside the window. I didn't think much to it at the time because I didn't know how rare it was.

    • @stiimuli
      @stiimuli Před 5 lety

      no ball lightning in this video either.

  • @NeoRipshaft
    @NeoRipshaft Před 6 lety

    Like most of the other people here, I got the impression that the streak around 37 was in the foreground, not the clouds, and doesn't really fit the expected behavior of ball lightning.
    I initially didn't even pay it any mind lol, it was only when the video that I went back and saw it corresponded with the timestamp.

  • @de5610
    @de5610 Před 8 lety

    i have personally seen ball lightning around 1996 las vegas summer during a storm.didnt know what it was until recently. the movement of it was similar to a helium filled balloon that was just hovering about 20-30ft above ground. scared me.

    • @TheKilroyman
      @TheKilroyman Před 8 lety

      +David Escobar I saw ball lightning twice on the same day; about 4-5 years after your sighting; and too; I didn't know what it was until recently. It was a rather hot morning; early summer; School was out; but my parent's work was still in; so I had to wake up early so my parents could not be late for work. It was more of an electrical storm; and there was actually more lightning than there was thunder; actually very little to no thunder at all. I was watching the lightning flashing through the curtains; when a large glowing ball flew past the curtains. I still told my mom ( I was a youngster at that time) I thought I saw a person running across the yard with a torch. And exactly a few minutes after that first ball flew past; another glowing ball flew past the curtains going the exact same direction; although the ball was travelling faster than the first one; and was a bit smaller than the first ball. I'm still freaked out about it today.

  • @Ccodebits
    @Ccodebits Před 8 lety

    How tall are you did you just step over the car...?

  • @krysdoran
    @krysdoran Před 5 lety

    The other reason this definitely isn't ball lightning, on top of the object being black before it lights up: ball lightning is usually basket-ball sized or larger, and it only moves about 3m/s. This thing moved fast as hell and even if we pretend it was basketball sized and farther away, that just increases the speed even more.

    • @maggiemakgill
      @maggiemakgill Před 2 lety

      It's either a bug or something falling, maybe a drone? (it's distance is hard to make out, which make size and speed unknowable). Thanks to a lucky Chinese research team ball lighting is now understood as a glowing orb of dirt, vapourized and excited into illumination by lightning striking the ground.