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Vic Daring
New Member
49 Posts |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
 Posted - 05/18/2004 : 12:45:59 [Permalink]
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Glad to see some sensable reaction to this story. Ball lightning crossed my mind when I first read of it, but as I don't pay a lot of attention to UFOs and the folks who follow them, I haven't bothered to get into it farther.
Perhaps I should. This one reads as actually interesting.
Thanks.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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furshur
SFN Regular
USA
1536 Posts |
Posted - 05/19/2004 : 05:39:44 [Permalink]
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Ball Lightning....hmmm. I am somewhat skeptical of the existence of ball lightning. I know that I am probably even in the minority of people who are in the 'know' on this. I would think that if this phenomina actually existed we would be able to duplicate it in the laboratory. I am really on the fence on this one.
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If I knew then what I know now then I would know more now than I know. |
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Vic Daring
New Member
49 Posts |
Posted - 05/19/2004 : 10:38:33 [Permalink]
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Check this out furshur: http://skepdic.com/balllightning.html
Several links at the end with good scientifically sound info.
Edited to spell furshur's name correctly. |
The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed. |
| Edited by - Vic Daring on 05/19/2004 10:39:16 |
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furshur
SFN Regular
USA
1536 Posts |
Posted - 05/19/2004 : 12:06:14 [Permalink]
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| Vic, I know I am in the minority - and I sure ain't as smart as these researchers. But when I here about balls of plasma (or whatever) that pass through walls and glass windows, I just kinda wonder. I am not saying it isn't so I just need alittle more data on how this could happen, and I would like to see it duplicated in the laboratory. |
If I knew then what I know now then I would know more now than I know. |
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Stargirl
Skeptic Friend
USA
94 Posts |
Posted - 05/19/2004 : 18:03:05 [Permalink]
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I had a close encounter with ball lightning a number of years ago.
It was during a thunderstorm and I had just put the cats food dish down and straightened up to look out the window.
At that instant a very bright glowing ball appeared outside the kitchen window.
I immediately knew it was ball lightning because I'd read about them before, although I never expected to encounter one.
The intensity was like looking directly at one of those big arc lights used for store openings and such.
It was about 6-8 feet away from the house and perhaps a foot or two off the ground.
I estimated the diameter at approximately 5-6 feet.
It's position and size were based on objects close by in the back yard.
That is it was farther away than a 4-foot diameter bush but closer than the driveway, which lays 12 feet away from the house.
It slowly faded and dissipated over the course of about 10-15 seconds.
I think the longevity is a good indication it wasn't an ordinary lightning strike.
I noticed the following affects during the encounter.
The audible crackling and hissing sound of static electricity.
A sensation as if hundreds of ants were crawling over my body, again static electricity.
The cats fur, who was sitting in the window was straight up, which I assumed to be from static electricity since she didn't appear frightened.
A lingering bright spot in my vision that lasted for about 2 minutes after the ball lighting had dissipated.
And last but not least I found a small pebble in my mouth.
All right it wasn't a pebble it was a filling that had popped out.
I wasn't sure my dentist, a skeptic in his own right would believe that I lost the filling do to a close encounter with ball lightning.
But to my surprise he said that he had read about other people who had lost fillings during close encounters with ball lighting.
All in all I found it a fascinating experience.
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If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him - Voltaire |
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9687 Posts |
Posted - 05/22/2004 : 06:12:29 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Stargirl
And last but not least I found a small pebble in my mouth.
All right it wasn't a pebble it was a filling that had popped out.
I wasn't sure my dentist, a skeptic in his own right would believe that I lost the filling do to a close encounter with ball lightning.
But to my surprise he said that he had read about other people who had lost fillings during close encounters with ball lighting.
All in all I found it a fascinating experience.
I recall reading a couple years about researchers at the University of Umeå, Sweden who claimed bones exhibit piezo-electric effects. You know, like quartz-crystals that expand and contract when exposed to electrical fields.
Anyway, my point is that teeth are partly made of bone, and the piezo-effect might force the bone to expand or contract, causing the filling to pop out. That's my conjecture/hypothesis anyway.
(Edited weird formatting) |
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| Edited by - Dr. Mabuse on 06/01/2004 12:25:58 |
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furshur
SFN Regular
USA
1536 Posts |
Posted - 06/01/2004 : 11:57:39 [Permalink]
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This is an interesting read - of course I think it is interesting because it tends to support my position...
http://www.skeptic.com/BallLightning.html
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If I knew then what I know now then I would know more now than I know. |
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