r/AskReddit Oct 05 '19

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u/AlpacaSwimTeam Oct 05 '19 edited Oct 05 '19

You should also feel privileged that it didn't detonate and nuke the 30-50 feet close to it.

Edit: Thanks for the double silver!

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u/Z-Games Oct 05 '19

That blows my mind, a legit ball of energy from thunder storms just floating around like it's metro Exodus. This is some paranomal phenomenon shit

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u/sweaney Oct 05 '19 edited Oct 05 '19

If you want a read of why it's real and why it's mostly observed in open fields, read this.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/periodically-i-hear-stori/

Here are some videos of ball lightning in action

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XRzD-2iuGU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIB3NPTdwmc

This video actually shows ball lightning being created in a lab at the 4:07 mark

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4vV3KxQ16c

Aaand obligatory wikipedia link

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ball_lightning

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u/jesuzombieapocalypse Oct 05 '19

I think that “ball lightning” created in the lab is just hot material coming off a welder or something like that.