The Billy Lids

A man was sitting in his home in Paris, France, when he heard a noise like thunder. Suddenly a ball of fire came down his chimney and out of the fireplace. It was as big as his head. As it came towards him he quickly ducked out of its way. Even though it glowed like a fire, he couldn't feel any heat from it.

The strange ball went into the middle of the room, then back to the fireplace and up the chimney again. Just before it got to the top, it went off with a bang and broke the chimney pot.

This happened in 1852 and is one of many stories told about the strange balls of fire that people called ball lightning.

In 1984 a plane was flying over the Black Sea. All at once, in front of the plane there was a glowing ball a bit bigger than a cricket ball. There was a loud noise and the glowing ball disappeared. Then suddenly there it was again but now it was inside the plane. It had gone through the metal wall without making a hole or even leaving a mark.

The people on the plane were amazed as the ball flew slowly above their heads. They watched as it broke in half and then joined up again. Then it went quietly out of the plane, back through the wall and out of sight.

Ball lightning can be seen indoors and outdoors. Sometimes it appears when there is lightning and thunder about, but not always. The ball can be from one centimetre to one metre wide. It shines like a light bulb and does not seem to give off much heat. It moves around as if it has a life of its own. The colour of the ball can be red, orange, white, blue or purple.

One of the first people to study ball lightning was a Russian, G W Richman. In 1954 he was out in a storm looking at the lightning, when a small, bright blue ball floated up to his face. He was very excited, and thought this was his big chance to get a close look at ball lightning. But with a huge noise the ball blew up and Mr Richman was killed. His friend who was standing nearby, was knocked out.

Some people think the ball lightning is something to do with spaceships but other people laugh at that idea. Nobody really knows what ball lightning is. Scientists are studying it and trying to find out. They think it could be made of plasma, the same stuff stars are made of. They hope that one day it could be used to make cheap electricity.