Anatomy of a Lightning Ball

An aerial wonder, pondered for ages, no longer seems so ghostly

Fiery blasts: QuickTime video clips.

THE SHINING. An extraordinarily large–about 100 meters in diameter–object presumed to be ball lightning was caught on film by a park ranger in Australia. It lasted surprisingly long, about 5 minutes. Abrahamson
BALL OF NANOTWINE? An electron microscope image of residue on a filter from vaporized soil shows filaments of nanoscale particles, such as those proposed in a ball lightning theory.