Ball Lightning Explosion

Ball Lightning Explosion. It has been observed that sometimes during lightning there appear brilliant fiery balls which travel thru the ait emitting unique hissing sounds and then violently exploding 

Engl excerpt entitled Physics of Explosion , by Maj G.K. Kudravetz, USAF, OTIA 1450 (1958) 

Mechanisms such as the brush light arc, the charged water bubble, afterglow phenomena, and diffusion combustion of small gas admixts in air have been suggested, and explain one or more features of the phenomenon but fail to explain others. High-frequency electrodeless discharges have some of its features. 

It has been suggested that ball lightning is a ring current, or toroidal configuration of currents as high as 200000 amps. Such a form would have high magnetic pressures, which could completely offset and balance the internal pressure of the ionized gas. 

Such a theory, of course, must resolve the problems of instability assocd with such current flow and magnetic fields. An understanding of the physical principles underlying the ball lightning phenomenon may be applicable to the production of thermonuclear power 

---

ARTIFICIAL BALL LIGHTNING FORMED BY EXPLOSION OF NANOSTRUCTURED SILICON... 

Figure 2. Ball lightning produced by thermal ignition of 100 pm thick 1 cm in diameter porous silicon filled with KNO3 a) as formed, b) 0.1 s after formation, c) 0.3 s after formation, d) 1 s after formation. Other photos illustrating combustion and explosion of porous silicon can be seen in [14],...

Applications 6 Ball lightning 6 Electrical ignition 4 Energetic properties 1 Explosive devices 2 Explosive properties 4 Long term stability 5 Nanoexplosions 4-5 Oxidisers 3... 

The explosion turned me over and over until I was a ball of fire gathering heat. Somewhere in my white center there was a tiny conscious part of me, but the rest was flame and I was consuming the air. Lightning crackled across the workbench, and my head banged against the edge of my father s desk. My spine hit the floor, and the breath was knocked out of my lungs. 

S.K.Lazarouk, A.V.Dolbik, V.E.Borisenko, Photogallery of lightning ball formed by porous silicon explosion and combustion processes, www.nano-center.org (2005). 

---