Ball Lightning and Atmospheric Light Phenomena: A Common Origin?

Abstract—The paper proposes a common origin of atmospheric light phenomena, including ball lightning and higher atmospheric lightnings such as UFOs and light emissions of various shapes. The emission of light from seemingly localized objects is described as the end stage of an electromagnetic process involving conversion of electric energy from the original distributed form between clouds to a concentrated form in a free space spherical circuit. The paper describes the localized fields as a standing wave of radial Direct Current (DC) pulses in a floating electrodeless ‘‘free space circuit’’ characterized by a strong field region at the center giving rise to ionization of gas molecules and light emissions. The presentation describes a sequence of events initiated by some atmospheric discharge such as a lightning bolt, followed by a parametric conversion process of the prestrike electric energy stored in the charged clouds, via magnetic energy during the strike, to poststrike electric energy stored in the spherical system. Because the electromagnetic field solutions specifying the particular spherical system have the form of transmission line equations, describing the fields as superpositions of traveling spherical waves, much of the theory is formulated on concepts drawn from regular transmission lines. The theory predicts formation of ball lightning objects near ground or higher altitude lightning objects of various shapes, emphasizing their common origin. The paper explains the motion of the localized ionized objects as due to interaction with the environmental electric fields of charged cloud systems, with no apparent limits on speed and acceleration including abrupt directional changes. The paper discusses the predicted characteristics of the lightning phenomena, in particular describing expected motions under specific circumstances, and showing these to be compatible with the bulk of observations, with no obvious contradictions