There are other types of natural phenomena related to thunderstorms. Two of the most curious are ball lightning, also known as globular lightning, and the sprite.
BALL LIGHTNING
Ball lightning or globular lightning is a natural phenomenon with a spherical and bright shape, which appears during thunderstorms. Unlike common lightning, it is persistent.
Ball lightning is extremely unusual. Furthermore, many of the details that appear in the reports of people who have witnessed them are completely contradictory.
According to witnesses, these discharges have a spheroidal or ovoidal shape, and are very luminous and bright. They can remain motionless suspended in the air, move slowly or quickly, and slide as if attracted by an object or in a completely random way. Their dimensions are usually between 10 and 40 cm. They can make hissing, abnormal sounds or no noise at all. After a few seconds, the discharge disappears by dispersing or, rarely, with an explosion.
In 1638, the first documented case of ball lightning took place in a village in southwest England. One of these destroyed the roof of St Pancras Church during the Great Thunderstorm.
Ball lightning was considered a myth for many years. Despite this, and the fact that many of the characteristics of this particular phenomenon are still unknown, such as the longevity of its existence or why it floats in the air, it is now recognized as a real type of discharge.
SPRITE
A sprite is a mysterious electrical phenomenon that occurs above storm systems, even reaching the stratosphere. Its diameter can be up to tens of km. Its nature has not yet been explained.
These appear immediately after positive cloud-to-ground lightning, which accounts for only 5-10% of all lightning strikes.
The first reports of its existence date back to 1886. The Nobel Prize in Physics winner Charles Wilson had already announced, in theory, the presence of this phenomenon in 1925, but its existence was doubtful until July 6, 1989, when they were accidentally recorded by the physicist John R. Winkler and his team.
After this, sprites have been studied to learn about their characteristics, understand their appearance, and assess the risk they pose.
Teams of atmospheric researchers have been able, thanks to technology, to identify different types of electrical discharge above the clouds related to this phenomenon, named "elves" and "blue jets", although sprites are the most common.
