Ball Lightning Boca Raton, Fl

[Bocadude85]

We had a strange experience last night. We were sitting in our Florida room watching TV when we saw what we thought was a fireball slowly rising into the sky. At first the ball was close to the ground and very bright. Unfortunately I didnt grab my camera until a few seconds later at which point the ball had risen to above our house and was slowly bouncing around before slowly fading away. I have attached the video that I uploaded to youtube last night.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5s38_VvpPM

[somethingfunny]

Whoa! That's really spooky there. I can see why UFO sightings are often attributed to ball lightning now, I've never seen anything like it myself.

[JonathanBelles]

This video is interesting, but there is no reference point. I can't tell if the light is moving or if the camera is moving

[Bocadude85]

This video is interesting, but there is no reference point. I can't tell if the light is moving or if the camera is moving

Yea unfortunately there was no reference point. The ball itself was bouncing around right above our house before heading west and dissipating. I could be wrong about it being ball lightining but if its not then i do not know what it was.

[Janie2006]

Isn't ball lightning still a disputed phenomenon? I'm not necessarily disagreeing with anyone, it just seems that it's one of things that's so rare as to cause considerable consternation whenever it does appear. It wasn't until a few years ago (really) that we even knew sprites existed. My grandmother always claimed that ball lightning appeared during an exceptionally severe thunderstorm in Mississippi, many moons ago.

Boca, it is possible that you saw one of the Chinese Lanterns, a kind of firework that literally rises and floats across the sky. I saw a couple of them on the 4th and at first thought that I was seeing things. One lights the fuse and it rises and slowly floats until it eventually fades out. It literally looks like a fireball in the sky. Lacking a reference point for the ball, my initial thoughts are that it could very well have been one of those Lanterns.

[ravyrn]

Isn't ball lightning still a disputed phenomenon? I'm not necessarily disagreeing with anyone, it just seems that it's one of things that's so rare as to cause considerable consternation whenever it does appear. It wasn't until a few years ago (really) that we even knew sprites existed. My grandmother always claimed that ball lightning appeared during an exceptionally severe thunderstorm in Mississippi, many moons ago.

Boca, it is possible that you saw one of the Chinese Lanterns, a kind of firework that literally rises and floats across the sky. I saw a couple of them on the 4th and at first thought that I was seeing things. One lights the fuse and it rises and slowly floats until it eventually fades out. It literally looks like a fireball in the sky. Lacking a reference point for the ball, my initial thoughts are that it could very well have been one of those Lanterns.

This may be a plausible explanation per the Chinese Lanterns. Were there any storms near you when you saw it and which way was the wind blowing?

[Bocadude85]

Isn't ball lightning still a disputed phenomenon? I'm not necessarily disagreeing with anyone, it just seems that it's one of things that's so rare as to cause considerable consternation whenever it does appear. It wasn't until a few years ago (really) that we even knew sprites existed. My grandmother always claimed that ball lightning appeared during an exceptionally severe thunderstorm in Mississippi, many moons ago.

Boca, it is possible that you saw one of the Chinese Lanterns, a kind of firework that literally rises and floats across the sky. I saw a couple of them on the 4th and at first thought that I was seeing things. One lights the fuse and it rises and slowly floats until it eventually fades out. It literally looks like a fireball in the sky. Lacking a reference point for the ball, my initial thoughts are that it could very well have been one of those Lanterns.

This may be a plausible explanation per the Chinese Lanterns. Were there any storms near you when you saw it and which way was the wind blowing?

An electrical storm with torrential rain had just passed when we saw the ball. I wouldn't think it could have been fireworks considering it had just stopped raining a minute or so before the video. As far as wind goes Im not 100% certain which way the wind was blowing, normally our winds come from the SE

[ravyrn]

An electrical storm with torrential rain had just passed when we saw the ball. I wouldn't think it could have been fireworks considering it had just stopped raining a minute or so before the video. As far as wind goes Im not 100% certain which way the wind was blowing, normally our winds come from the SE

Oh, if a storm had just passed, than it doesn't seem someone would release a chinese lantern. It seems you got to witness a very rare phenomenon! Thanks for sharing the video!