Are Fire Balls for Real?
Scientists are studying the strangest and least understood weather phenomena: "Ball Lightning," or "St. Elmo's Fire." Some say the super-charged electromagnetic fields produced by intense lightning strikes induce the human brain to witness the fire balls. Either way, I see God written all over it.
(Innsbruck, Austria)—Anyone who lives in an area frequented by severe thunderstorms knows the awesome electrical power released into the atmosphere during such storms. Enter, "Ball Lightning."
"Ball Lightning" is said to be the one of the strangest and least understood weather phenomena. Reportedly a "close cousin" of earthquake lights (unexplainable lights that appear during seismic activity), and also referred to as "St. Elmo's Fire," one science encyclopedia states that a typical fire ball is 4-1/2 to 9 inches in diameter, but can be up to three feet. It reportedly can glow different colors, may have a halo around it, and emit sparks or rays as it moves. Reportedly, it either explodes before disappearing or simply fades away. Their movement is typically horizontal and often moves in a spinning motion seemingly able to navigate around obstacles or pass through closed doors and windows.
My own family once witnessed ball lightning in Iowa during a vicious storm that seemed to hover directly over our house. I was, perhaps, in middle school at the time and being deathly afraid I shut my eyes and covered my ears during the worst of it. Suddenly, I felt an explosion around me, and the hair stood up on my arms. When I opened my eyes, my parents were nearly in a state of shock. Just as lightning struck something next to our house, they had seen a ball of white lightning exit an electrical outlet, race across the kitchen along the floor and disappear up into the kitchen sink's faucet.
Recalling the event (knowing I would have had nightmares for weeks had I witnessed it myself), I have often wondered at the similarities in relation to supernatural encounters with God throughout the ages. Surely, seeing God in a burning bush was an astonishing experience, as were the "tongues of fire" at Pentecost. Perhaps such an experience lends itself to the adage, "it was enough to put the fear of God into you."
All that said, we now have news that two physicists from the University of Innsbruck—Josef Peer and Alexander Kendl—have been studying the electromagnetic fields of different types of lightning strikes, particularly ball lightnings, during thunderstorms.
A press release from the university notes that scientists have long been puzzled by the nature of fire balls (phosphenes) but now believe that the magnetic field of lightning strokes (bolts or strikes) may actually produce the image of ball lightning in the human brain.
Notes the report: "Their calculations suggest that the magnetic fields of a specific class of long lasting repetitive lightning discharges show the same properties as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), a technique commonly used in clinical and psychiatric practice to stimulate neural activity in the human brain.
Time varying and sufficiently strong magnetic fields induce electrical fields in the brain, specifically, in neurons of the visual cortex, which may invoke phosphenes."
Said Professor Kendl: "An observer located within a few hundred meters of a long lightning stroke may experience a magnetic phosphene in the shape of a luminous spot."
Personally, I question the results of this study as I find it difficult to believe my mother and father, who witnessed the same ball lightning event in our home, were both experiencing brain reflexes rather than actually seeing what they said they saw. But, if the Innsbruck scientists' theory is true, could it be that when God interacts with man on earth, He produces an electro-magnetic field so powerful that it forces us to see Him? Or, using the old axiom about a tree only making noise when it falls if a human ear is within hearing distance to hear it, are fire balls only possible if someone is there to see them? It is certainly something to consider when reading about the pillar of light leading the Israelites in the desert, the brilliant lightning witnessed by Ezekiel, and the bright cloud that enveloped the disciples when witnessing the Transfiguration.
Oh, the glorious mysteries of our universe! And to think they're just a shadow of our magnificent Creator!
