lighning facts?

Question

please state if right or wrong.. and if so why... you need to have proof of this.

1.sometimes lightning apears in the shape of a ball?
2.If an airplane is flying through a lightning storm.. and ligtning hits it.. nothing will happen?

Answer 1

Ball lightning is interesting as it's not something we know much about. Attempts to recreate it have generally not been very successful and it's a fairly rare occurence. There are reports of ball lightning and several people claim to have seen it inside buildings during thunderstorms. It's reported to move slowly, sometimes not moving at all. Some reports go so far as to state that the ball lightning moved about in an 'intelligent' manner leading some people to claim it's a lifeform from another planet.

I'm not sure I'd agree with that but ball lightning certainly does happen from time to time. There's some photos here... http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&q=ball%20lightning&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

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Airplanes frequently get hit by lightning and NASA deliberately fly into lightning storms to test the effects of lightning on planes.

The plane itself is rarely damaged. This is because it's made of metal (usually aluminium) which is very good at conducting electricity. When a plane does get struck the lightning is conducted through the outer skin of the aircraft which keeps it safely away from the passengers and crew. More modern planes actually have very conductive fibres incorporated into the structure of the aircraft so as to carry lightning safely away.

The research by NASA showed that electrical equipment was often damaged but the plane itself was unaffacted. As a safety measure, the electrical systems of planes are now protected from lightning strikes.

There's more info here... http://www.centennialofflight.gov/2003FF/lightning/flight.html

Answer 2

Never saw the ball, I did see a "Sprite" once when I had an apt. with miles of sight distance.

Planes: I was on a flight from D.C. to NY through a pretty bad storm once, I looked out the window and "BAM", I saw a strike hit the starboard wing, it sounded as if someone hit the plane with a sledge hammer, there was a ton of "Turbulence" and I figured this happened a lot on planes since it was only my second time in the air. When we landed I was waiting to de-plane and a woman asked me " You were sitting by the window, do you know what that thump was" ? I replied "Lightning", I figured that everyone saw it, and everyone went into a minor panic, "LIGHTNING" was heard traveling all the way to the back passengers with some commotion, I yelled back "it doesn't matter now, we are on the ground and stopped, everything is shut down, engines, systems etc"... so it does NOTHING when it hits a plane, Lightning arresters, and not being "grounded", helps a lot too.

Answer 3

Ball lightning is rare but it does occur. There are different hypotheses for what causes it and it would be worth googling to find out some of them. Limit your search to .edu sites and you should get some interesting stuff.

Generally lightning does not bother planes in flight. It runs across the skin and usually discharges from the tail or wings. The metal shell acts as a Faraday cage protecting the people and the equipment inside. Planes that are hit by lightning are usually checked over on landing to make sure there is no damage but there seldom is. Mind you, if a plane is hit, half the passengers freak out with the flash of the lightning and the bang of the thunder. The plane is probably experiencing turbulence as well being that close to a thunderstorm.

Answer 4

i believe you are correct.its lightning at my house right now,a storm is comming.