great balls of lightning!

we all know that lightning is when there is no longer an equilibrium with the charge in the ground and the charge in the clouds. and it is this imbalance that causes the charged particles to jump from the cloud to the ground ( or ground to cloud). but what happens when the charged particles just stagnate in mid air? this video has a very good example of a weather phenomenon called ball lightning. there are several theories about what is happening here. some believe that there are thousands of tiny nano-particles in the air acting as sort of a battery. and when enough of these come together they discharge and create the ball lightning. others believe that it is due to irregularities in air pressure and dryness that creates small pockets of trapped charged particles that discharge in midair rather than connecting with the ground-cloud. it almost reminds me of that weird staticy noise we heard when landon's finger got close to sammy and we heard a sizzling noise. i think that it is that same effect just in a more concentrated area and with enough charge that it is visible to the eye.

i also wanted to throw this in. just some classic Bill Nye with a nice tribute to The Vapors at the end.