Top 12 Most Famous Ball Lightning Sightings in History: The 5th Remains Unexplained to This Day

6. The USS New York Naval Encounter (1919)

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While traveling in the North Atlantic, the crew of the United States Navy battleship USS New York encountered an amazing and well-documented ball lightning event on February 22, 1919. Many crew members—including officers and skilled observers—recorded seeing many glowing spheres moving around the ship as it negotiated a strong electrical storm. Described as between 6 to 8 inches in diameter, these balls of light were seen floating around the ship's metal surfaces—including the antenna wires and gun barrels. The phenomena lasted for an unheard-of length—more than twenty minutes—which let many observers make thorough observations. The behavior of the ball lightning in respect to the metal constructions of the ship makes this sighting very important. Often following the outlines of railings and other metallic surfaces, crew members claimed the spheres looked drawn to metal things. While some balls apparently disappeared with a loud pop when they came into touch with specific metal surfaces, others were seen to pass through tiny openings in the ship's construction without dispersing. The official naval report of the event includes thorough diagrams and measurements, therefore giving researchers important information on the movement and properties of ball lightning in a maritime setting. Considered one of the most significant ball lightning sightings in naval history, this encounter provides understanding of the interplay between the phenomena and conductive materials as well as its behavior in the face of significant electromagnetic fields produced by a ship's equipment. Meteorologists and physicists have conducted extensive research on the USS New York incident, which greatly supports hypotheses regarding the electromagnetic character of ball lightning and its link to conventional lightning discharges. Moreover, this sighting was crucial in proving ball lightning as a valid topic of scientific investigation for military and naval research groups, hence generating more records and study of like events in marine environments. The thorough and reliable character of the findings from the USS New York keeps this incident a pillar in ball lightning research, motivating continuous inquiries on the physics of these enigmatic meteorological events.