I got the same results from playing with thin aluminum foil and a
flyback transformer (which put out particularly nasty currents for its
size). I didnt think much of it at the time, but it looks stunningly
like the results presented.
Video from years ago:
http://www.stevehv.4hv.org/Balllightning/
My "ball lightning" was just burning aluminum from all i could tell.
None of them lasted for too long though, maybe a second or so. I did
this same thing with a 9kV 120ma NST bank, and got similar results.
The balls leave distinct burn marks in paper when they bounce around
(sorry, no photo of that).
Lets just say im not particularly impressed with what these scientists
claim is BL from burning silicon.
Steve Ward
On 1/13/07, Tesla list <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Original poster: William Beaty <billb@xxxxxxxxxx>
>
>
>
> Remember the discussion of Robert Golka's "ball lightning" created by
> shorting out a large battery bank over a pan of water? And my suspicion
> that it might be no illusion, that those glowing balls *really did* start
> out large, then shrink over time? Well, Golka should have submitted it to
> PRL, because now some physicists think the same, and they'll get all the
> credit:
>
>
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg19325863.500&feedId=online-news_rss20
>
> Youtube version of their video:
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVDU-6opEqA
>
>
> But if anyone here has an appropriate supply, there's still something they
> can explore: striking those balls with a TC discharge. Corum and Corum
> noted that the small BLs that they created with two mis-tuned TCs would
> grow much larger after being hit with a streamer.
>
>
>
>
> (((((((((((((((((( ( ( ( ( (O) ) ) ) ) )))))))))))))))))))
> William J. Beaty SCIENCE HOBBYIST website
> billb at amasci com http://amasci.com
> EE/programmer/sci-exhibits amateur science, hobby projects, sci fair
> Seattle, WA 425-222-5066 unusual phenomena, tesla coils, weird sci
>
>
>