Ball Lightning in the Prescientific Era

Abstract

Lightning flashes appear in divers forms during thunderstorms. The observation of the different shapes led to their classification as different types of lightning even in ancient works which no longer exist and are only known from references in later writings. Three general forms, for example, are represented by the ordinary lightning stroke, often called zigzag lightning, which is seen in a bright well-defined path; sheet lightning, which is faintly luminous and covers a broad region of the sky; and ball lightning, which glows either faintly or very brightly but presents a very distinctive appearance both in shape and in its varied paths. Etr.uscan art shows such types of lightning, including the ball of fire.⁽¹⁶⁰⁾ A discussion of ball lightning is attributed to Aristotle in the fourth century B.C. in his work on meteorology. ⁽¹⁷⁾