Phil Roberts, July 2025
We saw “ball lightning,” the first I’ve ever seen ….(July 5, about noon). Peggy remains as mystified as I am. We had been sitting in metal chairs on our back deck when a sudden thundercloud seemed to appear out of nowhere. We both walked quickly indoors, the two cats beating us inside. Peggy slid the screen door shut, partially closed the patio door and took several steps into the dining room. I was walking toward my arm chair, but turned to face Peggy, exclaiming how quickly it had started raining. Suddenly, as we were both looking north-northwest out of the patio door on the deck, there was a loud crash simultaneous with a ball of electricity that hovered for a split second about three feet off the deck floor. It was spherical, bright red, solid and about the size of a bushel basket. Peggy must have blinked–(or saw it from a different angle) because she saw only a white sphere. The ball vanished after a loud pop, leaving no discernible damage, not even a singe on the side of the wooden deck! After researching it a bit this morning, I had no idea such a phenomenon is so rarely seen–and how deadly it has been to the few people who have witnessed it over the centuries. Lucky–we always follow Mom and Dad’s advice to be vigilant and take cover inside at the first sound of thunder.