Question: About 16 years ago, when I was a child and lived with my family in Russia, a curious thing happened.
My mother and I were sitting in our 13th-floor flat, when we heard a sizzling noise, and I saw a ball of fire about 5 centimetres in diameter right behind my mother's head.
It stayed there a few seconds, then went "pop" like an exploding light bulb and vanished. As far as I know, this was ball lightning, but I would like to know how and why it appeared and disappeared so suddenly.
I would also like to know whether our lives were in danger? It was not raining that day, but was cloudy and quite stuffy. The windows were closed at the time of the incident.
Answer: You are quite correct. What you saw is known as ball lightning. This is a type of lightning that can appear ...
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