I saw... - A THING.

[Bee Happy]

I always wanted something of my very own to post in this part of the forum; It's been a while since I thought of it, but poking around in the spooky - creepy - crawly - not-of-this-earth part of the forum Jogged my memory.  I was in Canada, maybe two(?) Christmases ago - about a block from the shoreline of Lake Huron. I had just come out the front door to get another of the infinitely forgotten in the Jeep travel somethings.
There was a light - at first I thought it was another car turning on the lane. (I suspect our brains try to catalogue those things we are accustomed to very first, always.) The light shortened long shadows and lengthened short ones - just how you'd expect a light to act.
But I didn't see any cars.
I saw a brilliant, brilliant blue/white BALL float, (FLOAT!) drifting below the clear sky above the big ol' lake an unknown number of meters, since it was Canada, away.
Nothing made a sound.
Everything was silent. The light - and EVERYTHING in creation (even the wind, I think) held its breath.
My mind screeched like an old LP that's had the needle ripped away. (figuratively, of course, no need for an MRI)
'Did I SEE that?' I thought.
'I didn't see that; something shorted in my optic nerve or something.' I told myself.
I was ready to believe, too, that I just saw something that I didn't really see - so I could get back to my life with as few bothersome questions and puzzles distracting me from everything I could do without being distracted from. (Not much, to be honest.)
And then those lovely Canada Geese ('winged rats' one Canadian called them)- protected and prolific - many of whom stay; which was made clear to me because this happened in December. - Those pretty birds who would never be a Christmas dinner  spoke up: "Honk" "Honk" "Haww" (one of them apparently had a touch of something.) - Telling me:  "You did, too, see something; we don't know what the hell it was, either, but it woke us up, and scared us!"

[salvo]

"Ball Lightning".

Lots of stories...usually wierd.

It's real.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ball_lightning

Sal

[Bee Happy]

I thought it might be, but it sure sent my imagination into overdrive.

[wayne]

 Ball Lightening, in December, off Lake Huron?  I've always thought of that as a warm weather event.

from wiki;

Descriptions of ball lightning vary widely. It has been described as moving up and down, sideways or in unpredictable trajectories, hovering and moving with or against the wind; attracted to,[33] unaffected by, or repelled from buildings, people, cars and other objects. Some accounts describe it as moving through solid masses of wood or metal without effect, while others describe it as destructive and melting or burning those substances. Its appearance has also been linked to power lines[34] as well as during thunderstorms and also calm weather. Ball lightning has been described as transparent, translucent, multicolored, evenly lit, radiating flames, filaments or sparks, with shapes that vary between spheres, ovals, tear-drops, rods, or disks.[35]

Ball lightning is often erroneously identified as St. Elmo's fire. They are separate and distinct phenomena.[36]

The balls have been reported to disperse in many different ways, such as suddenly vanishing, gradually dissipating, absorption into an object, "popping," exploding loudly, or even exploding with force, which is sometimes reported as damaging. Accounts also vary on their alleged danger to humans, from lethal to harmless.

A review of the available literature published in 1972[37] identified the properties of a “typical” ball lightning, whilst cautioning against over-reliance on eye-witness accounts:

They frequently appear almost simultaneously with cloud-to-ground lightning discharge
They are generally spherical or pear-shaped with fuzzy edges
Their diameters range from 1–100 cm, most commonly 10–20 cm
Their brightness corresponds to roughly that of a domestic lamp, so they can be seen clearly in daylight
A wide range of colours has been observed, red, orange and yellow being the most common.
The lifetime of each event is from 1 second to over a minute with the brightness remaining fairly constant during that time
They tend to move, most often in a horizontal direction at a few metres per second, but may also move vertically, remain stationary or wander erratically.
Many are described as having rotational motion
It is rare that observers report the sensation of heat, although in some cases the disappearance of the ball is accompanied by the liberation of heat
Some display an affinity for metal objects and may move along conductors such as wires or metal fences
Some appear within buildings passing through closed doors and windows
Some have appeared within metal aircraft and have entered and left without causing damage
The disappearance of a ball is generally rapid and may be either silent or explosive
Odors resembling ozone, burning sulfur, or nitrogen oxides are often reported