1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,920 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:08,600 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello everyone, I'm Eves. Welcome to this Day 3 00:00:08,600 --> 00:00:11,480 Speaker 1: in History class, where we take a tiny bite of 4 00:00:11,560 --> 00:00:25,800 Speaker 1: history every day. Today is March five. The day was 5 00:00:25,880 --> 00:00:31,360 Speaker 1: March five, nine four. Physicist Nicola Tesla attempted to explain 6 00:00:31,480 --> 00:00:35,560 Speaker 1: ball lightning. To this day, the phenomenon of ball lightning 7 00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:39,400 Speaker 1: has not been explained. People have been seeing ball lightning 8 00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:43,600 Speaker 1: for centuries. It appears as orbs of light of varying colors, 9 00:00:43,720 --> 00:00:48,080 Speaker 1: and it usually shows up during thunderstorms. Sometimes it comes 10 00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:51,640 Speaker 1: down from the clouds, sometimes it just materializes in the air, 11 00:00:52,159 --> 00:00:55,720 Speaker 1: and sometimes it enters a room through a window. The 12 00:00:55,720 --> 00:00:59,080 Speaker 1: phenomenon lasts for a few seconds to several minutes, and 13 00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:02,600 Speaker 1: in some old counts it was described as leaving behind 14 00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:06,200 Speaker 1: a foul odor. Some people have claimed to see it 15 00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:09,920 Speaker 1: inside their homes when a no thunderstorm was occurring, and 16 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:13,560 Speaker 1: during World War Two, aircraft pilots saw what they called 17 00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:19,200 Speaker 1: foo fighters or UFOs and unexplained atmospheric phenomena. Some of 18 00:01:19,240 --> 00:01:23,840 Speaker 1: their sightings resembled ball lightning. One of the first recorded 19 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:27,720 Speaker 1: observations of ball lightning occurred in sixty eight in England. 20 00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:31,480 Speaker 1: According to eyewitness accounts, people were gathered for a Sunday 21 00:01:31,520 --> 00:01:35,480 Speaker 1: service in the Church of St. Pancras. During a thunderstorm, 22 00:01:35,560 --> 00:01:38,399 Speaker 1: a quote great ball of fire burst into the church, 23 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:42,800 Speaker 1: ripping apart the roof and a window. Old accounts also 24 00:01:42,840 --> 00:01:47,760 Speaker 1: attribute deaths to ball lightning. Still, scientists have been skeptical 25 00:01:47,840 --> 00:01:51,440 Speaker 1: about the existence of the phenomenon, but there were others 26 00:01:51,440 --> 00:01:54,440 Speaker 1: who attempted to explain ball lightning and to recreate it 27 00:01:54,440 --> 00:01:57,880 Speaker 1: in the lab. Inventor and Engineering. Nicola Tesla was one 28 00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:02,320 Speaker 1: of those people. On a March five, n four, Tesla 29 00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:06,000 Speaker 1: attempted to explain the phenomenon in the publication Electrical World 30 00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:10,200 Speaker 1: and Engineer. The communication was titled the Transmission of Electric 31 00:02:10,320 --> 00:02:15,000 Speaker 1: Energy without Wires. In it, Tesla said quote, I never 32 00:02:15,040 --> 00:02:19,359 Speaker 1: saw fireballs, but as compensation for my disappointment, I succeeded 33 00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:22,840 Speaker 1: later in determining the mode of their formation and producing 34 00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:27,280 Speaker 1: them artificially. Tesla aimed to use the phenomenon to transmit 35 00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:31,560 Speaker 1: telegraph and voice signals, as well as electrical power itself 36 00:02:31,639 --> 00:02:35,000 Speaker 1: through the air. Though there have been plenty of theories 37 00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:38,040 Speaker 1: about what it is and how it forms, ball lightning 38 00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:41,480 Speaker 1: has not been scientifically explained. It's been proposed that ball 39 00:02:41,560 --> 00:02:45,160 Speaker 1: lightning is made up of photons. It's also been suggested 40 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:49,440 Speaker 1: that the phenomenon is a small black hole. Another theory 41 00:02:49,560 --> 00:02:53,079 Speaker 1: says that ball lightning is just a hallucination caused by 42 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:57,320 Speaker 1: the sensory experience of being near a lightning strike. Evidence 43 00:02:57,360 --> 00:03:01,160 Speaker 1: of ball lightning relies on personal sightings. Researchers have claimed 44 00:03:01,160 --> 00:03:04,480 Speaker 1: to capture recordings of the phenomenon happening in nature, but 45 00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:09,080 Speaker 1: it largely remains a scientific mystery. I'm Eve Chef Code 46 00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:11,600 Speaker 1: and hopefully you know a little more about history today 47 00:03:11,680 --> 00:03:15,880 Speaker 1: than you did yesterday. If you've seen any good history 48 00:03:15,960 --> 00:03:18,480 Speaker 1: means lately, you can send them to us on social 49 00:03:18,520 --> 00:03:24,440 Speaker 1: media at t D I h C podcast, or you 50 00:03:24,480 --> 00:03:26,400 Speaker 1: can go the old fashioned route and send us an 51 00:03:26,400 --> 00:03:31,240 Speaker 1: email at this Day at i heart media dot com. 52 00:03:31,280 --> 00:03:34,519 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to today's episode. We'll see you again tomorrow. 53 00:03:40,520 --> 00:03:42,560 Speaker 1: For more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit the i 54 00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:45,280 Speaker 1: Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 55 00:03:45,280 --> 00:03:46,080 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.