Question: What was that mysterious green light?
There was a flash or electric lightning outside. I just sat down on the bed with my dog; I was getting ready to go to bed. Just when I sat down, a green, electric-looking green light came through the window. It buzzed and was watching me, kind of swaying like it stood there face to face with me. I got so scared I stood up and started to run with the dog following me. It hit me and I fell. Half of my body felt weird. What do you think it could be? -- Alicia
Answer: It sounds like you might have had an encounter with ball lightning. Ball lightning is a sphere of electrical energy or plasma. No one is quite certain how they are formed in nature or how they maintain their integrity. They most often seem to appear during thunderstorms, so there's a clue, and sometimes are seen traveling along high-voltage wires -- and sometimes dropping off of them to fly around. One of the most curious characteristics of ball lightning is their behavior, which at times almost seems intelligent. It can enter a house, seem to look around, avoiding obstacles, then exit through a door or window. Sometimes they are destructive, other times not. In some instances they will burn a round hole in a glass window as it passes through, and in other cases they will float through the glass without harming it at all. They have harmlessly passed through solid walls and even the body of an airliner! Sometimes they will fizzle out, while others disappear in small explosions. It's this strange and mysterious behavior that led some scientists to doubt their existence. But there are many cases of encounters with ball lightning on record (see the suggested reading below), although the phenomenon is still relatively rare. You can count yourself among a small group who has been touched by one physically. The weirdness you felt was from its electrical energy; it's as if you got a shock from a household outlet.
