Is there a Scientific explanation to the Weirdest thing I saw today?

[sjls]

I was sitting in my kitchen this morning at 8:10am eating breakfast with my mom and sister present in the room when a glowing yellow & orange light appeared directly over the counter table across the room for no more than 2sec. At this same instance our electric garage door started going haywire trying to open and the garage light kicked on of course because it was activate somehow. I spend the entire day at work researching for an explanation for this light which was like no other (It had no source – it was like looking at a lamp bulb turned on in the middle of a room.) Some of my research suggest it was a natural Plasmoid but all I could find on that topic for pics and vids was kids putting fireworks in a microwave lighting a candle to create something of the sort.
What I do not understand is:
1. How did this light thing get in and penetrate a hurricane proof tinted window and show no source, beam, or cast any shadows or light on the wall?
2. Why did it activate my garage door? (What if no one was home and the door opens)
3. Why was there a 2 second buzz sound with all this?
4. What caused this whole thing? (It was just an overcast morning, No rain, storms, lighting)
Just a reminder that this was not a reflection or laser light from outside like a plane, car or person because I know clearly I saw a light glowing originating from no other then from within shining outward. I immediately scanned the area for anything abnormal, checked outside looked for an signs of what had occurred but after that everything was perfectly normal.

 

[Evo]

Funny, someone else made an identical post to this awhile back.

 

[sjls]

I saw that but this is a little different but so true and freaking me out. I'm a computer techy guy and don't care about sci that much until now. It looks like I found something new to research in life.

 

[Evo]

Here is the thread. The light, the garage door opening, very similar. Very odd.

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=213756

 

[kingdomof]

Clearly, this may be a generalized phenomenon which is an emergent property of the living quarters of people.

 

[sjls]

This is got to be the most bizarre thing I have ever witness. It is like unexplainable. Words cannot describe the sight and because it is such an instant like a blink of the eye how can anyone physically capture or imagine the unseen. I have thought of every scenario even down to the inner building matter of the walls and window, the surroundings in and out, pressure, atmospherics, natural gases that form, interference, electronics, magnetic and so on. …

 

[Cyrus]

It was magic.

 

[moe darklight]

A wizard did it.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/f7/Xena_Simpsons.jpg/220px-Xena_Simpsons.jpg

 

[Chi Meson]

I'll take your word that you're not "putting us on." But to get any more ideas we'll need more information: Where do you live? What was the weather at the time? Did your Mother and sister see the same thing? Tell us how they described it. Do you have any other siblings who were around? What did they see/hear at the time?

Could you post a photo of the area where you saw this light? From the point of view of where you witnessed it? Or at least tell us what was over/under or near the table where you saw it.

 

[sjls]

I can understand that people must think I’m insane out of my mind – I would too if I heard this but it seems like I’m not the only one that has had something of the sort. I’m a college educate individual, I live in south Florida and it was just an overcast morning with some rain prior in the early morning but the rest of the day was very sunny. My mom and sister who witness the whole think were on the way to school – they didn’t know what to think but told me FPL the power company was in the area working. There was no explosions or bright flashing light from the outside like a lighting effect. I was sitting at the table about 10 feet away from the counter directly across from me. The only thing over the counter was cabinets and to the right a stove and the window. Sorry I don’t have any pictures- I don’t know how to post one.

 

[binzing]

But you got some?

 

[gendou2]

Zoinks!

 

[Moonbear]

Do you have any electric outlets near where you saw the flash? I'm thinking something more generalized, like a power surge or short circuit...something that was arcing perhaps.

 

[sjls]

There is one outlet but nothing plugged in or running except a fridge and clock. It was not a flash but a glow (not a big one or huge one) The glowing light was about 1 foot by 6in but round. The best way to describe it is like looking at a light bulb TURNed On free standing and not a beam like a flash light laser or anything that indicates it came from outside or any household appliance. It shined just like that from the inside out... Thanks for you help

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/01/070122-ball-lightning.html

I've heard of this happening in people's homes before. My grandfather claimed that there was once one in his house. Supposedly it floated down the hallway at about chest height before eventually grounding and disappearing.

The researchers in the article have apparently produced ball lightning (plasmoids) in the lab by creating 'silicon vapor'. The lab plasmoids were of a size comparable to what you witnessed, lasted approximately the same amount of time, and produced a hissing noise (maybe similar to the 'buzz' that you heard).

 

[WarPhalange]

That's it, I'm tearing down my garage.

 

[Topher925]

I have heard of ball lightning before over aircraft and on ships (St. Elmo's Fire) but never it happening just inside someones kitchen. The fact that the garage door started function shows that it is electrically related. Some key facts we need to know to further help you is your location, whether conditions for that day, and the age of your house.

 

[tribdog]

I knew a girl who had a one of those touch lamps that you can touch anywhere and they turn on and off. Every night about the same time it would turn on or off. Turned out, according to her, that some cop was driving by every night and shooting his radar gun through her window. Is it possible to turn on one of those lamps with a radar gun?

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

I have heard of ball lightning before over aircraft and on ships (St. Elmo's Fire) but never it happening just inside someones kitchen. The fact that the garage door started function shows that it is electrically related. Some key facts we need to know to further help you is your location, whether conditions for that day, and the age of your house.

Ball lightning (plasmoids) are electricity related. As the article I linked shows small plasmoids can be made in the lab so why not by accident in a persons home? High voltage in contact with silicon creating 'silicon vapor' is apparently about all you need.

 

[sjls]

But how could a ball lightning (plasmoids) occur inside a house?? That is more common outside in bad weather conditions not in my kitchen. If it were a real ball lightning it would burn anything it touched and like I said there was no evidence that the thing ever occurred

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

But how could a ball lightning (plasmoids) occur inside a house?? That is more common outside in bad weather conditions not in my kitchen. If it were a real ball lightning it would burn anything it touched and like I said there was no evidence that the thing ever occurred

Did it touch anything?
And read the article if you haven't. If there is silicon in your house and a potential source of high voltage you have the basic ingredients in your home to create what has been created in their lab.

 

[LightbulbSun]

I can understand that people must think I’m insane out of my mind – I would too if I heard this but it seems like I’m not the only one that has had something of the sort. I’m a college educate individual, I live in south Florida and it was just an overcast morning with some rain prior in the early morning but the rest of the day was very sunny. My mom and sister who witness the whole think were on the way to school – they didn’t know what to think but told me FPL the power company was in the area working. There was no explosions or bright flashing light from the outside like a lighting effect. I was sitting at the table about 10 feet away from the counter directly across from me. The only thing over the counter was cabinets and to the right a stove and the window. Sorry I don’t have any pictures- I don’t know how to post one.

Bingo. There's your explanation.

 

[Chi Meson]

Bingo. There's your explanation.

My thoughts too. The "plasmoid" and the garage door opening, I think were two different outcomes of a single event. Rather than one being the result of the other, they both were the result of the same thing.

THe power company working on lines in the area could inadvertently produce some variances in voltage, even perhaps a short spike of very high voltages. Do you know anyone in your area who had some electronics that got fried that day (should've bought a surge protector)?

 

[sjls]

I don;t think that had anything to do with it b/c.
1. We did not ever lose power
2. Do Damage at all
3. The buzz, garage door and light all happened at the same time and stopped at the same instant.

Just a glowing ball light that appear for no reason. It did not float or move just revealed itself for 2 seconds.

 

[Mk]

Bingo. There's your explanation.

My thoughts too. The "plasmoid" and the garage door opening, I think were two different outcomes of a single event. Rather than one being the result of the other, they both were the result of the same thing.

THe power company working on lines in the area could inadvertently produce some variances in voltage, even perhaps a short spike of very high voltages. Do you know anyone in your area who had some electronics that got fried that day (should've bought a surge protector)?

The power company working in his area would cause plasmids to appear in his house? Sounds crazier than his story, if you ask me.

 

[Chi Meson]

The power company working in his area would cause plasmids to appear in his house? Sounds crazier than his story, if you ask me.

So far nothing is explained. I am of the sort that believes there is an explanation even if we never find it. Right now we are searching through a black box without a flashlight, so we have to feel our way around. I think if one of us were there at the time, we would have an easier time with the explanation.

I am not going to resort to paranormal explanations just because we could not figure it out. I am also not fully signed on to it being a plasmid. A power company working on the lines in the region opens the possibility to some electric phenomenon associated with the grid.

 

[sjls]

Plasmoids to me seem to be unstable and dangerous if you touched it. If you watch a video of an artificial one they move around and flicker like a candle or fireball. Imagine looking at a steady glow from a light bulb but no light bulbs are present anywhere around in my case – That is what I saw. I have had electrical power surges that fried the garage door opener and before doing so cause strange actions but this one I truly believe was caused and related to this light that generated something that communicated with remote garage door openers. Now whether this was intentional or natural I don’t know.

 

[Andre]

it is hypothized that ball lightning may occur when lightning hits a small amount of water.

http://www.mpg.de/english/illustrationsDocumentation/multimedia/mpResearch/2008/heft02/012/index.html

They claim that it has sort of been reproduced in the laboratory.

 

[Danger]

Weird, indeed. My grandmother had a plasmoid invade her house when she was young (late 1800's). It must have come down the chimney, because it popped open the door of the pot-belly stove and bounced across the floor, then just vanished.
I did have one thought about this, but if others saw the same thing in the same place it's invalid. I was thinking that whatever screwed with the garage door might also have stimulated neuronal activity in the optic system to give the illusion of a light. Multiple people wouldn't share the same one, though.

 

[sjls]

Was it really a plasmoid?

Based on everything I learned I do not believe this was a plasmoid because weather conditions where fine and this thing happened inside our kitchen - how could it come inside the house?

 

[Danger]

The last I heard, plasmoids were still something of a scientific mystery. Indeed, some experts didn't even believe in them.
Maybe it came into existence inside the house, and radiated a strong enough EM signal to mess up the garage system through the walls. As to why it formed, I don't know nearly enough about the subject to tackle the question.

You didn't have a light-bulb in the microwave, did you.
Oh, wait... wrong thread...

 

[sjls]

http://boulevardbible.org/biz/active/images/plasmoid.JPG

This is what it looked like except larger.

 

[Phrak]

http://boulevardbible.org/biz/active/images/plasmoid.JPG

This is what it looked like except larger.

Hi, sjls. Where did the picture come from?

Do you live in Florida or somewhere like it, where lightning can strike out of a clear sky?

 

[fileen]

Sounds like someone slipped you guys the magical mushrooms. Everyone has the same strange hallucination all at once, it arrives and is gone in a matter of seconds... One time I had some mushrooms, and nothing happened for a good hour, all my friends were tripping and I was all ticked because I wasnt. Then out of no where I have this feeling of impending doom, look out the window and see a bright ball of light floating out of the sky, it hits the ground and spreads out burning everything in its path until it reaches me, when reality kicks in and I realize I am hallucinating. I didnt hallucinate anything else all night. Maybe you guys just had a group hallucination

 

[Phrak]

Sounds like someone slipped you guys the magical mushrooms. Everyone has the same strange hallucination all at once, it arrives and is gone in a matter of seconds... One time I had some mushrooms, and nothing happened for a good hour, all my friends were tripping and I was all ticked because I wasnt. Then out of no where I have this feeling of impending doom, look out the window and see a bright ball of light floating out of the sky, it hits the ground and spreads out burning everything in its path until it reaches me, when reality kicks in and I realize I am hallucinating. I didnt hallucinate anything else all night. Maybe you guys just had a group hallucination

No, it's called ball lightning. Some hypothesize that ball lightning are plazmoids. These plazmoids have been produced in the laboritory.

 

[Danger]

http://boulevardbible.org/biz/active/images/plasmoid.JPG

I recognize that from Madonna's book, but it wasn't that blurry...

 

[Phrak]

I recognize that from Madonna's book, but it wasn't that blurry...

That's wild danger. Scan it, post it, and we'll decide if Madona's hind quarters speaks to the serealistic school of plazmoidal art.

 

[sjls]

These things should not be appearing inside someone's house under any weather conditions. And I wasn't eating mushrooms b/c 2 others saw this light just as in the picture. You need to read my first post to understand.

 

[Charlie G]

Sounds like ball lightning. A poorly understood electrical phenomenon. On wikipedia they actually have a nice picture of it occurring in Japan, and it seems to fit your description pretty well.

 

[Charlie G]

My bad for repeating what's already been said, I didnt look at everyones replies. Also on wikipedia it mentions ball lightning occurring in a church, so I guess that it could just as easily occur in your home.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Another form of lightning that is considered rare but has even been observed moving down aisles within an airplane is ball lightning.

http://www.erh.noaa.gov/car/WCM/Maine-Ly Weather/Spring 2004/convectiveamateurs.htm

...An historical observation of a woman who was "chased" by a Ball Lightning at her own wedding was cited in an ABC television program by Arthur C. Clarke and narrated by George Scott during 1984.

http://www.prometheus2.net/bl-tokyo.pdf

Observations of ball lightning have been reported for centuries, but the origin of this phenomenon remains an enigma. The 'average' ball lightning appears as a sphere with a diameter of 300 mm, a lifetime of about 10 s, and a luminosity similar to a 100-W lamp. It floats freely in the air, and ends either in an explosion, or by simply fading from view. It almost invariably occurs during stormy weather. Several energy sources have been proposed to explain the light, but none of these models has succeeded in explaining all of the observed characteristics. Here we report a model that potentially accounts for all of those properties, and which has some experimental support. [continued]

http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/v403/n6769/abs/403519a0_fs.html&dynoptions=doi1104708867

Link now dead. The quote comes from the Credible Anomalies Napster where a number of other refererces can be found in addition to information on other interesting phenomena.
https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=58374

The Structure and Stability of Ball Lightning
The main characteristics of ball lightning are well established. They include its general appearance (shape, size range, brightness, etc.), its peculiar motion and, less satisfactorily, its energy content. A remarkably consistent picture emerges from the thousands of detailed descriptions which are now available. There is, however, no such consistency in the various hypotheses that have been put forward to explain ball lightning. The only thing most of them share is an ability to explain a few aspects of the phenomenon at the expense of physically impossible requirements in other areas. If one is to accept that a single phenomenon is being described in all these observations, it seems clear that ball lightning is, at the very least, an electrical and chemical phenomenon; and several branches of both disciplines seem to be involved [continued]

http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=1994RSPTA.347...83T&db_key=AST

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/628709.stm

A BBC cameraman spotted three bright lights in the sky over the Malverns near the village of Hanbury on Tuesday and filmed them with a video camera.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hereford/worcs/3090649.stm

 

[Artman]

I'm a computer techy guy...

Now here is the really strange part of this thread...

Sorry I don’t have any pictures- I don’t know how to post one.

 

[sjls]

I am still not convinced that this was ball lightning b/c it was inside and only lasted 2 seconds max.