B ASES T EÓRICAS

Journal of Borderland Research Vol XIV No.2 July-1958

obody knows what electricity is. We have learned quite a bit about how to make it work for us.

We know

something of how to guide it from

place to

place. A few of the things it may do and won't do for us have been uncovered, but we must learn what it is! If we do not know what electricity is, then neither do we know what lightning is, for lightning is believed to be electricity. There are several kinds of light- ning - forked, sheet, and ball or globe light- ning. Of these three, globe lightning is the greatest riddle. And perhaps, woe betide us!

The great Nikola Tesla spoke about a "death ray" apparatus he was working on. Science smiled, and behind a lifted hand re- marked of how Tesla's age was beginning to show. It has always been interesting to me to note that as some great men's minds mature, how much closer to the "fantastic" they ap- pear to approach. Oh, if we could only ap- proach it yet closer! I have continually main- tained man has never created anything basic which Nature has not done a long time be- fore, one way or another. So far, I have not had to eat my words. I will be glad to make a meal of them anytime!

Lightning is Nature's death ray. It has been calculated that there is no full second of time in our 24-hour day that does not experience a lightning discharge somewhere on Earth! And a flash of lightning can last from 1/10,000 of a second to a full second long. That amounts to practically a steady electri- cal charge.

If Nature has a reason for discharging light- ning as she does- other than a difference in potentials between two points- and if she has a means of directing the charge to fulfill that reason, other than the difference of the same potentials, then these reasons have entirely escaped our Science's detection. Science says it is all "chance." Be that as it may - poor ob- servation, lazy intellect, or actuality - when lightning strikes, considerable happens-and contrary to the "old saying," lightning fre- quently does strike the same place twice- and more than twice!

Of all lightning, the globe lightning is pos- sessed of the greatest fury. Ball lightning is nature's most potent death ray - bearing the surest and most sudden results, and being the least understood of all lightning types- even at General Electric, where the great Steinmetz built huge lightning machines to study its effects so he might learn to protect power lines and plants against it. Presently globe lightning is thought to be "a 'lump' of extremely high temperature plasma held in a state of a short-term balance of electro- magnetic forces." The use of the word "plasma" here should not be confused with the word's ordinary use pertaining to blood. In this case the word means a "gas of elec- trons and ions in a magneto-hydrodynamic effect at about 30,000 degrees Fahrenheit!" These are 64 dollar words meaning- "This big bear's tail we have hold of just now is sure slick!"

In this day of missiles carrying hydrogen- bomb warheads, and anti-missiles which seek these kind of missiles hoping to explode

them before they explode themselves, we are not surprised to learn that Russia is inter- ested in artificial ball lightning as an anti- missile defense. (Page Gertrude Stein!) Ac- cording to Dr. Alpert Parry, writing in the "Missiles & Rockets" magazine for April and June 1958, the Soviets have been thinking along these lines since 1940. But the trouble is, we are pretty sure that they have been do- ing more than just thinking! How much more is the big question. This is another place where we have to let out our belts in- stead of drawing them in!

Not long ago a Soviet plane was struck by natural ball lightning. Meager reports are that Russian scientists "swarmed over the re- mains like flies over honey." But what they found is as dark a secret as that which our own Air Force really thinks about UFO's!

According to Dr. Parry's story, Russian Sci- entist, George Babat, experimented with methods of creating artificial lightning of the globe type until he was successful. This suc- cess took place in the Svettana plant at Len- ingrad. After Babat passed away, his work was continued on by Professor Peter Kapitsa, one of Russia's top atomic and hydrogen ex- perts. Kapitsa is said to have found a hy- pothesis having to do with the physical laws governing ball lightning, and perhaps it's guidance.

Of course, Soviet writers say that this force will be used only as a peaceful means in do- ing their work, such as "cutting into the ground to open new mine shafts at a fabu- lous speed and at the same time leaving the shaft walls smooth!" But those on the out- side looking in, wonder.

It will be recalled that Tesla in the early 1930's claimed to have perfected (in his own mind at least) a death ray machine capable of stopping an army of 100.000 men 150 miles away, or a whole fleet of planes at the same

distance.

U.S. Scientists, most acquainted with re- search in electrical currents at extremely high potentials, shake their heads back and forth at the possibility at directing ball lighting to a target in our atmosphere or in space. Quite often when scientists shake their heads that way it does not mean that something is nec- essarily impossible, but they hope you will think this is what they mean - and perhaps go away and leave them alone with their slide rules and test tubes. Too, often scien- tists are not understood, hence misquoted. They don't like being misunderstood or mis- quoted. I cannot blame them. Again, they know much knowledge-but not always just what knowledge- is "classified" in the United States, and again they do not wish to give any opportunity to be put on the mat! Again, I cannot blame them.

As an aside to this matter, it is impossible that ball lightning, while perhaps incapable of being directed into the atmosphere by it- self, could ride on or with a "carrier wave," or within a "tube of force," fragile as it may appear now, such as Mr. Camron with his own ray gun? Silly as this may sound here, is it, in reality , any sillier sounding than Tesla's own "Alternating current system with its rotating magnetic fields" sounded when he first propounded it 70 years ago to his su- periors? They told him then it could not pos- sibly work!

Once globe lighting has been observed it is not easily forgotten. Often it is a ball six or eight inches in diameter, green like burning copper, or with lavender tinge. It goes bowl- ing along on the top pf a power wire, but generally in no great hurry. Other times it hangs from the bottom side of the wire like a monorail. Frequently it acts as if it were hunting for something, seeming to examine