Notable observations St. Elmo's fire

robert burton wrote of st. elmo s fire in anatomy of melancholy: radzivilius, lithunian duke, calls apparition sancti germani sidus; , saith saw same after in storm, sailing, 1582, alexandria rhodes . refers voyage made mikołaj krzysztof orphan radziwiłł in 1582–1584.

on 9 may 1605, while on second voyage of john davis commanded sir edward michelborne east indies, unknown writer aboard tiger describes phenomenon; in extremity of our storm appeared in night, upon our maine top-mast head, flame bigness of great candle, portugals call corpo sancto, holding divine token when appeareth worst past. as, thanked god, had better weather after .

william noah, silversmith convicted in london of stealing 2,000 pounds of lead, while on route sydney, new south wales on convict transport ship hillsborough, recorded 2 such observations in detailed daily journal. first in southern ocean midway between cape town , sydney , second in tasman sea, day out of port jackson:

26 june 1799: @ 4 began blow hard heavy shower of rain & hail , extraordinary heavy clap of thunder & lightning when fell cormesant [corposant] body of fire collect lightning & lodge in foretopmast head first seen our captain when followd heavy clap of thunder & lightning occasioned fall & burst on main deck electrific of bursting of ball of fire had such power shake several of leg not on main deck fire hung round smith forge being iron had same effect on gun deck & orlop [deck] on several of convicts.

25 july 1799: sourounded heavy thunder & lightning , dismal element foaming round shocking see cormesant hanging @ maintop mast head seamen here shock’d when flash of lightning came burst cormesant & struck 2 of seamen several hours stone blind & several hurt in eyes.

while exact nature of these weather phenomenon cannot certain, appear 2 observations of st. elmo s fire perhaps ball lightning , direct lightning strike ship thrown mix.

on 20 february 1817, during severe electrical storm james braid, surgeon @ lord hopetoun s mines @ leadhills, lanarkshire, had extraordinary experience whilst on horseback:

on thursday 20th, gratified few minutes luminous appearance described above [viz., such flashes of lightning west, repeated every 2 or 3 minutes, @ shorter intervals, appeared illumine whole heavens ]. 9 o clock, p.m. had no sooner got on horseback observed tips of both horse s ears quite luminous: edges of hat had same appearance. deprived of these luminaries shower of moist snow began fall. horse s ears became wet , lost luminous appearance; edges of hat, being longer of getting wet, continued give luminous appearance longer.

i observe immense number of minute sparks darting towards horse s ears , margin of hat, produced beautiful appearance, , sorry deprived of it.

the atmosphere in neighbourhood appeared highly electrified 8 or ten days time. thunder heard 15th 23d, during time weather unsteady: frequent showers of hail, snow, rain, &c.

i can find no person in quarter remembers have ever seen luminous appearance mentioned above, before season,—or such quantity of lightning darting across heavens,—nor have heard thunder @ season of year.

this country being stocked sheep, , herds having frequent occasion pay attention state of weather, not thought such appearance can have been @ frequent, , none of them have observed it.

weeks earlier, reportedly on 17 january 1817, luminous snowstorm occurred in vermont , new hampshire. saint elmo s fire appeared static discharges on roof peaks, fence posts, , hats , fingers of people. thunderstorms prevailed on central new england.

charles darwin noted effect while aboard beagle. wrote of episode in letter j. s. henslow 1 night when beagle anchored in estuary of río de la plata:

everything in flames, — sky lightning, — water luminous particles, , masts pointed blue flame.

st. elmo s fire reported have been seen during siege of constantinople ottoman empire in 1453. reportedly seen emitting top of hippodrome. byzantines attributed sign christian god come , destroy conquering muslim army. according george sphrantzes, disappeared days before constantinople fell, ending byzantine empire.

in 2 years before mast, richard henry dana, jr. describes seeing corposant in horse latitudes of northern atlantic ocean. however, may have been talking ball lightning; mentioned earlier erroneously identified st. elmo s fire: there, directly on had been standing, upon main top-gallant mast-head, ball of light, sailors name corposant (corpus sancti), , mate had called out at. watching carefully, sailors have notion, if corposant rises in rigging, sign of fair weather, if comes lower down, there storm .

many russian sailors have seen them throughout years. them, saint nicholas or saint peter s lights . called st. helen s or st. hermes fire, perhaps through linguistic confusion.

nikola tesla created st. elmo s fire in 1899 while testing out tesla coil @ laboratory in colorado springs, usa. st. elmo s fire seen around coil , said have lit wings of butterflies blue halos flew around.

shortly before crash of luftschiffbau zeppelin s hindenburg in 1937, professor mark heald of princeton saw st. elmo s fire flickering along airship s minute before fire broke out. standing outside main gate naval air station, watched, wife , son, airship approached mast , dropped bow lines. minute thereafter, heald s estimation, first noticed dim blue flame flickering along backbone girder one-quarter length abaft bow tail. there time him remark wife, oh, heavens, thing afire, reply, where? , him answer, along top ridge – before there big burst of flaming hydrogen point estimated one-third ship s length stern.

st. elmo s fire reported new york times reporter william l. laurence on august 9, 1945 aboard bockscar on way nagasaki.

noticed strange eerie light coming through window high above in navigator s cabin , peered through dark around saw startling phenomenon. whirling giant propellers had somehow become great luminous discs of blue flame. same luminous blue flame appeared on plexiglass windows in nose of ship, , on tips of giant wings looked though riding whirlwind through space on chariot of blue fire. was, surmised, surcharge of static electricity had accumulated on tips of propellers , on dielectric material in plastic windows. 1 s thoughts dwelt anxiously on precious cargo in invisible ship ahead of us. there likelihood of danger heavy electric tension in atmosphere may set off? express fears captain bock, seems nonchalant , imperturbed @ controls. reassures me: familiar phenomenon seen on ships. have seen many times on bombing missions. known st. elmo s fire.

st elmo s fire seen during 1955 great plains tornado outbreak in kansas , oklahoma (us).

accounts of magellan s first circumnavigation of globe refer st. elmo s fire being seen around fleet s ships multiple times off coast of south america. sailors saw these favorable omens.

on 26 august 1883, british warship charles ball sailing sunda strait en route hong kong came within 20 km of exploding krakatau volcano , witnessed great deal of static electricity in atmosphere, generated movement of tiny particles of rocks , droplets of water volcano s steam, caused spectacular brush discharges taking place masts , rigging of ship.

among phenomena experienced on british airways flight 9 on 24 june 1982 glowing light flashes along leading edges of aircraft, seen both passengers , crew. while shared similarities st elmo s fire, glow experienced impact of ash particles on leading edges of aircraft, similar seen operators of sandblasting equipment.

st. elmo s fire observed , optical spectrum recorded during university of alaska research flight on amazon in 1995 study sprites.

the ill-fated air france flight 447 flight rio de janeiro–galeão (gig) paris charles de gaulle airport in 2009 understood have experienced st. elmo s fire 23 minutes prior crashing atlantic ocean. however, phenomenon not factor on disaster.

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