“….‘Gervase’s description of a white substance coming out of the dark cloud, falling as a spinning fiery sphere and then having some horizontal motion is very similar to historic and contemporary descriptions of ball lightning,’ Professor Tanner said in a Durham University press release…”
Unfortunately there don’t seem to be any known medieval representations of ball lightning—well, not that I’ve been able to find, so I can only show a photograph and 19th/20th-century illustrations.
Physicist Brian Tanner and historian Giles Gasper believe they have discovered a 12th-century description of ball lightning that was seen near London on 7 June 1175. The account was written by a monk named Gervase (of Canterbury). If they’re right, it’s the oldest known description of such an event in England by 450 years.
To read more about their discovery and ball lightning itself go to this site and the BBC Weather site.
The New Murrey and Blue blog 
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