The only significant incident I recall
from the period when we lived at Wansted Park Road, is a story my Mum told me. Apparently
she was in the habit of putting me in my "Pedigree" pram with the sun canopy up
and leaving me out on the front porch for an afternoon sleep if the weather was warm and
sunny.
One hot, still, and sultry day, she came out to inspect me and
noticed that a lone, strange looking, very black cloud was passing overhead and had
blocked out the sun. Whilst she thought this unusual, she was not alarmed and reasoned
that the sun would soon be out again. She turned to go back into the house and as she gave
me a last look before re-entering the house, the pram was struck by lightning. She said it
was not the usual type of lightning strike. In fact, she said she had never seen lightning
like it before or since in her lifetime; but she was adamant it was lightning. She says it
was like a ball of fire that moved down the chrome plated handles of the pram and then
just disappeared.
She was so astonished at the phenomena that at first she was
paralysed with fear. Her next thoughts were for my safety and she rushed to my side
fearing I'd been electrocuted. But I was still sleeping soundly. She was unable to offer
any rational explanation for what had happened. Even the big black cloud had disappeared
when she had finally collected her wits, and she wondered whether she might have imagined
the whole thing. My mother is not a superstitious or highly excitable woman and I have no
doubt that she did in fact observe something that was unexplainable.
Some time after she told me this I read about Saint Elmo's Fire, a
very rare type of atmospheric electrical discharge. I may have been further persuaded that
this was what she saw when I learnt that Saint Elmo was the patron saint of sailors! Maybe
she was receiving a message my Dad had been saved from some ordeal in the Mediterranean
where his ship was!
But I now believe that what she observed was Ball Lightning. I was
surprised when I learnt that up to five percent of all people at some time or other in
their lifetime observe it. However, although it has been regularly observed, no
scientifically proven mechanism for its occurrence has yet been identified. There are
numerous articles on Ball lightning, and its characteristics match exactly what my Mother
described. I only wish I could have been old enough, and awake at the time, to have
observed it too!
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