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was less than a foot away from the nose of our plane, it swerved to the left and started to go around the running light. The fireball then collided with the blade of the left propeller, which was in its upper position, and exploded, causing a flaming band to move along the left side of the fuselage." Although the force of the explosion caused the transport to be tossed about, the pilot swiftly regained control. Later, one of the aviators said that the blast had been a "blinding white flash with an explosion so loud that could be heard over the noise of the engines. The radio operator suffered an electric shock when he attempted to disconnect the antenna." After the plane had landed, maintenance crews discovered that the tip of a blade on the left propeller had been melted away. Is it possible that many people, who claim to have seen UFO's, have in reality witnessed the chaotic flight pattern of one of the earth's more bizarre natural phenomenon? Ball-lighting, or fireballs, are formed during thunderstorms and are thought to be ionized pockets air the molecules of which have massed together into super-hot balls of electro-magnetically glowing light. Dr. Harold W. Lewis, professor of physics at the University of Wisconsin, has analyzed the sightings of several hundred lightning balls. "They usually materialize immediately after an ordinary lightning stroke," the physicist has said. "The ball can be almost any color, although green and violet are rare. Most seem to shine steadily, but some pulsate." Although most specimens of ball-lightning have been harmless, some have scorched wood, burned through wires, and killed animals and humans with which they have come into contact. The Bulletin of the Astronomical Society of France carries an account of a 17-year-old French girl, who was touched and killed by ball-lightning when she took refuge from a thunderstorm in the doorway of a house. The deadly power of a fireball is understandable considering that the estimated temperatures of some lightning balls is 9,000 to 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The phenomenon is, of course, simply an energy mass and not a malignant creature. Generally no harm comes to human beings because the majority of fireballs avoid conductors, as they are wafted about on air currents. A lightning ball with a high-current, however, would naturally attach itself to such a fine conductor of electricity as human flesh and cause severe burns or death.