Guys, slow down the video to 0.25 times. Notice the glowing ball originally starts out as a black ball at the very top most cloud level.

This guy needs to be earths designated UFO camera guy, no shaking, no blurriness That thing flew behind the trees, if that was a firefly it would of been the size of a dog.

Nice work, Teddy from Bob's Burgers.

I got you fam 0:36

Damn. You have a clear camera. Now if only everyone that catches things on video have it as clear as you.

Damn fantastic! I love thunder storms and have seen ball lightning before but I never knew any one ever caught it on tape!

This is really some amazing footage. Kinda makes you wonder, what's actually going on in there. Positive and negative ions clashing, and the static remnants shoot out cause there's too much friction.

0:37 @ .25 speed

I have had the rare fortune of seeing ball lightning twice in my life. Once in 2006 in Hong Kong and the 2nd time this summer in Michigan. That video pretty much captures what I have seen. Hope you get to experience it one day.

Good observations - Since the object turned from a black dot to a glowing object, could of well been a firefly (who use bioluminescence during twilight to attract mates or prey). I've once seen a floating light blue orb in the sky during a lightning storm that seemed to hover for a bit then shot off at a very high speed (or disappeared), I wonder if that was ball lightning.

PK THUNDER!

My Nan always said "If there's ever a thunder ball in your house ( how it got in, and assuming it was intent on sticking around) you must open the front and back doors and it would leave of its own accord. She was deadly serious!

0:36 photobombed by a firefly.

yes after looking this video several times..I come to the conclusion that it is a lighting bug..

I had saw ball lightning before. 1980 probably. In a strong thunderstorm over the South Side of Chicago near my school. It was heavily raining and I saw a big ball of white in the sky that turned red, and then a really loud concussion. It looked like a large firework salute flashing in the air in the thunderclouds.....

Looks like Goku and Frieza are fighting in the clouds

As a kid growing up in a new suburb that had been a farm, I saw a lot of firebugs like this one and one ball lightning. About the size of an adult's fist, this bright white light crackled as it floated through the kitchen screen door, floated through the living room and out the front door. The adults in the room just gaped. No one talked about it. For years I never talked about it, fearing people would think I was crazy...or at least crazier than I was.

This is an insect, a firefly. If you slow down the video to .25X and watch right before it lights up, you can see its dark body floating down. The light also appears in front of the line of trees in the video, it's a lot closer than that storm is.

I live in South Dakota and I've seen ball lightning many times in my life. What's really mind blowing is when it moves vertically.

For everyone saying it’s a firefly, look at the video in .25 speed, you can see a flash of light right before it begins to drop, plus it goes behind the trees which were far away

That ball lightning was so rare it didn't even show up in your video. Amazing!

That's a firefly, not ball lightning.

yeah this is a bug. The transition between 36/37 seconds, you can see the black down against the white cloud. Then as it falls, it lights up. It was a very cool effect and perspective wise, yeah, I thought it was ball lightning too.

Very interesting. On July 15, my sister and I were at the family cabin in northern MN (Ely area) and saw ball lightning there that night. I watched it descend from the sky, much slower than what's on your video, and it landed in the woods very close to us, took off again and hovered in front of us for a second; we could see the small white glowing orb at the center. Then it shot off into the woods. Awesome experience. Never for a moment did I mistake it for a UFO or for Tinkerbell, but when everything you know doesn't explain what you just saw, it can be a little troubling.

I wanted this to be real, but it isn't. If you watch it very closely (and slowly) you can see the ball is black and starts at the top of the white cloud. It gets to a point where it suddenly becomes 'yellow'. There was still doubt until I saw the black ball also pass in front of the closer dark grey clouds, which couldn't happen given the starting position.

My mother in law spoke about the day ball lightening came into their house, they had to open a door they said and the ball of lightening went out.

today i learned that ball lightning doesn't come from peeing on an electric fence, but it is sometimes a term used for a firefly

That was pretty fascinating. What I found more fascinating though was that the static I could hear in the background was synchronized with each flash of lightning, which was the microphone likely picking up electromagnetic waves... Or however such things actually work. Wish I had paid more attention in science classes back in high school. :-(

You can see the object at 0:36 before it lights up. Clearly not ball lightning... Also you can see it going in front of the nearby trees despite the lightning cloud being MUCH further away than that tree-line.

While ball lightning is indeed real, this is a firefly wanting to be included in stardom. Fantastic video regardless.

Holy cow, dude, amazing job!!

I have seen this twice while watching a severe lightning storm. Just like this there was an intensely white ball streaking across the clouds. The only difference was that both times the ball I saw was travelling horizontally at incredible speed.

Wow, that was amazing! It just shot right out of the cloud!

Bro I saw the EXACT same phenomena two years ago! Those who say its a damn fire fly simply have never witnessed this ever. I've been studying thunderstorms since a child and have witnessed some weird stuff, but when i saw this exact same scenario of a ball of light zip to the ground i almost wrecked my car. I'll never forget that moment in my life!

The sky in the dakotas is like looking up on another world

I was hopeful but, yea, firefly. Go through frame by frame before it lights up and you can clearly see the dark dot silhouetted by the bright clouds top right of center before it starts to flash.

You can see a dark object fall into the frame (before it lights up) just about 37 secs like everyone is saying. It falls into the frame right in the middle of cloud break at the top. The break is between right side of the anvil, and that puffy cumulus just to the right of that. If you slow it down you'll definitely see a dark blurry object (probably because its much closer) pass down in front of the white clouds, then curve slight to the left as it lights up. Obviously not ball lightning, because lightning would never appear as a dark object.

There's a book named ball lightning you should read that

I live for scenes like this. What a perfect shot!

Congrats on getting a shot of such a spectacular phenomenon!

it was a lightning bug/firefly, you can tell by the color and the speed, ball lightning is known to move relatively slow

it's literally a firefly lmao.

I'd be speechless too bro that's beautiful

It's awesome you caught that on camera. So rare. How cool

"Guys, slow down the video to 0.25 times. Notice the glowing ball originally starts out as a black ball at the very top most cloud level." -Lion King ... Dude, you're absolutely right... this right here is a UFO!

Hmm Very convenient the 'ball lightning' you videoed just happened to fall in the area between the trees! Also i have actually seen real ball lightning and it seemed to float in the air; it did not drop suddenly like fork lightning !

Title reflects the video content perfectly except for the lightning bolt

I don't think it's ball lightning, and I don't think it's a firefly, but it's sure some amazing and beautiful video of a very active, and very large thunderstorm. Thanks for sharing it.

Extremely common footage of what appears to be click bait. Other video from this guy is a 10p video of a helicopter called "ufo".

Growing up out West, I found the Dakotas to be, 'aesthetically' very boring. Until I saw: 'a storm'. An incredible site! Especially for one who'd never beheld such a massive storm in it's entirety before. No landscape to obscure what looked like to me: a massive white mountain rapidly moving towards me, with 'lightning' bolting out in all directions. I was hitchhiking. No one picked me up. South Dakota said: Fuck you Darren. Fuck you.

The clouds appear big yet are also far away from the observer and we can see this ‘ball lightning' comes in and disappear in front of the trees infront from the observer. So from this, the ‘ball lighting’ is much closer to the observer filming the thunderstorm than the ‘ball lighting’ being closer to the thunderstorms itself.

I'm really disappointed that this video is fake. First of all, something just looks off about those clouds. At fist, I thought it was probably just his camera making them look like that, but then I realized that there was no thunder for any of the lightning strikes. To be fair, they are pretty far away, so maybe he's just too far for the sound to reach? Nope, because if you turn up the volume, you can hear a 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘩 sound effect when the "ball lightning" goes by. It's not even delayed to fit the time it would take the sound to reach him; just as soon as it appears on the screen, the camera can apparently hear it. Sorry to ruin it.

That's a lightning bug aka "firefly". I captured something very similar and after many discussions and close examinations, it was concluded to be so. You can see that it is a small mass dropping fast before illuminating. you can also see that it goes out "infront" of the trees, thus putting it in the foreground, and much closer to the camera than the storm.

Totally off topic but what type of camera or phone were you using? Really good quality footage specially at night.

nice i would of loved to have the dslr down there that night scoring some great picts . that was a crazy air to ground strike ball too . great video !!! glad you got it .

Well, I suppose it could be a firefly, but... It's moving at an unusually high rate of speed, in my opinion. Also, I've watched this video repeatedly, and it seems whatever it is appears to disappear behind the treeline. The thunderstorm itself is a magnificent work of nature caught on video. Thanks for posting it! I'll leave it to fellow viewers to argue about what the falling light might or might not be.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but that isn't ball lightning.

Cool! I've always though this was plausible, though I'd feel really dumb if this was fabricated. What did you shoot this with? The quality is great!

Finally someone with a good camera!

Wow is right! If this is genuine, you may have one of very few videos of the phenomenon!

Wow a firefly it sooooo amazing

That's a great camera and shot. 😎👍

I've seen ball lightning before!!!now that I've seen what ball lightning looks like I remember seeing this a while ago. Nice footage!

Hi, I design electronic devices such as Tesla coils and radios. I reviewed your footage a few times. I don't know if any experts have talked to you about this yet, but to me it is very interesting footage. I have studied plasma now for a couple of years. See my KZfaq channel "Mostlymacros" or search KZfaq for my recent coil build the "VTTC700". I would say it might actually be a peace of plasma that shot off a background strike that is occluded by the cloud. A flash is visible just before and l think that there may be an arc pulled into a sort of convection of current. Events like this can happen when the current (amperage) of a bolt or part of a bolt becomes high enough to stick around due to conductivity of plasma itself and the collective fluctuating currents in the clouds. Such energies can probably make such an arc fly very quickly and vanish once out of power. This is my theory anyway. The 2nd option is that this is a peace of something that got trapped in this thunder head. Possibly something invisible to the camera, such as a balloon that got struck by lighting and caught on fire. To me, it's speed would indicate my first theory but I might be missing something. I only wish we had more angles. Especially since it seems to move in a very straight line downward. Chinese scientists think that it has something to do with soil at least sometimes. This is entirely likely one type of ball lighting as an electrical arc can vaporize almost anything including soil. After doing so it has nothing to connect directly too and becomes and goes possibly through an oscillation of current that is very fast and can make burning plasma move. It is likely to me that there are several types of ball lightning. KF7DFP

+nzsd2003 You should change the name of the vid. That's a firefly.

In my opinion this is real ball lightning. My dad actually saw this when he was a kid back in the 20s. He got close to it as it was floating above the ground going down the street. He followed it. He said he could hear a crackle with it. Eventually it disappeared. My dad was not one who ever lied.

I'm wondering if any of the "that's a firefly" posters have ever actually SEEN a firelfy, or just heard of them by rough description. They don't fly kamikaze style. They float and hover. Very graceful and more than all else, slowly. Also it went well beyond the distant treeline. Maybe y'all should try watching on something other than that little phone screen?

Why does your camera feel 3d?

if thats ball lightning i am a firefly

Ball lightning indeed. Ball lightning is not what people talk about passing through their houses at a slow pace. This is indeed true ball lightning

what is worrisome is the fact that more people liked this video than disliked. Its dangerous how people believe what they want to believe so much that they leave their brains behind.

Something is wrong. It starts out as a black spec coming down and it comes down in FRONT of the tree which is obviously not even close to the storm.. Video is editted or faked.

you mean the lightning bug/firefly that flew across the screen at 0:37 ? lol

looked like a firefly to me dude

This is simply an astounding video of one of nature's most elusive natural phenomena - INCREDIBLE!!!. It deserves a million hits ++++.I need a scientific explanation here - the "ball" forms at the 36 second mark and a click is heard, the ball the abruptly changes direction and a second click is heard, a finally hits the ground and a third click is heard. What is the explanation for these clicks? Did the videographer feel anything?I've probably watched it 50 times already.

Easy. That's just the Mjolnir.

Beautiful storm structure, But 100% a firefly unfortunately.

Impressively clear filming

I think it's crazy the mic picks up the sound of the bugs wings as it flies by

That’s definitely a lightning bug flying in front of your camera.

Congrats on filming a cool storm with a guest appearance by a firefly.

If you look closely, you can see that the ball originates from the clouds, indicating that it isn't a firefly. Plus, if you go full screen, slow it to 0.25, then you can see that its size relative to its surroundings is bigger than a fireflies light. Just saying.

If you look closely you can see the silhouette of King Ghidora.

That's not ball lightning; however, that is still an amazing display of lightning in the clouds.

In order to pass at this speed and appear so bright a firefly would need to be very close to the camera. The light emitting part of a fireflies body makes up for only a fraction of its total size. If this were a firefly you would easily be able to see an insect traveling along the same flight path before the light appears.

Like most of the other people here, I got the impression that the streak around 37 was in the foreground, not the clouds, and doesn't really fit the expected behavior of ball lightning. I initially didn't even pay it any mind lol, it was only when the video that I went back and saw it corresponded with the timestamp.

i have personally seen ball lightning around 1996 las vegas summer during a storm.didnt know what it was until recently. the movement of it was similar to a helium filled balloon that was just hovering about 20-30ft above ground. scared me.

Yep, that's a firely. It even has the color of a firefly. Please change the title. Downvoted.

It was a firefly. If you think otherwise, you are slow.

I bet that was a hell of a storm. O.o I hope to someday see ball lightning myself. It's probably pretty intense to witness...

This is the best video I've seen on this

FFS, it's just an insect or small bird that passes in front of some lights. You see it being dark, and than it gets all lighted up.

...This is heat lightning. I know this because I am in currently enrolled in a collegiate weather and climate class. Please learn your lightning types before misinforming others.

*I remember this day.. I saw it.. got footage on my channel too*

I have seen ball lightning in Amarillo Texas it did not move fast it kinda just floats gently towards the ground the colors were like they say fire round with bright white red tinge very beautiful looked to be at least 2 to 3 feet in diameter pretty cool stuff

Awesome! Glad to see a video that has the right title. I see so many people who call their videos ball lightning, but it's just regular lightning striking transformers. This is actual ball lightning!

I love it, thanks ^^

Beautiful storm, beautiful lighting, saw that ball lightning! Can't decide whether I'd prefer to be where the camera guy is watching the storm or experiencing the storm first hand. Can I be two places at once?

From people who claim to have seen ball lightning, this isn't at all what it looks like. The glowing balls move horizontally along the ground following a close lighting strike. There's no way you could witness it from a storm 30 miles away. You have to be VERY CLOSE to the lighting to see it. Good storm though.

Yeah you can see it as a black dot before it lights up in front of the clouds, it's a firefly -E