Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Radiation dosage associated with ball lightning

Abstract

A BALL lightning event occurred in a house in North Berkshire on May 8, 1970; here we report subsequent investigations using thermoluminescent dating techniques. According to some theories1–4 matter close to the path of such an event may experience a radiation dose of order 1 to 1,000 rad. Since the house was built of brick and only 25 yr old, it seemed possible that the mineral inclusions in the brick would exhibit a level of thermoluminescence (TL) significantly in excess of the level resulting from the annual radiation dosage received from the uranium, thorium and potassium contained as impurities in the clay of the bricks themselves.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

Eduardo G. Yukihara, Stephen W. S. McKeever, … Jeppe B. Christensen

References

  1. Altschuler, M. D., House, L. L., and Hildner, E., Nature, 228, 545 (1970).

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  2. Hill, C. R., and Sowby, F. D., Nature, 228, 1007 (1970).

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  3. Ashby, D. E. T. F., and Whitehead, C., Nature, 230, 180 (1971).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  4. Uman, M. A., J. atmos. Terr. Phys., 30, 1245 (1968).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. Fleming, S. J., Archaeometry, 12, (2), 135 (1970).

    Google Scholar 

  6. Fleming, S. J., Archaeometry, 15, (1), 13 (1973).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Fleming, S. J., Naturwissenschaften, 59, 145 (1972).

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  8. Mills, A. A., Nature phys. Sci., 233, 131–2 (1971).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

FLEMING, S., AITKEN, M. Radiation dosage associated with ball lightning. Nature 252, 220–221 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1038/252220a0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/252220a0

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing