‘Never seen this before’: Mysterious orb of light filmed in Alberta

Storm chasers are buzzing after a video taken by an Alberta couple appeared to show a rare phenomenon called 'ball lightning.' John Vennavally-Rao explains.

An intense thunderstorm in Alberta has produced more than just the usual bolts from the sky.

Ed and Melinda Pardy believe they may have witnessed a rare and elusive phenomenon known as ball lightning.

The couple says it happened around 7 p.m. Wednesday near their rural property, about an hour outside Edmonton. A thunderstorm was underway and a tornado watch had been issued.

Ed Pardy, a longtime weather enthusiast, was on the back porch scanning the sky for funnel clouds when lightning struck just under a kilometre from their home. What he saw next stunned him.

He described a glowing ball of light appearing to float about seven metres above the ground and moving across the horizon.

“Once the lightning bolt kind of disappeared, the ball of light kind of got bigger, intensified, like, really bright,” he said. “Then I was like, ‘Oh, that’ll go away really soon,’ and it didn’t.”

He quickly asked his wife for her phone and began filming. The glowing orb was visible for about a minute and the couple managed to capture 23 seconds of video before it vanished.

“There was a little bit of pop and then it just kind of disintegrated,” recalls Ed. “I was like, ‘what is this? I’ve never seen this before,’ It was pretty neat,” said Melinda.

According to the couple, the glowing ball appeared to be a metre or two in diameter.

Pardy says he remembered reading about ball lightning as a kid and immediately wondered if that was what he was seeing.

Ball lightning is usually associated with thunderstorms and is one of the most mysterious and disputed phenomena in atmospheric science. Though it has been described by witnesses for centuries—including reports of glowing orbs floating through homes or passing through walls—credible video evidence is almost non-existent.

“It’s just so incredibly rare that some people don’t even think it exists,” said veteran storm chaser George Kourounis, who viewed the Pardy video and called it “pretty amazing.”

“If this is indeed ball lightning, then this is one of the best ball lightning videos I’ve ever seen.”

But Kourounis offered another explanation: a lightning strike on a nearby power line.

“Sometimes an arc can be formed that travels across those lines, flashing with an orange and blue light, and then at the very end, it typically vanishes in a puff of sparks. And that’s exactly what we’re seeing here,” said Kourounis.

Still, he acknowledged he can’t be sure.

“Without me having been there to see it firsthand, I can’t say with 100 per cent certainty.”

The Pardys don’t believe it was an arcing power line.

“Definitely not,” said Ed.

“It’s a long way from a power line,” adds Melinda.

Since sharing their footage, the Pardys say they’ve been contacted by scientists at the University of Calgary and someone from a UFO program.

While the couple says they were fascinated by what they saw, they’re glad it kept its distance.

“If I saw one of those fairly close to me, I don’t think I would want to get near it, because that’s a lot of energy. It’s a lot of power,” said Ed.

“I never thought I’d see anything like that in my lifetime.”