Picture: CEN
Ball lightning is real; just ask these 170 Chinese pigs.
But don’t expect an answer, because they’re dead, having been struck by ball lightning.
They were lumped in with a group of 400 hogs in Chinese barn in Hunan province when the ball hit the metal structure, according to Metro.
Eyewitnesses said the unlucky 170 exploded, some leaving just their ears behind as evidence they were once pigs.
The unfortunates’ farmer, Lu Qingsheng, who lost about $50,000 worth of bacon in the one hit, was at least lucky to have kept his wife.
‘My wife had been feeding the animals when the lightning struck, and her foot had been touching one of the railings,’ Lu said.
‘She was blasted off her feet but is lucky to have survived and not end up like the pigs.’
Ball lightning is a disputed natural phenomenon, which does pretty much what it says on the label. It can range in size from a pea to several metres.
Wikipedia says it it often seen floating to the Earth before exploding on impact, so it must be real.
Check it out for yourself: