Fireball and grid-pattern blackout

[AlexThePenguin]

http://www.bellinghamherald.com/


The power went out on a couple of blocks, so Brisa, Ray and I went around to investigate.

We were heading down to the store, and we happened to be right across the streets from the transformers. The man was moving the wire off the other wires (with safety equipment, of course), and it was sparking loudly and horribly.

Suddenly, BOOM. There's a fireball, and the dead line is on fire, and most of downtown is dark.

We saw the fireball at around six or seven, for the record.


Spectacular fireball.


The worker seemed minimally (if at all) injured, surprisingly.


That fireball was pretty spectacular.

[Vinchenz Rock]

Reminds me of ball lightning. There's a good change I'll never see THAT in my life, though.

[Kamon]

I would have loved to have been there and seen it. Never seen a fireball before.

[Xero]

What caused it? 

[AlexThePenguin]

Downed powerline.

What caused that is unknown.

[Vinchenz Rock]

Aliens. That's always the answer to unknown downed powerlines.

[AlexThePenguin]

Something about lightning, I hear.

[Vinchenz Rock]

That's what they want you to believe.

Or maybe it's just my crazy imagination.

[Jakey]

Man, I'm severely disappointed.

I thought the blackout was in the shape of a fireball.  Like some tricky hacker left his mark on a whole town.

[Kamon]

I can sort of imagine that, but in the shape of the NES Megaman.

[ChaosVortex]

Sorry if this post is somehow offensive, but I chuckled. I'm not laughing at the story, just the way you ordered the details.

"There was a fireball. It was an amazing fireball. Amazing. Most of the town was dark but this fireball was something else. There was also an injured worker in pain but man, that was some fireball I tell ya."

This story does sound interesting though, you witnessing it and whatnot.

[Voulnet]

I got an 'encounter' with one of those fireballs before, right inside our house.
I was fixing the electricity panel, all 240 volts of it, when my hand slipped and I short circuited two iron rods with a SCREWDRIVER! It was all BBBBZZZZZZZzzzzzt right on my face, it literally was a #####ing lightning storm right on my face, I got knocked down, shocked, speechless and just happy to be alive.
My dad didn't make me feel any better after that >.>

[Mikero]

Reminds me of ball lightning. There's a good change I'll never see THAT in my life, though.

I thought the exact same thing.

[AlexThePenguin]

http://community.livejournal.com/bham/1048340.html

Other accounts of the blackout.

But yes. There was no lightning.