Top 12 Ball Lightning Folklore from Around the World: #7 Will Send Chills Down Your Spine

For millennia, people have been fascinated by the enigmatic and fleeting phenomena known as ball lightning. Many civilizations all around have spun complex stories and mythology around these mysterious brilliant balls. This page will go over twelve amazing folklore tales about ball lightning from all around the planet. Get ready to be captivated; the seventh story is really spine-chills!

1. The Will-o'-the-Wisp of European Marshlands

Stories about the Will-o'-the-Wisp have been handed down through the years amid Europe's hazy marshlands. Often connected with ball lightning, these enigmatic floating lights are supposed to mislead naive travellers. Folklore holds that these ethereal balls are the ghosts of the deceased, cursed to float about the planet. While some tales assert they are the souls of unbaptized children, others propose they are cunning fairies or nature spirits. Known in Ireland as "Jack O'Lanterns," they are based on a mythological person who duped the devil and was sentenced to wander the planet with just a burning coal to guide him. Said to show on dark evenings, the Will-o'-the-Wisp bobbs and weaves through the fog, drawing in inquisitive observers to follow. Those who follow these phantom lights sometimes discover they are lost on dangerous bogs or lead off cliff edges. Some stories even propose that malignant spirits, purposefully drawing humans to their demise, create the lights. Though these stories carry risks, the Will-o'-the-Wisp never fails to captivate since it reminds us of the invisible powers existing in the natural world and the thin layer separating our sphere from the otherworldly.