Abstract
Ashby and Whitehead1 have published evidence of the observation of fluxes of photons lasting ≤ 1 s at an energy corresponding to positron annihilation, in connexion with the possibility that “ball lightning” may be associated with the existence in the terrestrial environment of small quantities (∼ 10−11 g) of antimatter. Here I shall present evidence that fluxes of this type, at about the observed frequency, can be expected from extensive air showers caused by primary cosmic rays of energy E0∼1016 eV.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
References
Ashby, D. E. T. F., and Whitehead, C., Nature, 230, 180 (1971).
Murzin, V. S., Prog. in Elem. Part, and Cosmic Ray Physics, 9, 250 (1967).
Bethe, H. A., Proc. Roy. Soc., A, 150, 129 (1935).
Hayakawa, S., Cosmic Ray Physics (Wiley Interscience, 1969).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
CRAWFORD, J. Antimatter and Ball Lightning. Nature 239, 395 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1038/239395a0
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/239395a0
This article is cited by
-
Annihilation of antimatter meteors
Earth, Moon, and Planets (1993)
-
Ball lightning as electromagnetic energy
Nature (1976)
-
Positron annihilation in EAS and ball lightning
Nature (1974)
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.