The Unexplained Story of The Bell Island Boom

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In 1978, the people of Bell Island, off the coast of Canada, experienced a bright flash, and explosion, and an electrical surge that took down buildings, killed livestock, and was seen by nuclear weapon detectors in space. It was the loudest explosion in Canadian history. And what caused it is still a bit of a mystery.
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LINKS LINKS LINKS -
www.space.com/33623-chelyabin...
nfldherald.com/the-mystery-bo...
mysteriesofcanada.com/newfoun...
www.researchgate.net/publicat...
patents.google.com/patent/US4...
mysteriesofcanada.com/newfoun...
www.nytimes.com/1978/03/16/ar...
www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Shee...
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfou...
www.computerworld.com/article...
flematic.wordpress.com/2012/0...
www.indybay.org/newsitems/200...
/ the-u-s-air-force-has-...
agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.c...
earthobservatory.nasa.gov/ima...
www.science.org/content/artic...
• Ball Lightning: Weathe...
www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...
TIMESTAMPS -
0:00 - Chelyabinsk Meteor
2:00 - Bell Island
4:45 - Tangent Cam
5:40 - Satellite Photos
6:32 - Theories
12:06 - Natural Mystery
12:59 - Sponsor - Factor

[@croozerdog]

I absolutely love that you cover the fun conspiracies for the whole mystic vibe but always return to the most plausible, you basically found a sweetspot between creepypasta's and relaxing science vids haha

[@joescott]

I actually really like taking weird/creepy/mysterious topics and using them as a vehicle for interesting science stuff. I find they go together well. :)

[@garrenbrooks4778]

​@@joescotthave you ever read the book titled "Strange Stories, Amazing Facts"? It was my favorite book as a kid. It contains everything from space facts to unexplained phenomena. My favorite story is of a 19th century man who just randomly woke up thinking he was someone else with a complete set of new memories of a life he never actually lived. Every time I read it I think about how every story is a perfect subject matter for a video.

[@mikep490]

@@joescott I've seen a couple really odd events. One was a large orange ball, floating over the Panama Canal, as the sun has just set. It appeared about 1/4th the length of the ship that it was hovering in front of when we first noticed it. In later years I assume it was the sun (somehow) reflected thru the water since it began to move after a minute or so then flashed off, as if from a switch, when apparently several miles away. The other was "flying haybales". Grass stalks are often lifted in the air by dust devils, but these floated about 70 feet above the ground on (I assume) a thermal barrier, with some "islands" dense enough that they blocked the sun. They slowly drifted for miles until they crossed over a freeway, then rained down. Weird stuff happens at times.

[@yerabbit6333]

sciencepasta?

[@herisuryadi6885]

@@mikep490 The last one sounds like a Mirage but idk

[@InternetReviewerGuy]

It was some time at night and my family was sitting in the living room watching TV and we heard a loud bang. I said "what the heck was that?" and my brother responded "probably a meteor exploding." I thought that was highly unlikely and brushed it off completely. Next day I woke up and saw the news about Chelyabinsk.

[@2degucitas]

Where do you live?

[@ricos1497]

@@2degucitas Chelyabinsk

[@rush1er]

@@ricos1497 😂😂😂

[@BirdieRumia]

I mean, it WAS highly unlikely, you were right about that part!

[@deus_ex_machina_]

@@ricos1497 I know it's a joke but they couldn't have been living there, OP mentioned it happened at night and it was almost morning in Chelyabinsk when it happened.

[@andrewhorwood1058]

I was less than 5 miles away when the Bell Island boom happened. I don't remember the actual event. I was 4 years old at the time, but I grew up with all the stories and was fascinated by the mystery of it. My father always said it was probably ball lightning.

[@eucliduschaumeau8813]

It either was ball lightning, or it was a phenomenon that produced ball lightning. Your father was right.

[@caltheuntitled8021]

Ball lightning fascinates me. To my knowledge, no one has ever gotten a good picture or video of it and scientists still don’t know what it is exactly. Only a small few people have actually seen it, but it’s enough that we know it isn’t just an urban legend.

[@tsm688]

​@@caltheuntitled8021 Lighting research in china apparently caught the emission spectrum of ball lightning -- which was silicon, calcium, iron, nitrogen, and oxygen... All the stuff you'd expect of vaporized dirt.

[@clizzoplizzo]

I lived in CBS for 3 years, and I never once saw lightning. 🤷‍♂️

[@fabrisseterbrugghe8567]

In the mid-90s, I was working in Orlando, FL and heard a loud sound that reminded me of a lightning strike. The sky was completely clear, and I didn't see a flash. That night on the news I found out that a man had died on a construction site less than a mile from my work. He'd been killed by a literal bolt from the blue.

[@megalonoobiacinc4863]

Speculation, but what we call clouds are gaseous water particles that have condensed into tiny water droplets; they are no longer a gas and that's why we can see them as clouds. However there can still be a lot of water that's in a gas form that will thus be invisible. I guess maybe its possible for large "clouds" of yet-to-be-liquid to accumulate a charge and thus discharge lightning to the ground. Hence lightning from clear sky.

[@185MDE]

I’m so happy we all have a place we can go to share our existential dread of potential world ending events. Thank you for bringing us together Joe ♥️

[@joshk.6246]

🎉yea....😖😭😭😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫

[@tevin7618]

Lol thank you joe 😅

[@jeninlight]

World “as we know it” ending, sure. The earth, and life on the earth, will go on. Unless it’s another moon creating event perhaps…

[@joescott]

I'm like the pied piper of anxiety.

[@lissyflur1907]

I have to say, these Event is very probably Alien origin.

[@urieaaron]

OK, my first thought was that there were not that many dashboards around in 1908 to attach dashcams and that is why none recorded the explosion. I looked up the history of dashboards and well maybe I was wrong. The word “dashboard” was originally used to describe the wooden board carriage makers attached to the front of carriages to prevent mud and rocks from being splashed (or “dashed”) onto drivers and their passengers by the horses that pulled them about. In essence, dashboards served as mud flaps for horses’ hooves. So, I guess I can't account for the lack of dashcam footage.

[@CRT.v]

They probably didn't record the explosion because they were covered in mud and had chipped lenses from rocks, caused by improper installation, in turn caused by not watching a how-to video on youtube. But that's just a theory, I can't find any sources to back the claim.

[@rogercroft3218]

Tunguska was very isolated - not many roads or people around there. So there wouldn’t be likely to have been many dashcams around.

[@rimbusjift7575]

The guy who spins the reel on the giant dashcam was off that day.

[@zapfanzapfan]

People were more honest back then so no need for dashcams to fend off lawsuits. Hence no dashcam footage.

[@tinkerstrade3553]

I often wonder at what aliens, should such critters exist, think of our human sense of humor? If "they were monitoring JS, since he's so interesting, what would they make of this thread? And then it all came to me,(I would say it was revealed, but that sounds too religous.) I had an epiphany. Probing! You know, the whole alien abduction and inserting exploratory devices into body cavities thing? THEYRE LOOKING FOR OUR FUNNY ORGAN!!! And yes, there's a sexual component to their searches. I mean, we do claim to enjoy certain organs more than others in our speech and writings. (Nobody down south says "Bless her pancreas." it's always her heart. And 'twerking'..don't get me started on alien twerking!) I can (somewhat) prove this is all true. Out of all the encounter and abduction stories over all the years, there's never been a single report of an alien laughing! Not a single one that I could find. I couldn't even find a record of so much as a smile or even a smirk! Aliens have lost their sense of humor, and are trying to find it! So when the aliens do someday go public, remember to point and laugh when you encounter them, so they'll know we're interested in helping them find their lost sense of humor.😎👍

[@Mr500xl]

Another great video Joe. A few weeks back I was watching one of your videos when my teenage daughter came into the room. She watched the video with me silent, and once we were done she gets up to leave and she say "If I had teachers like that I would never miss a single class". Which is saying something as she hates school. Thank you for making leaning interesting and fun, ever episode I learn something new and I have a laugh or two. Please keep them coming.

[@zombiasnow15]

Same thoughts I have of every Joe Scott episode! He is such a great Teacher!

[@heather173]

I'm from Newfoundland, but live in NS- Dad was a career pilot (he flew out of all Atlantic Canada most of his long career) and the Concord flew over our house until the end. However, we had a crazy similar thing happen here which was so loud (I had a headset on) it nearly deafened me- knocked out the power- Dad said, it was ball lightening- it was round and coloured and the loudest thing I'd ever heard- including from jets.

[@capt.bart.roberts4975]

I've seen ball lightening, when I was six. Our school was struck by lightening, and where the lightening rod met the ground, was by one corner of the school hall. The ball emerged there, with a smell of ozone. It danced lazily across the hall, and disappeared into the door to the infants school. This was at lunchtime during a thunderous storm.

[@capt.bart.roberts4975]

It left a vague scorch mark on the paint. 😐

[@paulgillespie542]

No "e" in lightning

[@kostarak3160]

@@paulgillespie542 definitely there are a lot of e in lightning

[@dinoflagella4185]

@@paulgillespie542maybe he was just trying to lighten the room?

[@eucliduschaumeau8813]

The ozone smell is a clear indicator that it was ball lightning. It will leave scorch marks on things it touches, sometimes it will roll into house wiring and blow out all the electronics in the house.

[@willowashe]

There is something so wonderfully calming about your voice and delivery, even when talking about mysterious, difficult or tragic topics. It’s a rare gift to be able to bring humour to these kinds of stories without sensationalizing them and keeping them educational/factual. Another fascinating story well told!

[@joescott]

Well thank you. :)

[@pvic6959]

@@joescott I agree with @willowashe

[@lindaseel9986]

​@@joescottI agree too. I love your voice and presentation. Also, you're rocking that longer hair dude! 😊

[@RCCustomCats]

I live 20mins from the bell island ferry. We are on a rock in the middle of the North Atlantic, to say the weather is odd is an understatement. A few days ago we had a small thunderstorm and I watched all the windows in my neighbours houses shaking from a few nice booms.

[@SquintyMcK]

One of my favourite KZbinrs talking about my home Province! Well done sir. I was only a kid, and lived a number of hours from Bell Island, but I remember people talking about this, and hearing news reports.

[@TheWillPike]

That's what I'm sayin m'son

[@tankmodeler]

@@TheWillPike Yes, b'y, dat's the trut'.

[@katherinesterling8563]

Hey @joescott if you're interested in some of the biggest Canadian explosions... how about the Halifax Explosion of 1917? It's quite the story as well. It was the biggest explosion in the world until the invention of the atomic bomb. It absolutely leveled our city, thousands died and were injured, it *literally* rained blood and body parts (according to a first-hand witness; a relative of a friend of mine), and that was only the beginning of the trouble it caused.

[@PigeonHoot]

Still the largest conventional explosion in the world

[@hydrolifetech7911]

What caused the explosion?

[@fattiger6957]

​@@hydrolifetech7911 A ship filled with munitions collided with another ship and exploded.

[@PigeonHoot]

@@hydrolifetech7911 collision including a French ship full of explosives setting off for Europe from port.

[@jasontoddman7265]

I was actually thinking that was what *this* video would be about when I first read the title.

[@Henchman1977]

I've experienced ball lightning, during a thunderstorm. Much smaller than described here but "popped" 2 or 3 times and travelled in an arc.

[@StrawberryKitten]

No, you did not.

[@yenona738]

naaaa

[@Quadrenaro]

​@@StrawberryKittenWhy do you say that?

[@MiqelDotCom]

@@Quadrenaro just trolling

[@lotanerve]

Arc. Get it?

[@andrewralte4844]

I, along with 20 others, have been struck by lightning on top of a mountain back in 1994. I was 7 and it was an innocent school trip. I remember our hairs standing up, the blinding lights, the wave of heat and electricity, the popping sound and the numbness soon after. Everyone survived but you can imagine the ensuing chaos. We were out of there in less than a minute.

[@fabiankehrer3645]

Wtf, once lightning struck a tree about 50m from me and i thought i am deaf. Has anybody had any serious injuries?

[@Mrdevs96]

Lightning is a plasma so it's not healthy but the long term health effects are on your nervous system and pulmonary system, which both use electrical pulses in the blood to send signals around. Hope you are okay I believe meditation may help with healing

[@eucliduschaumeau8813]

You were very lucky it didn't stop your heart.

[@applegal3058]

I was born in Newfoundland in 1981, and don't remember hearing anything about this until recently on another KZbin video. Crazy how people didn't talk about this so soon after it happened. Thanks for sharing.

[@cahg3871]

My wife was from Deer Lake Newfoundland-she never mentioned this event,nor did her family.Being this happened before the internet was around,that might have something to do with that?

[@applegal3058]

@@cahg3871 yes, it definitely does have something to do with it. People didn't travel and news wasn't as universal as it is now. I'm actually in the Deer Lake area for a highschool graduation for a family member now. Small world.

[@nonsequitor]

Funnily enough, given the kid said he arrived into "stillness"... that's highly likely feeling the static build up before a lightening strike. So yeah, weird lighting!

[@mellissadalby1402]

I never heard of this event before, so it's new to me. I wonder if there could have been a sudden geologic event deep donw in the crust (involving magnetic materials) under Belle Isle that generated a surge of electrical energy and resulted in a strange form of ball lightning? In other news, (1) you still crack me up, (2) you make entertaining commercials. I hate commercials, but I frequently watch your commercials, so there's that.

[@sagetmaster4]

Magnetic materials wouldn't do anything. But piezoelectric minerals would (like quartz) they produce an electric charge when they are compressed

[@jeremygalloway1348]

​@@sagetmaster4would too

[@VinhNguyen-yi1kk]

@Mellissa Dalby Are you from the future? How is your message from 7 days ago at the time of this message when the video just came out like an hour ago?

[@RealBradMiller]

@@VinhNguyen-yi1kk They may be a time traveler, or a Patreoner. 👍👍😋 Edit: or a member on YT. Edit edit: or a secret third thing.

[@joescott]

Confirmed. Melissa is a secret third thing.

[@dinoflagella4185]

I grew up in south florida. Around the early 90’s there would be a random boom that would rattle the entire house. I remember two occasions that it happened. I still have no explanations for those. I also saw a few microbursts. I always wondered what they were. I didn’t find out about microbursts until I was an adult. I just thought it was really weird for it to be sunny one moment, then you just see a whiteout of pouring rain, and high gusts of wind knocking down trees. A minute later it’s sunny again.

[@theresacreamforthat100]

I live in Newfoundland. Born and raised! Funny enough, my husband was just talking about the Bell Island boom with his dad"s friend very recently. He grew up across the way from Bell Island and he said he used to spend a lot of time watching the lightening strikes hit the island. Personally, I think the super bolt theory is the most likely one. Thank you for a great video!!

[@eucliduschaumeau8813]

That island sounds like a conductivity magnet. Hope everyone has lightning rods.

[@DannyJoh]

Superbolt? How about calling them Nukeflash?

[@willcool713]

I've actually seen several bolides, three in one summer, with an Astronomy extension class viewing and photographing during the Perseids. One sitting in my living room, went down in the Pacific, but it was so bright I thought it was closer. And another, another year during the Perseids, broke apart into two main pieces with firey flaming trails that changed to green as they passed, and lasted like a glow in the dark streak across the sky. That one was seen from the West Coast all the way into the Dakotas.

[@DrachenGothik666]

Lucky! I've only even seen one: it whizzed overhead, was a screaming bright green with a long tail of flame behind it & I swear I could hear a sizzling crackle as it flew past. Was pretty big, too. I was waiting at a bus stop to go home from a gaming night at the University, & something made me look up at *just* the right moment.

[@MichaelColombo]

I've also seen a couple bolides. One during the Perseids in the Catskills that I saw break apart. Another was around 2018 in San Francisco. This one was quite large and left a trail in the sky for a couple minutes. More people should look up every once in a while. :)

[@colinwatt00]

Hey Joe, I’m glad to see some Canadian representation on your channel. Unfortunately I embarrassingly need to share Newfoundland is not pronounced ‘New-found-land’ as the spelling very reasonably suggests, but rather ‘New-fin-land’. Yeah… I suspect it has something to do with the strong Irish descendent accents we know as the ‘Newfie’ accent, but that’s how she be pronounced my Son.

[@rodchallis8031]

Laird tunderin' Jayzus, where ya to?

[@bridgetkennedy3271]

​@@rodchallis8031 I'm up over at Nan's for a feed

[@JTA1961]

That comment...unlike the topic...was free of "charge"

[@cahg3871]

He’s as stunned as me arse!

[@eucliduschaumeau8813]

New Finland

[@JuxtaThePozer23]

I've been watching your videos for a couple years now Joe but your brand of humour was just on point and suddenly I realised I wasn't even subscribed, so after watching this video, I immediately rectified this situation. Thanks for the witty delivery of something so scary! I'm both horrified and amused. Scaroused? Dunno

[@Nomad77ca]

Just a heads up Joe. My family is from Newfoundland, properly pronounced "New-fin-land". The 'found' is not fully pronounced, at least by the locals. Also locally its known as Belle isle, we like to shorten things I guess. Mom is from St. John's, Dad from Petty Harbour, both on your map (Thx for the shoutout lol) Both currently live in Paradise, also on your map, with a view of Belle Isle. Cool to have a personal connection :)

[@markiangooley]

My Dad was in the U. S. armed forces in the 1950s, stationed at a base somewhere in the area, and he always pronounced it new foond lund.

[@anthonymiller1305]

No it is Bell island. You are thinking about the straight of Belle Isle that separates Newfoundland and Labrador.

[@Nomad77ca]

@@anthonymiller1305 OOPS you are correct, sorry.

[@Nomad77ca]

@@markiangooley Ya, thats pretty close. My main point was that none of us pronounce the found as found.

[@nellyh6349]

@@anthonymiller1305Strait lol

[@hydrolifetech7911]

A ball lightning struck the side a plateau near our town in 2005(2006?). It rolled down the plateau to a boys boarding school at its foot and it tragically killed a young boy in the soccer field and burnt some of his friends nearby. It's one of the most terrifying thing nature can throw at you.

[@PCLHH]

Location?

[@iainballas]

Source?

[@joescott]

That's... bonkers.

[@eucliduschaumeau8813]

Ball lightning is weird stuff. It's entirely unpredictable.

[@drsbutler]

Well done ! I was near there at the time , about 18 miles away in St. John’s. I thought it was one heck of a bolt of lightning ,out of nowhere , with ball lightning later described in the evening telegram newspaper . Never thought I would see it reviewed objectively 45 years later, Thanks

[@Zappyguy111]

That intro man, I lost it, your happy upbeat drums to a massive burning sky fireball. It's like, "Oh boy, I hope this death from the sky doesn't kill me too slowly!"

[@HeisenbergFam]

Most calm and normal day in Canada, what a vibe

[@nathangoddard8115]

I had never heard of this. Thank you for bringing more weirdness into my life.

[@privacyvalued4134]

Fun fact: There are many ground-based lightning detectors set up all over the world. Every time a detector senses an electrical pulse, it records the time the pulse was received and sends the information to a central location. A detector can pick up lightning up to thousands of miles away and can be triangulated using multiple stations. There's a nifty lightning map website that shows all of the lightning pulses and which stations picked each one up and the precise location of each one.

[@Vewan05]

Every Monday evening this has become my favorite part. It's my pick-me-up when I need it so sometimes I save it for Tuesday or whenever I feel I need a few minutes to feel better. This Monday was not good to me and your video made it so much better. Thank you, to all your team and you, Joe. Thank you ♥

[@RissaFirecat]

Love this channel, Joe! Thank you for this entertaining information! You always make it informative. Awesomeness!

[@joescott]

Thanks!

[@TheLostBear78]

Me and my roommate were sitting in the living room both working quietly at our computer, and suddenly the house shook with a huge boom. Felt and sounded like someone slammed the front door of the house as hard as they could. Shocked us, we both leaped up and went outside to look for what happened. Never did figure it out. Cloudy day but not stormy at all, not raining nothing.

[@GuyMarsdenMakesStuff]

I lived in California and experienced earthquakes like that. It even happened where I live here in Maine a few years back with a 4.0 earthquake about 10 miles from me. Just feels like someone back to car into the building.

[@Dragrath1]

Where and what year? Might be interesting to see if it lines up with any measured Earthquakes

[@TheLostBear78]

@@Dragrath1 It didn't, was in South West corner of Michigan. Any earthquakes in the area are top headline news. Did have an earthquake a couple years later in the area, and it was all everyone everywhere could talk about for a long time

[@eucliduschaumeau8813]

There is something called "clear-air lightning". May have been that.

[@ShauntSerelu]

I was in 8th grade the day of the Russian meteor Joe talked about at the start of this episode. My AP Human Geography teacher actually showed us some of the footage and news reports

[@senzgounden6676]

Joe at 14:20 when you told everyone to be cool, you looked and sounded like Patrick Bateman from American Physco 😂

[@joyl7842]

The closest I've been to lightning was about 50 meters, when it struck a tree in our backyard. Half the tree has been dead ever since, the other half seems to be fine. Quite freaky.

[@joyl7842]

@Mike JB I know. The windows shook and one of them even cracked. I bet if I was standing in the backyard I'd have ended up in hospital.

[@stevencanning8483]

@Mike JB lightning struck near me once and I remember hearing a loud crackling/sizzling noise just before

[@acekiller48]

Why Files and Joe are the best story tellers.

[@LaurieAnnCurry]

L my two favorite channels!

[@davidmacphee3549]

Thoughy2 ? Check HIM out!

[@fwiffo]

Everything about this is also consistent with a large bolide. A "glowing balls descending a beam of light" is exactly what they look like. Exactly what it appears like or how fast it appears to be moving depends on how far away you're viewing it from and from what direction. If it's coming toward you it might look slow moving or nearly stationary, and would probably flash, maybe looking like multiple orbs. The bright flash, explosion, being picked up by nuclear blast detection systems, etc. are also consistent with a bolide. Meteors ionize the atmosphere and large enough fireballs produce radio interference. That effect could easily vary depending on the speed and composition. An EMP caused by a bolide at close range is completely plausible. Fragments could have left marks in the snow, and it's also likely that a lot of the mass of the bolide could have ended up in the sea. Birds and chickens could have died from the EMP, but chickens have also been known to die just from loud enough noises.

[@jamesdelb6885]

It's great to hear your explanations. Thanks for sharing.

[@manuelgarcia3122]

Joe, you seem to like talking about lighting phenomenon, I think you should research the Catatumbo lighting phenomenon it's a place near where I live in Venezuela its a place where lighting storms happen nearly 300 nights a year. It might make an interesting video. Keep up the great work, your fan from Venezuela.

[@eucliduschaumeau8813]

That place is bizarre. I'd like to live there, just to watch the show.

[@piccalillipit9211]

*IVE SEEN ONE EXPLODE* but much smaller than that - a massive shooting star exploded in white / green flash and became 3 fragment shooting stars - one bright green In the UK in about 1998

[@MrSamooska]

Holy shit I think I saw that - I dont know the year, I was 10 in '98 but I was definitely a kid so perhaps that age - I was sat on a park bench in swanage late one evening eating chips with my mum and we both saw a shooting star just kinda pop, was about as bright as a camera flash from far away. Didn't hear anything but i'll always remember that

[@rimbusjift7575]

Meteor. Shooting star is primitive language.

[@acanuck1679]

As always, fun and educational. You've made a very good case for the "ball lightning" hypothesis.

[@FlambartPhotography]

Your videos are the best. And plus...they brighten up my days with bright ideas and a great feeling. Thanks for such awesome videos!

[@PrinceAlhorian]

Natural massive EMP event. These things exist, ball lightning is a well known example. But I remember one event in my hometown of Vanderbijlpark South Africa. It was at night during a rain storm. We (my parents and I) were on our way home in the car when the entire cloud bank above us turned peach white. It was so bright it burned my eyes, the bang cracked the car's back window. And every car and light in a few block radius died. Good thing our car was old with no ECU, my dad had to swop out the alternator, distributor and plugs. Other's had massive damage. Many of my school friends complained that the phones and televisions were dead for the next week.

[@Nuovoswiss]

I can confirm the phenomenon of atmospheric conditions concentrating sound to areas long ways off. The DoD has had this issue for ages with people complaining dozens of miles away from explosives/artillery testing ranges. I was once biking to a local outdoor shooting range and could hear the firing line as if it was only a couple hundred yards away, but it was still ~2 miles away. The sound became quieter after I got a bit closer, and didn't become noticeable until I actually got within a couple hundred yards of the range.

[@rynnthetired]

My house is about 3 miles away from a shooting range. We usually don't hear it at all, but once in a while you can hear it very clearly, as though it were just a block or two away. Lasts for a hour or two, and then the sound stops again.

[@dougthomson1566]

Most fascinating, Joe! Great stuff as usual!

[@BrodieB762]

your videos have got me through life like all my ups and downs your videos have been a big part of my life. Thank you so much. I just wanted you to know that and once again thank you 😊

[@silversonic1]

Now that I have watched the whole video, I am surprised that one other possibility didn't get mentioned; coronal mass ejections. It was actually the first thing I thought of when I heard it. Granted, it may not have been. One other thing to note is that sometimes gamma signatures linked to antimatter reactions are detected in thunderstorms.

[@sentropez1337]

That's the hypothesis I was hoping/expecting to hear about here - whether there's such a thing as a solar flare powerful enough to "overload" the ionosphere's ability to disperse it safely as aurora; and if so, whether the rest of the absorbed energy would be dispersed more rapidly (as lightning.)

[@DrachenGothik666]

CME's expand in area as they leave their star source. They're also absolutely *massive* & cover thousands of miles, even at the beginning. By the time it reached Earth, it would affect the whole globe, like the Carrington Event did in the late 1800's. It wouldn't affect one small island of the coast of one continent. We'd have seen brilliant aurorae, & had electrical shorts all across the planet.

[@silversonic1]

@@DrachenGothik666 Very true. I figured it was too localized, but it's always good to have a refresher.

[@dragontdc]

Just a thought - the common denominator for these boom events seems to be their coastal locations. I know there were some design experiments in directed nuclear blasts around that era, including as a possibility for space propulsion. Perhaps there were similar tests of directed e-bombs, perhaps using the conductivity of water in some way. I can see the potential of having a standoff submarine set something like that off directed at a naval base. It would have absolutely horrible effects on sea life, though, and would probably not have been controllable enough to be sure of results so I can see the project being scrapped, if it existed at all of course.

[@vyor8837]

The Casaba Howitzer never made it to the experimental phase, we honestly don't know if it would actually work. But even if it does work... you'd still get a massive fireball, it would just also throw out the world's most powerful plasma lance. You get the same from the EMP bombs because they rely on detonation in the upper atmosphere and interactions with Earth's magnetic field, so you're still getting a full nuclear blast. As for water being conductive... Without salt, it isn't, but the ocean would just direct all of that charge downward even if you could charge it with an EMP (you can't because it's not metallic).

[@josso1]

Nice, thank for this recap it's been bloody years since I looked into the bell island thing

[@Thedragonpaint]

I was so happy seeing this video in my recommended, always a great time watching these videos

[@Yashuop]

Raise your hand if you've been watching Joe Scott for a long time🤚

[@olaftheblack2012]

✋

[@stevewhite9813]

🤔🖖

[@poodle_soup211]

✋

[@damienfoote5200]

Been watching Joe since he had a full head of hair. Lol

[@revelaidan]

✋

[@SuicV]

I wanna know more about the kid who "didn't" get superpowers. I think he's just doing a great job keeping his secret identity

[@funkdoktor9099]

Thanks! Awesome stuff Joey.

[@MrGoo514]

Thanks Joe. Your videos are well worth a donation.

[@eddiedonlin8936]

Damn you are my kind of funny....and also educational and entertaining. Joe for President!

[@shubhamprabhu504]

Okay I'm confused so please help me out. It says the video was posted just now but the comments I see are from 6/7 days ago. How does that work?

[@marcinwitkowski217]

Supporters probably have early access to videos before plebs

[@coffins_and_coffee]

I think some subs/supporters get early access?

[@thisperson6655]

how????

[@davidnalimov8710]

omg you're right haha

[@shubhamprabhu504]

Oh yeah that makes sense. Thanks

[@Jannemann09]

Very soothing to watch this during a big thunderstorm

[@josephupchurch7138]

Your content is right up my alley, Joe. Thanks, man. 🤜🤛 Also, any chance of a future Joe Scott/Kyle Hill team up?

[@Judith_Remkes]

"Be cool!" he says, in his 'so hot' shirt 🤣 But seriously, Joe: get a haircut man! You look like the '80's have come back, lol 😉 On topic: my money is on a secret hidden, maybe even underground Tesla Tower Mark two!

[@Nitephall]

A few years ago in the series of earthquakes that hit my area, one of them was just a single loud BOOM and the building shook for only half a second. So earthquakes can generate explosion-like sounds.

[@DrachenGothik666]

I was living in the San Fernando Valley when one of those hit around 2010. Felt like the entire building had been picked up & thrown down, HARD. Almost knocked me off my feet. Didn't feel any kind of lead-up or trail off of the quake, either. Just that single, immense THUD & it was over.

[@eucliduschaumeau8813]

@@DrachenGothik666 Tectonic shift near the surface.

[@kylekirkparick426]

I swear, your videos are always crazy interesting. Sometimes crazy, but always interesting. I love this channel.

[@IBtehOmar]

hands down one of my favorite channels. everything you upload is always entertaining and funny.

[@pixeladdict4679]

Very cool episode. I enjoyed it. Thanks.

[@RowieSundog]

A superbolt isn't a boring explanation, it's a fascinating one, and that such things exist and can happen is amazing❤ I love learning about the natural world

[@reclawyxhush]

'There are forces at work around us in the world that we don't understand' . Even funnier, the forces that we do understand sometimes combine in the most improbable ways and, with enough time and statistics, can generate equivalents of 'rogue waves' in virtually every domain of energetic transformations.

[@CPegRun]

I am always so happy when you post a new video!! Thank you!! ❤❤

[@Taomantom]

the best part of Monday! Thanks.

[@ianschibler6848]

Great vid, I live right next to bell island and didn’t know this piece of history

[@hickokconrad]

Excellent video. This is why I'm here. For this.

[@roz2621]

it’s infinitely more exciting that it was probably a superbolt. some sort of weird super-secret military weapon test during the cold war? tired. old. played-out. freaky big lightning bolt? thrilling. new. unexpected. love it

[@jonnyh6978]

Love your new work bro!

[@BatteryProductions]

My favorite channel in youtube, keep it up joe and team!

[@bamcr1218]

1:55 After internally struggling for over a month with the question of why the Tunguska event was not picked up by at least one listening agency or system such as any nuclear detection systems, Antarctic sensors or even a single dash camera, I believe I have finally stumbled upon the answer……..

[@Paulkjoss]

You’ve had some really interesting random stuff lately lol - thanks 👍🏼

[@excusemeprincess8252]

I haven't watched in a few months and I noticed the background changed, it looks so cool!

[@LoonerFlight]

I really enjoyed the "it's not actually boring, you're just thinking about it the wrong way" bent at the end

[@larrywest42]

11:20 (closed captioning): "The damage at Bickford farm is actually pretty mild compared to what the Super Bowl can do." Joe's a master of understatement.

[@alicedee2566]

I know I can trust Joe's videos if I ever need to feel intense anxiety

[@roman_dimaggio]

Ian’s mom coming back is just… cheff’s kiss

[@kkonvicka25]

I was in Dallas TX around 1994 on the NW side of town, sitting in a car at a stoplight. All of a sudden an intensely bright flash of light briefly blinded me. So bright, I thought a bomb had gone off nearby, but no sound. Everything was quiet. About 30-40 sec later a loud explosion shook me and my car. Scared the hell out of me. It was deafening. Then all was quiet again. When I got home, Troy Dungan, our TV weatherman, reported on a positive (or negative?) lightning bolt striking a house in Richardson. It was about 10 miles from where I had been. So, I drove by the house, expecting to see it completely demolished. But the house was still there; the roof looked OK. Windows had been blown out and firetrucks removed some burned furniture, but not the kind of damage that would rattle neighborhoods 10 miles away. Never heard any more about the incident, but I realized that’s what a nuclear attack would be like. A big flash of light, followed by silence. Several seconds later, depending on how many miles you were from the detonation, a gawd-awful blast blows you away. Gave me nightmares for several months.

[@LMacNeill]

I can't believe it's been 10 years already since the Chelyabinsk meteorite! Holy crap!!

[@zerochasingspirals9579]

First time I hear a description of something I witnessed. I've seen a swirly colorful and bright ball just as you/the kid described. It hovered without a sound and just floated away after 20 minutes or so.

[@Ammo08]

In 1967 we had a small earthquake here in SwampEast Missouri and many of us saw a flash of bright light across the sky right before the big boom got to us...

[@terriensberg5487]

Excellent, well-reasoned video. I like spooky explanations as much as the next person, but truth is the goal.

[@ashleyashersgibson666]

I totally love watching you Joe, you make me smile and laugh with your facial expressions and your energy.😁☯️🤘🏼

[@J3AD]

great videos, keep up good work

[@jordansmith4040]

So I live close to Bell Island, and while the lightning "superbolt" theory is a good one, I have to say we don't get much lightning here. Consequently, this means if it was as theorized, it would have been a statistical anomaly of the highest order. We don't get very much lightning, and what we do get is much less intense than in other places. I also find it strange I'd never heard of the Bell Island Boom before now. I suppose now I have to do some digging.

[@Countrybananas]

Very good point it's always rare and we usually only get it during the peak summer weeks of late July and early August

[@DrachenGothik666]

Lightning has been known to flash mid-air with no apparent source. It's sometimes called "dry lightning"--meaning, no storm associated with it, just needs an area of air with positive or negative charge buildup (there's usually some cloud, though).

[@jordansmith4040]

@@DrachenGothik666 cloud, fog and wind is what we have, with very high humidity. I think for such a big boom from lightning you really would need a storm, though I haven't yet looked into the "superbolt" stuff.

[@colorbugoriginals4457]

ok, i'll tell this bc it is kind of rare to experience. late 90s, i was a teen, family of six and our parents all home. summer late summer, big thunder and lightning storm. i love them so i was excited, we were gathering my siblings back inside from playing, so both the front and the back doors were open. idk if this is relevant. we heard a loud bang/pop sound and a super bright sphere directly in the center of our open kitchen, floating in the middle of the air for at most a few seconds. it was white and light yellowish (white sphere, very light bright yellow 'aura'). right in that same moment we heard kind of snap/pop sounds from around the house, and the doorbell began ringing and had to be manually forced off from the control box. a tv and an answering machine one floor up also were fried. there were skylights in that room, idk if relevant, also that the sphere appeared directly over a small puddle where our baby sis was playing with ice cubes, and it happened to be directly behind a microwave, with a large mirror facing away from the side of the magnetron. whole family witnessed it, had just all come in. i was so shocked and excited, i laughed and cried at the same time. it was one of the most amazing things i've experienced in my life and from descriptions i have believed it to be ball lightning.

[@FernandoScarpelli]

Joe you don't look a day past when you first started, love the hair fresh look my friend! I've been here since the begginning, I subscribed and unsubscribed to several channels since, but man i've never even thought about unsubbing from you, and I get a jolt of dopamine everytime i see your face pop up on my feed. I rarely or never comment but man! I feel some appreciation is due, you rock my dude! Keep at it, my kindest regards \o

[@lycanzhp1141]

OK Joe. ELECTRIC UNIVERSE! And please give it your best. We love your entertaining enthusiasm and backed up with your professional investigative thoroughness. :)

[@IKGchiller]

i like your vibe 😊 thx for the entertainment & knowledge

[@1minutecomicswalahollywood648]

Hello Joe, You draw a lot of my attention.

[@Yardmastr]

Grabbing the globe and spinning it upside down to show Antártica kills me LOL

[@RazorMureithi]

the best video of the year, so far. and I watch them all

[@bruceanderson7762]

Have been watching Joe for long time.😊

[@NighttimePod]

thanks for the shout out JOE!

[@jamiehall1460]

I've heard of super bolts before from a video on a helicopter crash in the north Atlantic, a bolt hit the helicopter and fried just about every circuit and I believe took off the tail rotor as well and it wasn't some little copter either, it was the kind they fly to and from oil rigs often in storms and luckily everyone survived but the video ended with saying it is possible for an airliner to be struck and unlike normal lightning there is nothing that could protect them from super bolts. I don't know who would say that was the "boring" answer, I mean I once had lightning (the normal kind) strike a transformer above me when I was little (Either my rubber soled shoes or the fact that it hit a power pole kept me from being electrocuted, at least to the point I would notice I have a horribly high pain tolerance so I might have been slightly zapped and not known) and that was a flash of pure white and a loud boom and then I was in my mom's Jeep. I don't even remember getting into the car and from what she said I leaped in and she was pretty sure I was going to try to jump under the Jeep instead. I found out the next day it had knocked out all the power to my school for the rest of the day (I was leaving early for weather related reasons) Ball lightning too is probobly the freakiest kind some of the stories that you hear about it just makes my skin crawl.

[@Nomadic813]

Interesting! I spent 3 months on bell island one winter. But had no idea about this history.