Mauve St Elmo’s fire was an almost every-night occurrence in the pre radar days. Flogging in Viscounts at 170/180 from London to Palma etc., was pretty certain to give at least one show.
When we got shiny new BAC 1-11's we of course got above most of the weather, but when we did get discharges over the gold laminate glass, to my surprise the sparks were white. I would be interested to know why the difference.
Going off the thread a little, there was a “famous” case of a lightning ball appearing between the shoulders of a Court-line 1-11. Flight deck crew. It supposedly floated down the length of the fuselage and disappeared. This was in around 1970, and one of the cabin staff was a family friend. She confirmed the pilot’s report...in no uncertain terms.
Many physicists still do not believe that these exist. Any recent research?