harrym, ball lightning is an almost mystical affair, described as an unexplained atmospheric phenomenon by wiki. Reported throughout history it, manifesting itself in WWII by pilots as "foo fighters". Various airliners have encountered it in the passenger cabin, such as this report by RC Jenson of the University of Kent Electronic Laboratory:-
I was seated near the front of the passenger cabin of an all-metal airliner (Eastern Airlines Flight EA 539) on a late night flight from New York to Washington. The aircraft encountered an electrical storm during which it was enveloped in a sudden bright and loud electrical discharge (0005 h EST, March 19, 1963). Some seconds after this a glowing sphere a little more than 20 cm in diameter emerged from the pilot's cabin and passed down the aisle of the aircraft approximately 50 cm from me, maintaining the same height and course for the whole distance over which it could be observed
I've not observed it (I'm glad to say). It seems you are part of the 5% of the Earth's population who have. As Geriaviator says, we demand more please, and in any order that suits you.
JW411, it would be interesting to learn more of the Hastings external load system. My knowledge is only third hand and most probably wrong in many ways. Anything that you can add about the beams, release system, drop height, parachutes etc would be greatly appreciated. We have now learned that jeep meant jeep, and no other. What about the gun? Was it the 105mm recoilless favoured by the paras? Presumably it was relatively lightweight. As far as you know, was the Hastings ever used as a glider tug at all? I suspect that capability was already redundant when it entered service.