Evidence of the earliest known example of the rare ball lightning has been discovered in England.

Ball lightning is extremely rare to the point that while the phenomenon has been recreated in controlled experiments, it has never been captured on camera, and few verified accounts exist.

Believed to last longer than lighting bolts, ball lightning has been said to appear from pea-sized to larger than a basketball, appearing alongside thunderstorms.

Now, a rediscovered account from Benedictine monk Gervase composed in 1200, Canterbury has been confirmed as the earliest known recording of ball lightning.

In his writing, Gervase wrote that on June 7, 1195 a dense and dark cloud formed which emitted a white substance which produced a fiery globe that then fell towards a river.

The details are similar to that of other ball lightning accounts and now predates the previous earliest account from 1638 Devon.