Editing Ball lightning (section)

=== The sloop ''Catherine and Mary'' ===
In December 1726, a number of British newspapers printed an extract of a letter from John Howell of the [[sloop]] ''Catherine and Mary'':

{{blockquote|1=As we were coming thro' the [[Gulf of Florida]] on 29th of August, a large ball of fire fell from the Element and split our mast in Ten Thousand Pieces, if it were possible; split our Main Beam, also Three Planks of the Side, Under Water, and Three of the Deck; killed one man, another had his Hand carried of {{sic}}, and had it not been for the violent rains, our Sails would have been of a Blast of Fire.<ref>{{cite news|title= Foreign Affairs: Bristol 17 December|last= Anon|work= Weekly Journal or British Gazetteer|publisher= 24 December 1726}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title= Foreign Affairs: London 24 December|last= Anon|date= 24 December 1726|work= London Journal}}</ref>}}