Fireball on Suburban Power Lines Caught on Tape

A Montreal-area family was left stunned when a sort-of electrically fueled mass fireball blazed down power lines outside their home last week.

The Griffiths family lost power Friday when a surge of winds knocked down power lines in Lachine, a suburb of Montreal. The family soon witnessed a massive fireball approach and fly past their house. By the time the second one came, the family was ready.

"What we saw was this fireball barreling down our power lines, and emanating an extreme amount of heat that essentially forced us back inside, because it was so so so hot," Huw Griffiths said. "It was like a surge, it was literally like a fireball, it's the only way I can describe it."

The Griffiths put the video up on YouTube Friday morning, and since it has since gone viral. By today it's already racked up over one million views.

"I'm happy that I captured something. That something was obviously pretty scary," Griffiths said.

But now the family is now wondering - just what exactly zapped past their house?

"I don't think anybody online has been able to explain the phenomenon correctly," Griffiths said.

Online users have been chiming in, some calling the phenomenon the result of a "high impedance electrical arcing fault."

Griffiths, a father of 2, appreciates the online support.

"It's the first time I've ever seen anything like that and I appreciate people thanking me for showing them something they've never seen before," he said.

ABC News