Ball Lightning In Singapore Goes Viral On TikTok This Ghost Month: Real Or Hoax?

In the humid haze of Singapore's 2025 Ghost Month, a glowing purple orb drifting silently through Pasir Ris Park has ignited TikTok frenzy, drawing millions of views and stirring whispers of wandering spirits.

Filmed on 19 September 2025, the viral ball lightning sighting coincides eerily with the Hungry Ghost Festival, which ran from 23 August to 21 September, a period when ancient beliefs hold that souls roam freely.

As netizens debate whether it's authentic atmospheric wonder or AI-generated trickery, the footage challenges science and superstition, blending rare meteorological marvels with cultural chills.

Viral Orb Sightings in Eastern Singapore

On 19 September, TikTok user @noticeme.daily posted a 15-second clip from Pasir Ris Park, showing a luminous purple sphere about 20 centimetres wide hovering low over grass before vanishing in smoke. By 21 September, the video amassed 1.3 million views, 54,700 likes and 2,200 comments, with users tagging it 'ghost orb' amid Ghost Month rituals.

Just hours later, a dashcam recording from Tampines, shared by @sundayannab1, depicted a similar orb streaking bolts toward the ground, surging to 2.7 million views and 100,200 reactions overnight.

Both clips, filmed in Singapore's eastern region, have fuelled speculation, especially as the city-state enters its thunderstorm season. Stomp Singapore amplified the buzz on 21 September, questioning the timing: 'Videos of rare ball lightning in Pasir Ris and Tampines going viral at same time raise suspicions'.

Commenters linked the phenomenon to folklore, joking about 'seventh lunar month spirits at play', while others called for meteorological verification.

In Singapore, dubbed as the 'lightning capital' with 170 strikes per square kilometre yearly, such events remain elusive. Yet, the orbs' polished glow and sudden explosions have prompted hoax theories, echoing past marketing ploys like e-commerce stunts during festivals.

Unravelling Ball Lightning's Scientific Enigma

Ball lightning remains one of nature's most elusive phenomena, manifesting as a self-contained plasma sphere lasting seconds to minutes, often during storms. Britannica describes it as a luminous air vortex, 5 to 30 centimetres across, capable of passing through walls or exploding harmlessly, with no consensus on its formation.

Theories range from microwave radiation trapped in plasma bubbles to high-density ionised air vortices. However, peer-reviewed studies, such as a 2014 optical spectrum analysis in Philosophical Transactions, confirm only rare high-frame-rate captures.

The New Paper has contacted the Centre for Climate Research Singapore for comment and is awaiting a formal response. Given ball lightning's rarity—and the potential need for dashcam forensics—scientific verification remains notoriously difficult. As one TikTok commenter quipped, 'It's more rare than winning lottery.'

Ghost Month Ties: Folklore Meets Modern Mystery

Singapore's Hungry Ghost Festival, or Zhongyuan Jie, peaked on 6 September 2025—'Ghost Day'— when spiritual activity is believed to surge. Families burn joss paper and host getai shows, boisterous song stages entertaining spirits, to appease 'hungry ghosts' released from hell's gates, per Taoist teaching from the Ullambana Sutra.

This year's rituals, from roadside offerings to neighbourhood auctions, amplified orb-related chatter, with netizens joking about 'Lazada's ghostly promo' or linking it to ancestral summons. Yet, science tempers superstition. Ball lightning's plasma glow may resemble festival lanterns, but carries no cultural peril. As Visit Singapore notes, the month blends reverence with community dinners, drawing expats to witness rituals minus the chills.

Importantly, no injuries have been tied to these orbs in 2025, unlike rare historical burns, reinforcing the idea of harmless wonder over hoax harm.

With over 4 million combined views, the Tiktok videos turned Singapore's stormy skies into a stage for speculation. Whether plasma bubble or digital spectre, this Ghost Month's ball lightning reminds us that nature—and narratives—still has the power to astonish.