One widely-reported case of ball lightning occurred in January of 1984 in Russian passenger plane. A Russian newspaper reported that the ball lightning "....flew above the heads of the stunned passenger. In the tail section of the airliner, it divided into two glowing crescents that then joined together again and left the plane almost noiselessly." Although the ball lightning left two holes in the plane, it has often been reported to pass through solid objects without leaving a mark. Because ball lightning occurs so rarely and unexpectedly,scientists have not been able to study this phenomenon,and it remains a great mystery.