UFO - Unidentified Flying Object at Golden Temple Amritsar

Miracle at Harmander Sahib - Scientific Explanation

In the modern technilogical context, the mention of UFOs is seen as conspiracy theory "hoax" and from the religious context, the Sikh theology has no concepts of aliens or UFOs. The topic for discussion here is an historical incident that happpened in the vicinity of Harmender Sahib popularly known as the Golden Temple of Amritsar.

Harmander Sahib, Amritsar

Darshani Deori

The main entrance leading to the pathway to Harmandir Sahib is known as Darshani Deori. As soon as Guru Granth Sahib is taken for Sukh Asan (for Rest at Night) to Akal Takhat Sahib, the gates of Darshani Deori are closed from inside. Every morning devotees gather in front of the gate of Drashani Deori, recite the Shabads (hymns) till the gates are opened for the day. This Deori was beautified with marble and fresco work during the time of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The main doors of the Deori are decorated with gold sheets on one side and the other one with beautiful inlay work comprising ivory work.

Darshani Deori, Harmander Sahib

Miracle

On the left hand side of the Darshani Deori of Siri Darbar Sahib, there is a gilded panel that is inscribed with the description of a 'Kudrati Chamatkar' - a 'Miracle of Nature' that occured in 1877,

Gold Panel documenting the "Miracle"

This incident is inscribed on on the front wall of Darshani Deodhi leading to Darbar Sahib, Amritsar. Its states.

Ik Oankar
Sri Harmandar Saheb ji vich Kudrati Chamatkar
(Natural Miracle at the Golden Temple)
It is being told to inform everyone that at 4:30 am on 30 April, 1877, a strange miracle (ajab khayl) occurred in the Harmandar Sahib Ji. Some 400 devotees were enjoying kirtan in Harmandar Sahib Ji when, suddenly, a flash of lightning was seen.
It came from a side door in the form of a big light, formed a ball-like shape right in front of the Guru Granth Sahib Ji, and exploded to diffuse immense light after which it went out through the southern door in one line or ray.
Although at the time of its explosion there was a terrifying and powerful noise, none of the devotees sitting inside or the buildings or any other object was harmed.
All the people describe this supernatural (alaukik) sight as Guru Ram Das Saheb Ji's miracle or play (kautak).

(English Translation based on "Strange but True in Sikhism" book by SS Kohli, p11)

Background Information

After the fall of the Sikh Kingdom in 1849, the Sikhs were in very serious trouble. The Gurdwaras were in control of Mahants who had installed Hindu Idols and barred "low castes" from entering. The British even began to photograph Sikhs as they believed this "fading sect" ought to be recorded in history and one day shown in museums as a part of India's history.

Under  British rule came a new vision for  Amritsar. This new era featured an exertion of European cultural imperialism marked by the tragic demolition of Maharaja Ranjit Singh's resting palace and the construction of a large gothic style clock tower in its place to dominate over Darbar Sahib and the Amritsar skyline.

Clock Tower at Harmander sahib

Some Sikhs feared that British Empire had nefarious designs for them. They intended to make Darbaar Sahib the main Diocese for the Christian Church and convert the complex into a giant church. There were rumors that Crucifixes were put near the entrance of Darbaar Sahib near the foot-wash area. 

The construction of the gothic clock tower and the demolition of the lost palace met with serious disapproval from the Sikhs, but the British ignored this and moved forward with their project. 

"Far from being intended as a gratuitous insult to the Sikhs, it was most probably a generous donation on the part of the European community, meant to serve as a perpetual object-lesson in architecture, and as a dignified protest against barbaric excess of ornament."

From the Black Sea through Persia and India, Edwin Lord Weeks, New York, 1896

Although there have been some suggestions that the clock tower was really built by the British as a church, photographic evidence indicates that it only had a weather vane at its pinnacle and not a cross. Also the interior chamber was a relatively small room of approximately 20ft by 20ft, not a very large or practical space for congregations or church services.

Popular Explanation

This miracle transformed the Panth and brought it back from the brink of oblivion. Harmandir Sahib was under the control of the British Government and they had appointed Mangal Singh, a Sikh as manager. The British had nefarious designs for the Sikhs. They intended to make Darbaar Sahib the main Diocese for the Christian Church and convert the complex into a giant church. Crucifixes were even put near the entrance of Sree Darbaar Sahib near the foot-wash area.

Sardar Mangal Singh heard these rumours and met with Punjab's Lt. Governor and the Viceroy to discuss the concerns. He was told that the British were lawfully entitled to own, manage and dispose of all property owned earlier by the Sikh regime. They could do as they wish in the future.

The Sikhs came out very dejected and decided to hold and Akhand Path Sahib in Darbaar Sahib and do Ardaas that the most precious place of the Sikhs would be saved.

The next day, the Sikh Sangat gathered at Harmandir Sahib and the recitation Asa Di Vaar began. An intelligence officer sent by the Viceroy was also present to watch over the gathering. At 4.30AM, the ball of light entered and stopped in front of Guru Granth Sahib ji and then did as was described in the inscription. The Sangat began to repeat "Dhan Guru Ram Das!".

News of this event went all over Punjab. The hundreds of witnesses all gave their names as proof of this great miracle. The intelligence officer too was stunned and advised the British Government that any attempt to take over Darbaar Sahib would be wrong.

The Sikhs felt thet the incident was Guru Ram Das himself blessing the Sikhs. It showed the Sikhs that Guru was not far, but always watching over his Panth. The believe that Guru Ram Das enacted this miracle and revived and awakened the Sikhs. The Gurdvara Reform Movement gathered steam, Singh Sabha Movement threw out the Hindu influences and again the Panth began to emerge and grow. The entire Panth rose up to save Sikhism. The Sikhs were saved from the brink of extinction.

Kaar Seva to reconstruct Clock Tower

By the 1920's when this photograph was taken Sikhs had finally gained administrative control over the Darbar Sahib complex from the British. During the Kar Seva, which was undertaken every fifty years, the sacred pool was drained and then cleaned and desilted. The Clock Tower was resonstructd with Sikh style architecture that was harmonious to the adjacent buildings.

Ghanta Ghar Deori - reconstructed Clock Tower

Scientific Explanation

Ball lightning is an unexplained atmospheric electrical phenomenon. The term refers to reports of luminous, spherical objects that vary from pea-sized to several meters in diameter. Though usually associated with thunderstorms, the phenomenon lasts considerably longer than the split-second flash of a lightning bolt. Many early reports claim that the ball eventually explodes, sometimes with fatal consequences, leaving behind the odor of sulfur.

It has been suggested that ball lightning could be the source of the legends that describe luminous balls, such as the mythological Anchimayen from Argentinean and Chilean Mapuche culture.

Here are some other historical accounts for this unexplained phenomenon across the globe:

• 8-foot (2.4 m) ball of fire was described as striking and entering the church in Widecombe-in-the-Moor, Devon, in England, on 21 October 1638. The ball of fire reportedly divided into two segments, one exiting through a window by smashing it open, the other disappearing somewhere inside the church. The explanation at the time, because of the fire and sulfur smell, was that the ball of fire was "the devil" or the "flames of hell".
• In December 1726 a number of British newspapers printed an extract of a letter from John Howell of the ship, Catherine and Mary: "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; 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.
• Admiral Chambers on board the Montague, 4 November 1749 observed a large ball of blue fire about three miles distant from them. They immediately lowered their topsails, but it came up so fast upon them, that, before they could raise the main tack, they observed the ball rise almost perpendicularly, and not above forty or fifty yards from the main chains when it went off with an explosion, as great as if a hundred cannons had been discharged at the same time, leaving behind it a strong sulphurous smell. By this explosion the main top-mast was shattered into pieces and the main mast went down to the keel.
• Tsar Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia, reported witnessing what he called "a fiery ball" while in the company of his grandfather, Tsar Alexander II: "I was at the all-night vigil with my grandfather in the small church in Alexandria. During the service there was a powerful thunderstorm, streaks of lightning flashed one after the other, and it seemed as if the peals of thunder would shake even the church and the whole world to its foundations. I suddenly saw a fiery ball flying from the window straight towards the head of the Emperor. The ball (it was of lightning) whirled around the floor, then passed the chandelier and flew out through the door into the park. 
• On 6 August 1944, a ball of lightning went through a closed window in Uppsala, Sweden, leaving a circular hole about 5 centimetres (2.0 in) in diameter. The incident was witnessed by residents in the area, and was recorded by a lightning strike tracking system on the Division for Electricity and Lightning Research at Uppsala University.
• On 10 July 2011, during a powerful thunderstorm, a ball of light with a two-metre (6 ft 7 in) tail went through a window to the control room of local emergency services in Liberec, Czech Republic. The ball bounced from window to the ceiling, then to the floor and back to the ceiling, where it rolled along it for two or three metres. Then it dropped to the floor and disappeared. 
• On Dec 15th 2014, flight BE-6780 (Saab 2000) in the UK experienced ball lightning in the forward cabin just before lightning struck the aircraft nose.
• In January 2014, scientists from Northwest Normal University in Lanzhou, China, published the results of recordings made in July 2012 of the optical spectrum of what was thought to be natural ball lightning made by chance during the study of ordinary cloud–ground lightning on the Tibetan Plateau.
  
• Many modern experiments involve using a microwave oven to produce small rising glowing balls, often referred to as plasma balls. Generally, the experiments are conducted by placing a lit or recently extinguished match or other small object in a microwave oven. The burnt portion of the object flares up into a large ball of fire, while "plasma balls" float near the oven chamber ceiling. Some experiments describe covering the match with an inverted glass jar, which contains both the flame and the balls so that they don't damage the chamber walls. (a glass jar, however, eventually explodes rather than simply cause charred paint or melting metal, as happens to the inside of a microwave.) Experiments by Eli Jerby and Vladimir Dikhtyar in Israel revealed that microwave plasma balls are made up of nanoparticles with an average radius of 25 nanometres (9.8×10−7 in).

  

  Water Plasma Ball created in Labs

Concluding Remarks

The scitific explanations have so far failed to describe the flying balls clearly and why these appeared in certain places like ships sailing to the new world, charches, Buddhist temple in Tibet, and the Sikh spiritual site - Harmander Sahib. The physicists in me feels that science and spirituality have the same destination and oneday, the TRUTH will be revealed.

References:

1. http://www.sikhnet.com/news/miracle-saved-panth
2. https://www.allaboutsikhs.com/sikh-history-timeline/today-in-sikh-history-30th-april
3. http://dailysikhupdates.com/miracle-at-sri-harmandir-sahib-ji-in-1877/
4. http://sikhsangat.com/index.php?/topic/24712-kudrati-chamatkar-amritsar/
5. http://www.sikhmuseum.com/lostpalace/clocktower/index.html#clock9
6. http://indiangurudwaras.blogspot.com/2013/09/sri-harmandir-sahib-amritsar-punjab.html
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ball_lightning