It was great balls of fire at the Blue Star Filling Station, High Blantyre in May 1977.
On the afternoon of the first Wednesday of that month, a large fireball fell from the sky and ignited some petrol beside the garage buildings!
One eye witness, Mr Nicholas Kelly of Hunthill Road said, “It was during a thunderstorm. I was absolutely amazed at the sight. It came out of the sky and exploded on top of the tanks. It sounded like a bomb had gone off. I thought my time had come”.
Nicholas, a milkman continued, “About 5 people saw it happen. One bloke was in the forecourt of the garage when it landed. He was totally stunned. Everybody got a terrible shock. It was like a ball of lightning. It exploded in white flash and disappeared.”
The diameter of the fireball was estimated about 5 feet and Nicholas was asked to go to the Glasgow Weather centre to provide a written account of the incident.
Glasgow Weather centre later said, “It sounds like it was phenomenal. Sightings of this form of ball lightning are very rare and the normal size of these fireballs are eight inches across.” The spokesman added that the cause of the fireball was still a matter of dispute and indeed there were some at that time who still doubted their existence.
Whatever this was, it sure caused a fright.
Twelve years later, by 1989, the adjacent Church Halls were demolished and with the petrol station and tenements were long gone by then too. The ground became an expansive wasteland, as pictured, paving the way for the building of Kirk Care Home. Pictured from the Pit Disaster Memorial looking over Main Street northwards, this was the scene in 1989.
My Mum worked in it Paul. You should try and do a bit more homework.