# Orange balls on power lines **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 10, 2000, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-balls-on-power-lines/25136 "2000-07-10T19:22:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2000, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-balls-on-power-lines/25136/1 "2000-07-10T19:22:08Z")
What is the purpose of those orange (rarely white) balls on power lines? They seem to be found mainly on the longest spans (which are often also the highest), as the line cross streams or highways. It’s hard to tell, but the balls seem to be about 10 or 20 inches in diameter. There are maybe four or six evenly-spaced balls per span. Only one span has balls, not several adjacent spans. I’ve never noticed them here in Maine, but on a recent trip I saw quite a few in New York and Pennsylvania and one such span each in Idaho and Minnesota. These appear to be are ordinary power lines, not long-distance high tension lines. My first guess was that it was aid to airplane pilots following a highway, so they wouldn’t fly into the lines. But I’ve seen them on spans quite close to the ground. I didn’t notice that they are found mainly near airports. ---
**Author:** ![Perderabo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Perderabo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Perderabo)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2000, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-balls-on-power-lines/25136/2 "2000-07-10T20:11:07Z")
The Master says: [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3\_283.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_283.html) ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Cool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecb155/32.png) [@Joe\_Cool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Cool)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2000, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-balls-on-power-lines/25136/3 "2000-07-10T20:11:48Z")
in my home town, they are primarily found near tv stations and hospitals. So what do all the hospitals and tv stations have in common? Helicopter landing pads. That’s what I assume they’re for: so pilots taking off and landing don’t take out a line. Though this is just my educated guess. ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2000, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-balls-on-power-lines/25136/4 "2000-07-10T20:14:06Z")
I told my husband that they were in case of floods so the power lines would float 😉 WAG: I have seen them mainly in touristy areas near bridges. I thought they were for visibility, especially in areas where there are heliocopters that give tourist rides. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2000, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-balls-on-power-lines/25136/5 "2000-07-10T20:21:44Z")
> [@](#): > > (1) The “balloon things” are aircraft warning markers intended to prevent some joker in a Piper Cub from clotheslining himself. Wouldn’t ya know it? Something I actually know something about, and Cecil already answered it! I like the ads that often appear in aviation magazines for those spheres: **"Your balls saved my life!"** ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2000, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-balls-on-power-lines/25136/6 "2000-07-10T22:18:32Z")
On a tangent, are the balloon things called rotors? According to REM in Driver 8: The power lines all have rotors So the airplanes don’t get snagged. Michael Stipe is no Cecil, but he generally gets things right.wwwww ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2000, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-balls-on-power-lines/25136/7 "2000-07-10T22:56:51Z")
It might be different in Ireland but we have the balls aswell but only over main roads . I was told by somebody in the E.S.B. ( Electricity Supply Board ) that they where there because of swans thinking the roads where rivers and fly along them and take out the power lines . ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2000, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-balls-on-power-lines/25136/8 "2000-07-11T05:25:41Z")
I always thought the punchline had something to do with eating cheetos and watching the Playboy Channel… ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2000, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-balls-on-power-lines/25136/9 "2000-07-11T10:57:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Perderabo \* > \*\*The Master says: > [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3\_283.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_283.html) \*\* I can’t believe I forgot to search Cecil’s columns for the answer. Bad bibliophage! Bad bibliophage! ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2000, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-balls-on-power-lines/25136/10 "2000-07-11T13:26:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Greg Charles \* > \*\*On a tangent, are the balloon things called rotors? According to REM in Driver 8: > > The power lines all have rotors > So the airplanes don’t get snagged. > > Michael Stipe is no Cecil, but he generally gets things right.wwwww \*\* I think the R.E.M. line is: “Power lines have floaters So the airplanes won’t get snagged” (Presumably because the orange things on power lines resemble fishing floats.) Of course, I may be wrong. That Michael Stipe is kind of a mumbler, after all. 😉