Ball lightning is a rare and unexplained event described as glowing, round objects that can be as small as a pea or as large as several meters across. Although often linked to thunderstorms, this phenomenon lasts much longer than the quick flash of a lightning bolt. It is different from St. Elmo's fire and will-o'-the-wisp.
Some 20th-century reports describe ball lightning that eventually explodes and leaves a smell of sulfur. Descriptions of ball lightning have been recorded in many accounts over the centuries and have been studied by scientists. In January 2014, an optical spectrum from what appeared to be a ball lightning event was published, along with a video recorded at a very fast frame rate. However, scientists still have limited information about ball lightning. Although lab experiments have created effects that look similar to ball lightning, it is not clear if these are connected to the actual phenomenon.
Characteristics
Ball lightning has many different descriptions. It may move up and down, sideways, or in unexpected paths. It can float and move in the same or opposite direction as the wind. Sometimes it is drawn to objects like buildings, people, or cars, while other times it is not affected by them or moves away. Some reports say it can pass through solid materials like wood or metal without causing harm, while others claim it can melt or burn these materials. Ball lightning has been seen near power lines, at heights of 300 meters (1,000 feet) or higher, and during thunderstorms or calm weather. It has been described as clear, partly clear, colorful, evenly lit, glowing with flames, sparks, or threads, and shaped like spheres, ovals, teardrops, rods, or disks.
Ball lightning is a separate phenomenon from St. Elmo's fire, but the two are sometimes confused. Ball lightning has been reported to disappear in many ways, such as vanishing suddenly, fading slowly, entering objects, popping, exploding with a loud noise, or even exploding with enough force to cause damage. Accounts also differ about whether it is dangerous to people, with some saying it can be deadly and others saying it is not harmful.
A review of scientific studies from 1972 noted common features of ball lightning but warned that eyewitness reports should not be fully trusted.
Historical accounts
Ball lightning may be the source of stories about glowing balls, like the myth of Anchimayen from the Mapuche culture of Argentina and Chile.
A study from 1960 found that 5.6% of 1,962 workers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and 3.1% of 15,923 employees at Union Carbide Nuclear Company in Oak Ridge reported seeing ball lightning. A Scientific American article later stated that about 5% of Earth’s population had seen ball lightning. Another study looked at reports of over 2,000 cases.
The earliest known written record of ball lightning comes from Gervase of Canterbury, an English monk. In 1195, he wrote about a strange event near London. A dark cloud released a white substance that formed a sphere, from which a burning ball fell toward a river.
Professor Brian Tanner and historian Giles Gasper from Durham University believe Gervase’s account describes ball lightning. They noted that his description of a white substance forming a spinning, fiery ball matches modern reports.
In 1638, a severe storm in Widecombe-in-the-Moor, England, caused four deaths and injured about 60 people. Witnesses saw an 8-foot (2.4 m) ball of fire strike a church, breaking walls, pews, and windows. The air filled with a strong smell of sulfur and smoke. The ball split into two parts: one exited through a window, and the other disappeared inside the church. People at the time thought the ball was "the devil" or "flames of hell." Some later blamed two people playing cards during a sermon for the disaster.
In 1726, a letter from John Howell, published in British newspapers, described a large ball of fire falling from the sky during a storm in the Gulf of Florida. It split a ship’s mast and deck, killed one person, and injured another.
In 1749, Admiral Chambers on the HMS Montague saw a blue fireball about three miles away. It moved quickly toward the ship, exploded with the force of 100 cannons, and shattered the main mast. Five people were knocked down, and one was seriously injured. The fireball was about the size of a large millstone.
In 1753, Russian scientist Georg Richmann was killed by ball lightning during an experiment. The ball struck his forehead, left a red mark, and damaged his clothing. His assistant was knocked unconscious, and the room’s door was torn from its hinges.
In 1809, three balls of fire attacked the British ship HMS Warren Hastings during a storm. One killed a crew member and set the mast on fire. Another struck a crewman, causing burns, and a third killed another person. The air smelled strongly of sulfur afterward.
In 1864, Ebenezer Cobham Brewer wrote about "globular lightning" in his book. He described it as slow-moving fireballs or explosive gas that sometimes fall to Earth or roll along the ground during thunderstorms. They may split into smaller balls or explode like cannons.
In 1875, French writer Wilfrid de Fonvielle noted that about 150 reports of globular lightning existed. He wrote that these fireballs are often drawn to metal objects, like railings or pipes. They can appear in any color, such as green in Coethen, Germany. In Salagnac, France, a fireball rolled across a kitchen without harming people but exploded in a stable, killing a pig.
Ball lightning moves slowly and may pause during its path. In Stralsund, Germany, a fireball exploded in a church, sending smaller balls flying like shells.
Nicholas II, the last emperor of Russia, saw a fiery ball as a child. During a storm, he watched it fly toward his grandfather, Alexander II, in a church. The ball spun around the floor, passed a chandelier, and flew out the door. His grandfather remained calm, while Nicholas was terrified.
Direct measurements of natural ball lightning
In January 2014, scientists from Northwest Normal University in Lanzhou, China, shared their findings from recordings made in July 2012 of the light patterns from an object believed to be natural ball lightning. This event occurred during the study of regular lightning between clouds and the ground on the Tibetan Plateau. At a distance of 900 meters (3,000 feet), scientists recorded 1.64 seconds of video showing the ball lightning forming after regular lightning struck the ground and how it faded over time. A high-speed camera (3,000 frames per second) also captured the final 0.78 seconds of the event, limited by its storage capacity. Both cameras used special tools that split light into colors to analyze it. The researchers found light signals from non-charged silicon, calcium, iron, nitrogen, and oxygen—different from the mainly charged nitrogen signals in regular lightning. The ball lightning moved horizontally across the video frame at an average speed of 8.6 meters per second (28 feet per second). It had a diameter of 5 meters (16 feet) and traveled about 15 meters (49 feet) during the 1.64 seconds recorded.
Scientists observed changes in light brightness and oxygen and nitrogen signals at a frequency of 100 hertz, possibly linked to the nearby 50 hertz high-voltage power lines. From the light patterns, the temperature of the ball lightning was estimated to be lower than the temperature of the regular lightning (less than 15,000 to 30,000 K). The findings match the possibility of soil being turned into vapor and the ball lightning’s reaction to electric fields.
Laboratory experiments
Scientists have tried for many years to create ball lightning in laboratory experiments. Some experiments have made effects that look similar to natural ball lightning, but it is still not known if these effects are related.
Nikola Tesla reportedly made small balls of lightning that were about 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) in size. He demonstrated this ability, but he was more interested in studying high voltages, powerful electricity, and sending energy over long distances. The balls he made were just a side interest.
The International Committee on Ball Lightning (ICBL) held regular meetings to discuss this topic. Another group uses the name "Unconventional Plasmas" for similar research. The last ICBL meeting was planned for July 2012 in San Marcos, Texas, but it was canceled because not enough reports were submitted.
Ohtsuki and Ofuruton described an experiment where they created "plasma fireballs" by using microwaves in a special container filled with air. They used a microwave device operating at 2.45 GHz with a maximum power of 5 kW.
Some scientific groups, including the Max Planck Institute, have reportedly made a ball lightning-like effect by using a high-voltage capacitor in a tank of water.
Many modern experiments use a microwave oven to create small glowing balls, often called plasma balls. Scientists place a lit or recently extinguished match or small object inside the microwave. The burnt part of the object then creates a large ball of fire, and plasma balls float near the top of the oven. Some experiments cover the match with a glass jar to contain the fire and balls, but the jar eventually breaks, unlike the microwave's interior, which might only get damaged. Experiments by Eli Jerby and Vladimir Dikhtyar in Israel showed that these plasma balls are made of tiny particles called nanoparticles, with an average size of 25 nm (9.8 × 10 inches). The team used copper, salts, water, and carbon to demonstrate this.
In 2007, scientists shocked silicon wafers with electricity. This caused the silicon to turn into vapor and react with oxygen. The result looked like small glowing, sparkling balls that rolled across surfaces. Antonio Pavão and Gerson Paiva from the Federal University of Pernambuco in Brazil have reportedly made these balls consistently using this method. This experiment is based on the idea that ball lightning might be made of oxidized silicon vapor (see the vaporized silicon hypothesis below).
A spinning plasma toroid, which lasts about 200 milliseconds in a partial atmosphere, looks like ball lightning. This has been observed, simulated by computers, and explained by mathematical equations. These spinning rings of plasma can be created using strong electric arcs, which may explain some ball lightning sightings after lightning strikes.
Atmospheric plasmoids that last up to 350 microseconds in the visible light range (UV-NIR) were created by using high-voltage electricity above a water surface.
Proposed scientific explanations
There is currently no widely accepted explanation for ball lightning. Scientists have proposed many ideas since the phenomenon was studied by William Snow Harris, an English doctor and researcher, in 1843, and by François Arago, a French scientist, in 1855.
One idea suggests that ball lightning forms when silicon in soil is turned into gas by lightning. Lightning striking the ground could heat the silicon dioxide in soil, separating oxygen from silicon and creating pure silicon vapor. As the vapor cools, it might form glowing particles held together by electrical charges. An experiment in 2007 showed that creating glowing balls by heating pure silicon with electricity produced "luminous balls" lasting seconds. In 2014, scientists recorded the first natural ball lightning spectra, supporting this idea. Silicon in soil could exist as tiny particles like Si, SiO, or SiC. This idea is sometimes called the "dirt clod hypothesis," as ball lightning’s chemical makeup matches soil.
Another model suggests ball lightning has a solid, positively charged center surrounded by a thin layer of electrons. A vacuum between the center and electrons holds a strong electromagnetic field, which pushes electrons away from the center using radiation pressure.
Pyotr Kapitsa proposed that ball lightning is caused by microwave radiation from lightning clouds. The ball acts like a microwave cavity, adjusting its size to match the radiation’s wavelength for resonance.
The Handel Maser-Soliton theory suggests ball lightning forms from a large atmospheric maser, creating a plasma bubble that traps microwaves. In 2017, researchers from Zhejiang University proposed that microwaves trapped in a plasma bubble from lightning strikes create glowing balls. These bubbles can trap radiation, producing light until the energy fades. The theory explains why ball lightning can form indoors, as microwaves pass through glass.
Julio Rubinstein, David Finkelstein, and James R. Powell suggested ball lightning is a type of St. Elmo’s fire, a glowing plasma that forms around conductors. They proposed that a glowing ball could amplify electric fields enough to sustain ionization, acting like a soliton in atmospheric electricity.
Powell’s research found that the size of ball lightning depends on the second Townsend coefficient, which relates to how electrons move in air. He observed that afterglows in microwave ovens and generators come from long-lasting NO ions, which glow in air and nitrous oxide but not in gases like argon or helium.
The soliton model suggests ball lightning involves charged particles in plasma oscillating in a spherical shape, similar to a Langmuir soliton. These oscillations may create superconducting states, as charged particles with opposite spins could form structures like Cooper pairs.
Another theory proposes ball lightning forms from combustion in a low-velocity region of a vortex, like a "Hill’s spherical vortex."
Oleg Meshcheryakov suggested ball lightning is made of tiny particles acting as batteries. Surface discharges between these particles could create currents forming the ball. His model explains all observable features of ball lightning.
A declassified report, Project Condign, stated that charged plasma formations like ball lightning may form under complex weather and electrical conditions. Some instances might involve meteoroids breaking apart in the atmosphere, but this idea is considered incomplete.
Cooray and Cooray (2008) noted that hallucinations from epileptic seizures in the brain’s occipital lobe resemble ball lightning. They found that lightning’s magnetic field could trigger brain activity, linking seizures to thunderstorms. Recent studies using magnetic stimulation in labs produced similar hallucinations, called magnetophosphenes, near lightning strikes. However, this theory does not explain physical damage caused by ball lightning.