BALL LIGHTNING.

Abstract

The observational evidence relating to ball lightning has now advanced to the stage at which the real physical existence of the phenomenon can no longer be reasonably doubted. Despite the wide variety of more or less implausible theories only distantly related to plasmas and gas discharges that have been advanced to explain ball lightning, the plasma approach still seems to offer the best prospect of satisfactory theory. There are serious difficulties still to be resolved both theoretically and experimentally, but the task is by no means hopeless. What does seem clear is that if ball lightning is an atmospheric plasmoid it is a very remarkable phenomenon, while if it is not an atmospheric plasmoid it is even more remarkable.