Editing Ball lightning (section)

{{Short description|Atmospheric electrical phenomenon}}
{{For multi|the Czech film|Ball Lightning (film)|the Chinese novel|Ball Lightning (novel)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2020}}

[[File:Ball lightning.png|thumb|upright=1.5|A 1901 depiction of ball lightning]]

'''Ball lightning''' is a rare and unexplained phenomenon described as [[Luminosity|luminescent]], spherical objects that vary from pea-sized to several meters in diameter. Though usually associated with [[thunderstorm]]s,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/ball-lightning |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210217145014/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/ball-lightning |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 February 2021 |title= Ball lightning: weird, mysterious, perplexing, and deadly |last=Nunez |first=Christina |date=2019-03-06 |website=www.nationalgeographic.com |language=en |access-date=2022-07-02}}</ref> the observed phenomenon is reported to last considerably longer than the split-second flash of a [[lightning strike|lightning bolt]], and is a phenomenon distinct from [[St. Elmo's fire]] and [[will-o'-the-wisp]].

Some 19th-century reports<ref name="Rowe1905" /><ref name="Day1813" /> describe balls that eventually explode and leave behind an odor of sulfur. Descriptions of ball lightning appear in a variety of accounts over the centuries and have received attention from scientists.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/climate-weather/atmospheric/ball-lightning.htm |title=Does ball lightning really exist? |last=Trimarchi |first=Maria  |date=2008-07-07 |website=HowStuffWorks.com |language=en |access-date=2019-06-25}}</ref> An optical spectrum of what appears to have been a ball lightning event was published in January 2014 and included a video at high frame rate.<ref name="BLspectrum">
{{cite journal
 |last1= Cen |first1= Jianyong
 |first2= Ping |last2= Yuan
 |first3= Simin |last3= Xue |date= 17 January 2014
 |title= Observation of the Optical and Spectral Characteristics of Ball Lightning
 |journal= [[Physical Review Letters]]
 |volume= 112 |issue= 3
 |page = 035001
 |doi= 10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.035001
 |bibcode= 2014PhRvL.112c5001C |pmid= 24484145
}}
</ref><ref>
{{cite journal
 |url= https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn24886-natural-ball-lightning-probed-for-the-first-time.html
 |title= Natural ball lightning probed for the first time |last= Slezak |first= Michael
 |journal= [[New Scientist]] |volume= 221 |issue= 2953 |page= 17 |date= 16 January 2014 |access-date= 22 January 2014
|bibcode= 2014NewSc.221...17S |doi= 10.1016/S0262-4079(14)60173-1 |url-access= subscription }}
</ref>
Nevertheless, scientific data on ball lightning remain scarce.
Although laboratory experiments have produced effects that are visually similar to reports of ball lightning, how these relate to the supposed phenomenon remains unclear.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.livescience.com/61946-ball-lightning-quantum-particle.html |title=The 'Skyrmion' May Have Solved the Mystery of Ball Lightning |last=Letzter |first=Rafi |date=6 March 2018 |website=Live Science |access-date=2019-01-20}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | title=Thermodynamic and kinetic properties of nonideal Rydberg matter |journal=Soviet Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics Letters |volume=92 |issue=9 |page=630 |last1=Manykin |first1=E. A. |last2=Zelener |first2=B. B. |last3=Zelener |first3=B. V. |s2cid=121748296 |year=2010 |doi=10.1134/S0021364010210125 |bibcode=2010JETPL..92..630M}}</ref><ref name=bam>{{cite web |author = Anna Salleh |url = http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/03/20/2194630.htm?site=science&topic=latest 
|title = Ball lightning bamboozles physicist 
|at= 35.2772;149.1292
|publisher = Abc.net.au 
|date = 2008-03-20
|access-date = 21 January 2014}}</ref>