Editing Ball lightning (section)

== Laboratory experiments ==
Scientists have long attempted to produce ball lightning in laboratory experiments. While some experiments have produced effects that are visually similar to reports of natural ball lightning, it has not yet been determined whether there is any relation.

[[Nikola Tesla]] reportedly could artificially produce {{convert|1.5|in|cm|adj=on}} balls and conducted some demonstrations of his ability.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://homepage.ntlworld.com/forgottenfutures/tesla/tesla.htm |title=The New Wizard of the West |author=Chauncy Montgomery M'Govern |date=May 1899 |work=[[Pearson's Magazine]] |via=homepage.ntlworld.com |access-date=13 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081006032927/http://homepage.ntlworld.com/forgottenfutures/tesla/tesla.htm |archive-date=2008-10-06 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Tesla was more interested in higher voltages and powers as well as remote transmission of power; the balls he made were just a curiosity.<ref name="Tesla, Nikola 1978">Tesla, Nikola (1978). ''Nikola Tesla – [[Colorado Springs Notes, 1899–1900]]''. Nolit (Beograd, Yugoslavia), 368–370. {{ISBN|978-0-913022-26-9}}</ref>

The International Committee on Ball Lightning (ICBL) held regular symposia on the subject. A related group uses the generic name "Unconventional Plasmas".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://home.planet.nl/~icblsec/noscript.html|title=Tenth international syposium on ball lightning/ International symposium III on unconventional plasmas|last=Anon|year=2008|publisher=ICBL|access-date=10 May 2010}}</ref> The last ICBL symposium was tentatively scheduled for July 2012 in [[San Marcos, Texas]] but was cancelled due to a lack of submitted abstracts.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cose.txstate.edu/isbl_12.html |title=ISBL-12 |access-date=4 June 2012 |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120604074802/http://www.cose.txstate.edu/isbl_12.html |archive-date=4 June 2012 }}</ref>

=== Wave-guided microwaves ===
Ohtsuki and Ofuruton<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ohtsuki |first1=Y. H. |author2=H. Ofuruton |s2cid=4321381 |year=1991 |title=Plasma fireballs formed by microwave interference in air |journal=Nature |volume=350 |issue= 6314|pages=139–141 |bibcode= 1991Natur.350..139O|doi= 10.1038/350139a0}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ohtsuki |first1=Y. H. |author2=H. Ofuruton |year=1991 |title=Plasma fireballs formed by microwave interference in air (Corrections) |journal=Nature |volume=353 |issue= 6347|page=868 |bibcode= 1991Natur.353..868O|doi= 10.1038/353868a0|doi-access=free }}</ref> described producing "plasma fireballs" by microwave interference within an air-filled cylindrical cavity fed by a rectangular waveguide using a 2.45&nbsp;GHz, 5&nbsp;kW (maximum power) microwave oscillator.

=== Water discharge experiments ===
[[File:Water plasma.jpg|right|thumb|A demonstration of the water discharge experiment]]
Some scientific groups, including the [[Max Planck Institute]], have reportedly produced a ball lightning-type effect by discharging a high-voltage [[capacitor]] in a tank of water.<ref>{{cite web|author=<!--DASHBot--> |url=http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/node/334 |title='Ball lightning' created in German laboratory |website=Cosmos Online |date=7 June 2006 |access-date=13 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060711194644/http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/node/334 |archive-date=2006-07-11 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/242694152 |title=Fireball Generation in a Water Discharge |author1=Youichi Sakawa |author2=Kazuyoshi Sugiyama |author3=Tetsuo Tanabe |author4=Richard More |journal=Plasma and Fusion Research |volume=1 |page=039 |date=January 2006|bibcode=2006PFR.....1...39S |doi=10.1585/pfr.1.039 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

=== Home microwave oven experiments ===
Many modern experiments involve using a [[microwave oven]] to produce small rising glowing balls, often referred to as ''plasma balls''.
Generally, the experiments are conducted by placing a lit or recently extinguished match or other small object in a microwave oven. The burnt portion of the object flares up into a large ball of fire, while "plasma balls" float near the oven chamber ceiling. Some experiments describe covering the match with an inverted glass jar, which contains both the flame and the balls so that they do not damage the chamber walls.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jlnlabs.online.fr/plasma/gmr/index.htm |title=How to make a Stable Plasmoid ( Ball Lightning ) with the GMR (Graphite Microwave Resonator) by Jean-Louis Naudin |publisher=Jlnlabs.online.fr |date=22 December 2005 |access-date=13 July 2009| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090626155549/http://jlnlabs.online.fr/plasma/gmr/index.htm| archive-date= 26 June 2009 <!--DASHBot-->|url-status = live}}</ref> (A glass jar, however, eventually explodes rather than simply causing charred paint or melting metal, as happens to the inside of a microwave.){{cn|date=May 2023}} Experiments by [[Eli Jerby]] and Vladimir Dikhtyar in Israel revealed that microwave plasma balls are made up of [[nanoparticle]]s with an average radius of {{convert|25|nm|in|abbr=in|lk=in}}. The team demonstrated the phenomenon with copper, salts, water and carbon.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scienceinschool.org/2009/issue12/fireballs|title=Creating the 4th state of matter with microwaves by Halina Stanley|publisher=scienceinschool.org|date=13 August 2009 |access-date=6 October 2009| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20091031100909/http://www.scienceinschool.org/2009/issue12/fireballs| archive-date= 31 October 2009 <!--DASHBot-->|url-status = live}}</ref>

=== Silicon experiments ===
Experiments in 2007 involved shocking [[silicon]] wafers with electricity, which vaporizes the silicon and induces [[oxidation]] in the vapors. The visual effect can be described as small glowing, sparkling [[Orb (optics)|orbs]] that roll around a surface. Two Brazilian scientists, [[Antonio Pavão]] and [[Gerson Paiva]] of the [[Federal University of Pernambuco]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ufpe.br/ |title=Universidade Federal de Pernambuco |publisher=Ufpe.br |access-date=13 July 2009| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090621072728/http://www.ufpe.br/| archive-date= 21 June 2009 <!--DASHBot-->|url-status = live}}</ref> have reportedly consistently made small long-lasting balls using this method.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ufpe.br/new/visualizar.php?id=5005 |title=Pesquisadores da UFPE geram, em laboratório, fenômeno atmosférico conhecido como bolas luminosas |publisher=Ufpe.br |date=16 January 2007|access-date=13 July 2009 |archive-date=20 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081220115152/http://www.ufpe.br/new/visualizar.php?id=5005 }}</ref><ref name=NGN>{{cite news|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/01/070122-ball-lightning.html|title=Ball Lightning Mystery Solved? Electrical Phenomenon Created in Lab|last=Handwerk|first=Brian|website=National Geographic News|date=22 January 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070210072832/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/01/070122-ball-lightning.html|archive-date=10 February 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref> These experiments stemmed from the theory that ball lightning is actually oxidized silicon vapors ''(see [[#Vaporized silicon hypothesis|vaporized silicon hypothesis]], below)''.