How can a glow outlast the lightning strike that preceded it?
A fleeting light
Ball lightning is a luminous phenomenon reported near thunderstorms. Unlike a familiar branching flash, accounts describe a glowing object that persists briefly. Its rarity makes reliable measurements difficult.
What has been measured?
In an observation published in 2014, researchers recorded an object after a cloud-to-ground strike. Its spectrum contained emission from elements found in soil throughout its visible lifetime. That provides evidence for testing explanations of this particular event.
What remains open?
There is no single established explanation covering all reports. Laboratory studies can reproduce some characteristics with confined plasma, but a laboratory analogue does not prove that every natural event forms the same way. More measurements are needed to distinguish competing ideas.
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