Ball Lightning: an unsolved problem in atmospheric Electricity

by Herbert Boerner

Thursday 19 Nov 2026, 10:00 → 12:00 Europe/Berlin

Käthe-Kümmel-Str. 1/U1.059 (ROT) - Conference Room (ROT)

Abstract: 

 

Ball lightning remains an unexplained phenomenon of atmospheric physics despite scientific effort dating back 190 years. Until recently, all evidence came from reports by accidental observers, but in recent years, additional information has become available through correlating observer reports with data from lightning location systems. The talk describes the analysis of lightning strokes that initiate ball lightning objects and the information obtained from these correlations for the production process of ball lightning. The resulting hypothesis for the ball lightning generation is discussed.
Finally, classes of ball lightning theories are checked for their
consistency with well-established characteristics and with the
hypothesis for ball lightning creation.

 

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