An Experimental Model of Ball Lightning

A form of ball lightning was generated in the laboratory. Plasma spheres several centimeters in diameter were produced in atmospheric pressure air. These spheres persisted up to ½ a second after power turn –off. A mathematical model was derived that predicts the observed lifetime. The theory predicts that the sphere lifetime should scale as the radius squared, which means large spheres should exist for many seconds. We also generated ball lightning in a zero gravity environment. The object was to eliminate convection, which had been observed to reduce the size of a ball generated by a two – dimensional electric arc. The result was large balls that survived the duration of the experiment – about ½ second.