ball lightning
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AI overview
Ball lightning is an extremely rare and unexplained glowing sphere that sometimes appears during thunderstorms, fascinating scientists because they don't fully understand what it is or how it forms. It matters because studying these mysterious events could help us better understand electrical phenomena in the atmosphere and extreme weather conditions.
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Article
A 1901 depiction of ball lightning
Ball lightning is a rare and unexplained phenomenon described as luminescent spherical objects that vary from pea-sized to several meters in diameter. Though usually associated with thunderstorms, the observed phenomenon is reported to last considerably longer than the split-second flash of a lightning bolt and is distinct from St. Elmo's fire and will-o'-the-wisp.