The prevailing theory of ball lightning involves clouds of charged water molecules.
Ball lightning is an extremely rare and poorly understood atmospheric phenomenon that accompanies thunderstorms. It manifests as a shiny ball about the size of a basketball, but sometimes as small as a golf ball or as large as a small car. It floats in the air for a few seconds to a few minutes, with an average of 25 seconds, and then disappears silently or with a loud bang. Some scientists have studied this ray for more than 20 years and are still not sure that it really exists.
The phenomenon is so rare that not even a single scientifically confirmed video exists, although most scientists accept its existence because reports date back to ancient Greece. It is also supportive that most of the reports scientists have tell a fairly consistent story, rather than vary dramatically, as would be expected if this form of lightning was simply a misidentification of more common atmospheric phenomena. When the details vary too much from the most common reports, it is likely to be misidentification, wishful thinking, or fraud. It is plausible, however, that ball lightning is simply a positive afterimage left in the eye after a lightning strike.
In 1960, a newspaper conducted an informal survey and found that 5% of respondents claimed to have witnessed lightning, although the actual number is likely to be much lower. If a relatively large number of people witnessed this type of lightning on a regular basis, there would probably be a video of them. However, reports continue to come in and it is sometimes considered a UFO, an unidentified flying object, something in the sky that cannot be easily identified.
The currently prevailing physical theory for spherical rays is the theory of atmospheric radiation. Large clouds of charged water molecules are put into an excited state by electrical activity, briefly causing light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation, or the laser effect. However, before this can be confirmed as the true cause, it must first be replicated in a laboratory, which has not yet occurred. There may come a day when scientists can be sure this lightning is a real phenomenon, but unfortunately for enthusiasts, that day has yet to come.