Ball Lightning in the Laboratory — Scientists Attempt to Create the Phenomenon

For over a century, scientists have attempted to create ball lightning in laboratory settings, with limited but tantalizing success. In 2006, researchers at Tel Aviv University created small, luminous spheres by directing microwave beams at silicon substrates, producing glowing objects that floated freely for fractions of a second. In 2007, Brazilian scientists Max Fomitchev-Zamilov and others at the Federal University of Pernambuco vaporized silicon wafers with electrical arcs, producing luminous balls up to 8 centimeters in diameter that persisted for up to 8 seconds — the longest laboratory-created ball lightning analogues at the time. In 2012, researchers at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs created plasmoids using high-voltage discharges over water surfaces. These laboratory experiments have demonstrated that it is physically possible to create luminous, roughly spherical objects that float in air, but none have fully replicated the characteristics of natural ball lightning — particularly its long duration, large size, and ability to exist in open-air conditions far from any energy source.