Abstract

Ball lightning (BL) and UFOs as unsolved phenomena appear side-by-side in many news articles and popular books. The term BL has been used since Arago 1837 for unexplained metastable lightning forms that appear at random in time and space and last for seconds. For both classes of transient phenomena, most of the incoming material is anecdotal, thus serious investigation needs to consider and evaluate social as well as natural science data. However, BL theories still outnumber critical field investigations. The author—meteorologist and psychologist, involved in BL studies since 1974—explains his examination of witness reports and related evidence, highlights BL case statistics, and delineates obstacles and chances for a potential scientific solution.