Ball Lightning With a Cover Filled by a Vapor

Creation of artificial ball lightning (BL) in gas discharges has been considered. Explosion of the experimental fireballs can be explained by an action of vapors inside them on the cover. Using these results, a model of a natural BL has been presented. The BL in it consists of a core filled by a vapor and a solid cover. Estimates of energy stored in the vapor of the melted material proved to be about those observed in high-energy BL.