The properties and the nature of ball lightning

The observed properties of ball lightning are given. A model of mean ball lightning taking average iarameters is based on observed data. By comparing the observed data with contemporary information on the processes occuring in activated air, different aspects of the ball lightning phenomenon are analysed. Among these are the ways of energy storage in ball lightning, the mechanisms of thermal processes, the form and structure of ball lightning, and the electrical phenomena and luminous processes in ball lightning. The separate problems are investigated on the basis of model experiments. Numerical analysis of various aspects of the phenomenon allows us to construct a phenomenological model of ball lightning. This model conforms well with the observed data and up-to-date information on the different physical processes. The experimental modelling of ball lightning is analysed. Analogues of ball lightning are considered. A general phenomenological scheme of ball lightning is given.