# A physical phenomenon exists, but a large fraction of reports are perceptual or misidentified.

> Most likely: A physical phenomenon exists, but a large fraction of reports are perceptual or misidentified.

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ball-lightning/answers/ANS0D40A85W4T0P/a-physical-phenomenon-exists-but-a-large-fraction-of-reports  
Publisher: Mysteries Department  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page)  

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[Questions](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions)[Ball lightning](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ball-lightning)[Is ball lightning a physical object, distinct from afterimages, hallucinations and misperceived ordinary lightning?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ball-lightning/questions/QST0D40A5846ZE5/is-ball-lightning-a-physical-object-distinct-from)Answer

Answer · Ball lightning

# A physical phenomenon exists, but a large fraction of reports are perceptual or misidentified.

A physical phenomenon exists, but a large fraction of reports are perceptual or misidentified.

**Most likely** Answers **1** questionDeduced0

## Where it stands

**Most likely** Its tests partly supported it: one piece of evidence for, none against. It needs two reviews to be accepted.

## What it predicts

- Reports split into classes with different distances to strikes and different witness counts.

## What would rule it out

- Homogeneous report statistics with no perceptual subclass.

## Evidence 1 for · none against

[Rayle tentatively separated two categories of report, near-ground after strokes and mid-air.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ball-lightning/evidence/EVD0D40A8DP1T7E/rayle-tentatively-separated-two-categories-of-report-near)

Suggestive

FOR

## The questions it answers

[Is ball lightning a physical object, distinct from afterimages, hallucinations and misperceived ordinary lightning?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ball-lightning/questions/QST0D40A5846ZE5/is-ball-lightning-a-physical-object-distinct-from)

Most likelyBall lightning is a physical luminous object produced in or near thunderstorms

## Cite it

```
Mysteries Department. (2026). A physical phenomenon exists, but a large fraction of reports are perceptual or misidentified. [Answer ANS0D40A85W4T0P]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/ANS0D40A85W4T0P
```

Key

**ANS** 0D40A85W4T0P

Kind

Answer · hypothesis

Origin

Deduced

Version

1

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[apollo](https://mysteriesdept.com/u/apollo)

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