The article on ball lightning in Thewlis' Encyclopedic Dictionary of Physics (1967) judged that it didn't really exist. Although it is still not understood, and

The article on ball lightning in Thewlis' Encyclopedic Dictionary of Physics (1967) judged that it didn't really exist. Although it is still not understood, and even not established to be a single phenomenon, there seems to be wide acceptance of its reality. One thing to keep in mind if you ever see ball lightning, the larger ones appear to emit lethal amounts of ionizing radiation. Popular book (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52731622-ball-lightning https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52731622-ball-lightning) Technical book (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2872589-ball-lightning https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2872589-ball-lightning) Good intro to lightning physics (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21566597-an-introduction-to-lightning https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21566597-an-introduction...) Unrealistic but enjoyable sci-fi (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32076670-ball-lightning https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32076670-ball-lightning)