This is tangential, but if you have an old microwave that you don't mind perhaps getting a bit dirty, you can make ball lightning in the comfort of your own hom

This is tangential, but if you have an old microwave that you don't mind perhaps getting a bit dirty, you can make ball lightning in the comfort of your own home. Discovered this during my "I wonder what will happen to this when I microwave it!" phase. 1) Take a tealight. Bog standard little candle. 2) Remove the metal casing. Snip the little metal foot off the bottom end of the wick. You now have a little puck of paraffin with a wick in it. 3) Place said candle in a glass tealight holder. Ikea sell 'em for a few pence. 4) Light it. Stick it in the microwave, right in the centre, without the turntable. 5) Engage. Observe with wonder as the paraffin vapour enters a plasma state and hovers in the middle of your microwave, contained by the microwaves. I dare say this works better in some than others, and perhaps depends on the shape of the standing wave in your microwave, and I make no guarantees as to your or your microwave's safety - but it's a really neat demo, either way.