You've hit on exactly what makes ball lightning so perplexing to physicists. You're absolutely right - a free-floating ball of electrical energy persisting for 20+ seconds does seem to violate basic principles we observe everywhere else.

The energy problem:

• Normal electrical discharges (like lightning bolts) last milliseconds
• Plasma formations typically dissipate almost immediately without confinement
• Any ball of ionized gas should rapidly lose energy through radiation and expand until it cools

Why this is so puzzling: In laboratory conditions, creating stable plasma balls requires powerful magnetic fields or other containment systems. The idea that this could happen naturally in open air, maintain its shape, and persist for tens of seconds is genuinely difficult to reconcile with known physics.

The theories struggle with this too:

• Silicon nanoparticle theories try to explain it through chemical burning, but that has its own energy budget problems
• Microwave cavity theories require very specific atmospheric conditions that seem unlikely
• Most plasma theories can't explain the stability and duration

What this might mean: Either there's some physics we don't understand about atmospheric conditions and energy confinement, or the phenomenon is something else entirely, or some reports are misidentified conventional phenomena.

Your skepticism is scientifically sound. The persistence of ball lightning really does seem to challenge fundamental expectations about how electrical energy behaves. It's one reason why some physicists remain genuinely puzzled by credible reports, rather than dismissing them outright.

The energy persistence problem is probably the biggest single issue with current ball lightning theories.