Does oxidizing silicon vapor from struck soil explain ball lightning?

In the silicon-vapor model, a ground strike reduces SiO2 to Si vapor that condenses into nanoparticle networks which oxidize slowly. Determine whether this model, with realistic soil composition and lightning energy deposition, reproduces observed lifetimes of seconds, sizes near 20 cm, buoyancy and Si, Fe, Ca line strengths. An answer is a quantitative comparison yielding consistency or exclusion.

Controlled discharges into silicon-bearing soils with spectroscopy and lifetime measurement compared with the natural spectrum recorded in 2012 (published 2014).