I will say upfront that I have not done any reading on ball lighting in decades, but I don’t recall ever reading about ball lighting being seen at sea. I will also state that I am a sceptic of the theory that UFOs are extraterrestrial technology.
The most resent video captures of UFO sightings have been by US Navy pilots and seaman.
"These fiery orbs can be white, yellow, red, orange, purple or green, and can persist for seconds or even minutes. Ball lightning typically appears during thunderstorms and usually hovers near the ground, drifting over the Earth at a few miles per hour, but it has also been seen on ships and even within airplanes."
One rare instance that was recorded - "The ball lightning changed from purple to orange to white to red before it faded"
Notice the ball lightning can changes color, JUST THE SAME as many reports of UFO sightings.
Land observer UFO sightings can be from pranksters, doing things like floating candles up in balloons or Q level aircraft. Pilot ones are I believe are either ball lightning, windshield reflections (the guy's watch or shirt button reflecting in a weird way in the cockpit, etc), or weird radar artifacts. The human mind is easily fooled into seeing/hearing what it wants to.