Full Idea
A free electron doesn't simply persist as a point particle travelling along a predetermined, classical path; it is surrounded by a swarm of virtual particles arsising from self-interactions with its own magnetic field.
Gist of Idea
Free electrons have clouds of virtual particles, arising from field interaction
Source
Jim Baggott (The Quantum Story: 40 moments [2011], 19)
Book Reference
Baggott,Jim: 'The Quantum Story' [OUP 2016], p.186
A Reaction
It seems to me important for amateurs and mere philosophers to hang on to this idea of virtual particles, because they undermine any attempt to impose a macro picture on sub-atomic events.