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The Pinball Theory was developed by German-Jewish scientist Gerd Buchdahl, stating that the original theory of a dense, charged nucleus is incorrect in its assumptions. Under this theory, the nucleus more closely resembles a "semi-hollow" particle, with gaps through which alpha particles may travel through.

Buchdahl originally published his findings in the Bild-Zeitung newspaper in 1956, under the pseudonym J. Mueller. His work was scoffed at by the scientific community as being "childish and asinine." After introducing the theory into his classroom at the University of Cambridge, he was put on probation, which he used to continue research into his work.

He published the "Semi-Hollow Nucleus" theory in 1958, later on renaming the theory after the increasing popularity of the arcade game. His final works declared that Geiger-Marsden experiment was flawed in the matter of the alpha particles which seemed to penetrate the foil completely, hitting at a direct or semi-deflected angle the wall behind it. Buchdahl's response was that the alpha particles did not pass by the "charged, dense nucleus" unchanged, but in fact hit the widely spread dense particles many times before exiting the foil, thus appearing to have gone straight through.

Many have conglomerated Buchdahl's theory with theory of the Plum Pudding Model of the atom, however they differ in the aspect that Thompson's electrons are spread far and wide, whereas the probability of alpha particles hitting more than one atomic element would be close to none in this theory. Hence, the Buchdahl Pinball Theory groups the particles closer together in order to increase kinetic probability that they may obstruct the path of the particles shot through.

The Pinball Theory has been long forgotten in the public eye since its release, but many debates continue to be waged in its favor in the scientific community.