Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
Hi all! We have been experiencing an issue on site where threads have been missing the latest postings. The platform host Vanilla are working on this issue. A workaround that has been used by some is to navigate back from 1 to 10+ pages to re-sync the thread and this will then show the latest posts. Thanks, Mike.
Hi there,
There is an issue with role permissions that is being worked on at the moment.
If you are having trouble with access or permissions on regional forums please post here to get access: https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058365403/you-do-not-have-permission-for-that#latest

Was I hit by lightning?

2»

Comments

  • #32
    John mac
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,130 ✭✭✭John mac


    I was working in Milan years ago, on the way back from a football match lightning struck about 50 Meters in front of the car. we were deafened by it as well as blinded..

    science museum in Boston gives a great show on lightning,as blackius said. 12 years ago i saw it.


  • #33
    premiercad
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 354 ✭✭premiercad


    The one thing i remember from a close encounter with a lighting bolt a few years back was the "fizz" electric sound it made, thats how I knew it was close when i could here the strike and not just the thunder

    Some videos here of what I mean


    Storm Chasers - you can hear the fizz hear but the thunder is mixed in too




    this guy shows a hit on his truck right at the end (Photos only)



    and this one you can hear the ground strike then the thunder follows.



    as for the brightness I could well believe you could be seeing stars for a few mins after as it was prob quiet dark and your eyes wouldn't be ready for the huge increase in lux levels!! ;)


  • #34
    dfx-
    Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 15,693 Mod ✭✭✭✭dfx-


    How far away would you have to be to see the recognisable 'bolt' and not just be swamped by the light? If it was a direct hit or very close, I would expect what was described by the OP.


  • #35
    4Sheets
    Closed Accounts Posts: 613 ✭✭✭4Sheets


    Interesting thread..you did say you couldnt see out the window..any chance it was headlights of approaching car? clutching at straws I Know..but there has to be a plausible explanation..do you get migraines or similar?
    It seems obvious the car was not damaged thus rules out direct strike plus no sferics? ball lightning is still a myth as far as I know..
    Maybe this?
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Elmo's_fire

    Er..maybe not..why did I think that?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ioN-3UWYrY


  • #36
    rc28
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,246 ✭✭✭rc28


    Interesting experience. There was one bolt of lightning here on Tuesday during one of the squalls but the thunder was really quiet (probably because of both the noise of the wind and the fact that it was sheet lightning and didn't hit the ground). Here are two good videos of cars being hit by lightning:

    In the first one from inside a car you don't really hear the thunder:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGv20HGy1b8&feature=related
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUUOdO6eEZA


  • Advertisement
  • #37
    djmc
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,611 ✭✭✭djmc


    Had a similar thing happen me driving out of model farm road in cork city about
    18 or 20 years ago blinding flash and really loud bang felt like I was inside an
    explosion scared the s*** out of me.
    The guy in the car in front of me came out and looked at the back of his car and
    some alarms went off near by.
    I dont know if it was a direct hit but it was damn close.


  • #38
    NIMAN
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 33,980 ✭✭✭✭NIMAN


    4Sheets wrote: »
    Interesting thread..you did say you couldnt see out the window..any chance it was headlights of approaching car? clutching at straws I Know..but there has to be a plausible explanation..do you get migraines or similar?
    It seems obvious the car was not damaged thus rules out direct strike plus no sferics? ball lightning is still a myth as far as I know..
    Maybe this?
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Elmo's_fire

    Er..maybe not..why did I think that?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ioN-3UWYrY

    I was the only car on the road, nothing approaching me at all.

    And believe me, although I do not know exactly what happened, this was no set of headlights. It was one of the brightest flashes I have ever seen. I had to hit the brakes as I literally was blinded for maybe 5secs. And for hours after it my eyes were full of those little blurs you get after you stare into a bright light. And it was not a light in the sky or in the distance. You know normally if you see lightning, you can still see your surroundings? You see the flash but can still see the terrain, the sky, the clouds, the houses etc. Well I could see nothing but white light. Like you'd see in a film about someone dying. Nothing but pure light, all around me. Nothing else. I couldn't see the inside of the car, nothing.

    I did hear thunder or a bang or something at the same time, but it wasn't overly loud or anything. I had heard thunder about a week or two before while lying in my bed, and that was LOUD, the loudest thunder I had ever heard in my life. But this sound was nowhere near as loud.

    I see no damage at all on the surface of the car, so my guess is that there may have been a strike in a nearby field or an electricity pole or something.

    As for a plausible explanation - why could a lightning strike on the car or a field beside me not be plausible? I don't suffer from migraines, I didn't imagine it, I had just drove through a storm that was the worst I have ever experienced in 20yrs of driving, visibility was down to feet when the hailstorm was that heavy. Co-workers maybe 25 miles away were all chatting about that blast of lightning they seen, amazed at the fork they seen in the distance, which was in my direction. These YouTube videos prove that lightning has to hit somewhere, so why not near me?


Advertisement