🚀 go-pugleaf

  Was in my usual favorite spotting location yesterday watching a
thunderstorm to the southwest of town about 6pm,  I set up my video camera
to get a few bolts of lightning on tape, and to get the structure of the
storm permanently on tape for possible training use some time in the future.

  Looking at the video in slow motion afterwards, I noticed that at 6:25pm
a forked bolt appeared.  First run in normal speed, didn't notice anything
unusual.  First the forked bolt which disappeared, followed a second later
by usual now connected main bolt going to the ground in the distance.
  But when I looked at it in slow motion, I saw what I at first thought to
be a lens reflection on the ground about 20 feet from where the camera was
set up, off to the left a bit.  In subsequent slow-mo runs, though, I came
to the conclusion that this was not a lens reflection.  The forked branch
was of normal brightness.  But the return stroke was much brighter, and
followed the same initial track and in the same place, of course, as the
initial branch stroke where the "reflection" appeared.  But, in the brighter
return stroke, there was no lens reflection at all.
  This "reflection" went straight up from the grassy ground in front of the
camera by about a foot, then bent 45 degrees upward to the left and
terminated in the air.  It disappeared when the branch disappeared, and did
not reappear during any of the subsequent return strokes.  (There were four,
the first three being probably of not enough brightness to even make any
lens reflection visible, though.)  But the last stroke was extremely bright,
and if there were going to be a lens reflection, there should have been one
then.  There was none.
  I am concluding that this "lens reflection" was actually a step leader
eminating from -- of all strangest of things considering what was around me
-- a blade of grass in a patch in front of the camera.
  Now, what hits me as so awesome is the fact that not twenty feet south of
the camera were two metal vehicles:  mine and a fellow spotter's.  Mine had
three antennas on it.  My friend's had one.  As well, there had to have been
at LEAST twenty tall lamps around to light the parking lot at night.  Then
factor in all the many metal vehicles also sitting in the parking lot at the
time.  And you have to wonder.....Why did it pick such an odd, low,
isolated and random thing as a blade of GRASS amongst all of that?

  I never expected in my life to actually capture something ike this on
my own videotape.  But I am totally blown away by it.  It's so awesome.

  1)  That thing was but about twenty feet from us, and had it connected...
      So I learned yet another something about lightning, today.  The five
      mile rule shouldn't ever be considered a guarantee of safety in the
      least.  Better than closer.  And I estimated that I was some ten to
      fifteen miles from the storm, too.  But my new rule is going to be:
      If you can see the lightning, so can it see you -- no matter the
      distance.  All the same, I realize the danger and accept it.

  2)  At the same time, while humbled, I'm so amazed by it.

  The most incredible thing I've ever beheld.  I must've sat there last
night for ten total minutes just staring at the thing in freeze frames with
my mough agape.

  And before you speak it:  yes, I do realize.  :)  I am very well aware of
how close a call that was.  So you don't have to remind me.  I am very
keenly aware there, thank you.  8-)

  ...So I guess this means it doesn't just happen to Warren.  ;-)

  What are the chances of someone getting something like that on video
anyway?

Todd

/-----------------------------------------------------------------\
| Todd L. Sherman/KB4MHH, Storm Evader - E-mail: afn09444@afn.org |
|            -//-  http://www.afn.org/~afn09444/  -\\-            |
|              Gainesville, Alachua County, Florida               |
| Member:  Alachua County SKYWARN  (http://www.afn.org/~skywarn/) |
\-----------------------------------------------------------------/

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