Who was the poster who saw lightning strike inches away from them?

[Rilchiam]

A while back (I can't be more specific than "sometime in the last year") someone posted about being caught in a lightning storm, and seeing a bolt hit something (tree? ground?) terrifyingly close to them. Whoever they were, they were very eloquent in their description; they mentioned that they could actually smell the electricity.

I've checked as many "horrific moments" style threads as I could find, to no avail. Doing a search for "lightning", even in conjunction with other terms, is fruitless, because there are several posters with the word "lightning" in their names, so I get dozens of threads with every hit.

I would very much like to read this post again. So, whoever you are, if you're reading this, can you identify yourself? You don't have to link to the thread; just give me your name. Thanks in advance!

[Coldfire]

Well, I was in a car that got hit by lightning once. That's not what you meant, though, as a car is probably one of the safer places to be in when there's a thunderstorm going on.

[Philster]

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=118923&highlight=smell+lightning+strike

don't have time to read it

[Rilchiam]

No, the post I'm looking for isn't in that thread. Thanks, though.

[Rilchiam]

Coldfire: It hit the car you were in? Yeah, I guess it is safe, since the tires ground the car (or don't ground it; however that works). Still, zheesh!

[Q.E.D.]

A car is a relatively safe place to be, not because of the rubber tires, but because the metal body and frame conduct the lightning around you.

[Coldfire]

Farraday's Cage or something, right?

Rilchiam, other than a loud blast (like a rock falling onto the roof) accompanied by a flash of light, it wasn't all that threatening. Then again, I was 7 years old at the time, I don't recall it too well. The paint on the roof had come off at the point of impact, and the car needed some new electric parts that got fried. I think that was it, pretty much.

[Trion]

You may also be interested in this thread I started:

Ever Been Struck By Lightning? (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=85448&highlight=lightning)

Several near miss stories.

[CRorex]

I was getting gas one night in Woodinville on my way home...

Lightening hit a few feet away from the pump I was using, I got blown off my feet, mild concussion and couldn't hear anything out of one ear for a few days.

I got a free tank of gas out of it however.

[Cisco]

I can't believe I haven't been struck yet.

It's hit:

-About 15 feet away while I was holding a golf club

-About 7-10 feet away while I was holding a metal doorknob on a metal door in a metal doorframe (that one made all my hair stand up and my whole body tingle.)

-Many many many times in my front yard while I was looking out my window

-My car. It happened so fast I barely knew what was going on but I'll never forget the horrified look of the lady next to me, who obviously got a much better view of it.

[Q.E.D.]

At least you're not Roy Sullivan (http://www.lightningsafety.com/nlsi_info/media.html):
It’s wrong to say lightning never strikes twice. It hits the Empire State Building, on average, 21-25 times per year. A US Park Service Ranger, Ray Sullivan, was struck by lightning seven different times between 1942 and 1976. Yep, he survived them all. (We dont know if his hair was curly.)

[White Lightning]

Sorry Rilch. FWIW I've been thinking about changing (shortening) it recently...

[Super Gnat]

I wasn't the poster who mentioned it, but I remember once when I was about 6 or 7 years old we were driving when lightning struck right in front of us. I'm not sure if it hit the hood or the ground in front of the car, but it was really scary. Just a big blinding light in front of us all of a sudden. I remember being surprised that it didn't leave a hole in the road.

[Rilchiam]

No offense meant, White Lighting! It's a cool name, anyway.

Anyway, thanks for the stories and the links. Very interesting. But the post I'm thinking of described the experience moment by moment. I may never know...

Glad y'all are okay. Cisco, was it a tournament or something, that you didn't get off the course? ;)

[I can't believe that's butter!]

Well, I'm not the poster, but once, lightning struck maybe 40 feet away outside the kitchen window while I was watching television. I felt the impact even from that distance, and it shocked the TV; the screen looked red and greenish in one corner. I thought, Great, the damned things fried, and I shut it off. However, I turned it on maybe an hour later, and it was fine again.

[Cisco]

Nope Rilch, just young and stupid :).

[rocking chair]

an off shoot of lightning hit the chand. in the dining room of my house. the light hadn't worked for over 5 years. (my mum cleaned it and it just wouldn't work after.) the strike turned the chand. to it's highest setting and it has worked fine ever since.

[BadBaby]

I wrote something about lightning hitting close to my car. I mentioned the smell, too. The eloquent part makes me think it might be someone else though!

[Rilchiam]

I'm fairly certain that the person was out in the open and with some other people when it happened. They were unable to find shelter and basically just hunkered down and prayed.

[Zenham]

Pretty sure it wasn't me, but I had a near miss once.

When I was 17, I was standing outside my high school waiting on the bus with a friend. We were standing close and talking, and between us, less than a foot away from either of us, was a metal post embedded in the ground, 2 feet exposed above-ground, which was a support for a formerly present chain (to keep people off the grass).

Suddenly, mid-conversation, this *intense* streak of light appears in front of my face, and my vision was split in half by the afterimage... like someone shining an intensely bright light in your eye, but a thin line instead of a glare. Same instant, there's a crack... not what I'm used to hearing when I see lightning, but more like... like a dry limb snapping, a good bit louder though.

I stopped mid-sentence, and Dana, the guy I was talking with, looks at me and says "Uh, did you just see that too?"

Our eyes went very, very wide... and we backed quickly away to stand underneath the breezeway.

Scary.