# Lightning and hematite **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 25, 2000, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightning-and-hematite/20509 "2000-05-25T14:07:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2000, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightning-and-hematite/20509/1 "2000-05-25T14:07:49Z")
OK, I’ve had an interesting morning and I got a couple questions out of it. 1. Last night I was out on the balcony watching a thunderstorm roll in, checking the lightning display and counting the seconds till the thunderclap. At one point, and I have a wife and stepdaughter as witnesses, I saw blue and green lightning. Not whitish-blue like most is, but honest-to-Cecil indigo and green. Mrs. O says it was just because of the distance and the cloud cover/rain in midair that the light had to travel through. Seems to me there might be more behind it. Anyone got any ideas? 2. This morning I checked out a story on [msn.com](http://msn.com) about a find of Greco-Roman era mummies in Egypt. The archaeologist heading up the dig noted the presence of powdered hematite in one tomb and said it “pricked his chest like a thousand thorns”. What gives with that? Not that I think inhaling hematite is a good idea or anything, but what kind of effect does it have inside or outside the human body? ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2000, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightning-and-hematite/20509/2 "2000-05-25T16:26:13Z")
Lightning is white, but because of atmospheric conditions it can appear to be a different color if it is far away. See [What color is lightning](http://www.wvlightning.com/faq10.html) A damn eerie sight follows after lightning strikes an electrical transformer. See [blue-green glow](http://www.wvlightning.com/faq2.html). This happened a good mile from my house a couple of years ago and I swear to god my first thought was that the space aliens were finally coming to get me. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2000, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightning-and-hematite/20509/3 "2000-05-25T17:34:10Z")
OK, so Mrs. O was right… still pretty damn cool tho. Never seen anything like it before. So, how about the hematite? ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2000, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightning-and-hematite/20509/4 "2000-05-25T18:00:27Z")
Hematite is nothing more than iron oxide. Due to it’s blood red color (in it’s powder form) it makes a good pigment. I’m guessing that’s why it was in powder form in the tomb, for use in the afterlife. I can’t imagine how iron oxide, even in powdered form, could have an effect like you describe. There are places on the net which still sell powdered hematite for use as a pigment - “[http://www.uintahred.com/products.htm](http://www.uintahred.com/products.htm)”, for example. Some American Indians in and around Utah still “grind their own” from raw ore. Hard to believe all this would be going on if it stung like a thousand thorns. ---
**Author:** ![Silo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@Silo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silo)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2000, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightning-and-hematite/20509/5 "2000-05-25T21:28:15Z")
> [@](#): > > Lightning is white, but because of atmospheric conditions it can appear to be a different color if it is far away. See What color is lightning Did ya know that white lightning carries higher voltage, and blueish color lightning carries higher current.