# Most Awesome Picture Ever: Lightining Striking Statue of Liberty **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 15, 2010, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-awesome-picture-ever-lightining-striking-statue-of-liberty/557257 "2010-10-15T16:26:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![palindromemordnilap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/db5fbb/32.png) [@palindromemordnilap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/palindromemordnilap)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-awesome-picture-ever-lightining-striking-statue-of-liberty/557257/21 "2010-10-15T19:41:58Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > I wonder would this have been comforting or disconcerting to immigrants arriving at Ellis Island? Perhaps not too disconcerting, since Ellis Island is more than 1/4 mile from Liberty Island. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-awesome-picture-ever-lightining-striking-statue-of-liberty/557257/22 "2010-10-15T19:44:16Z")
'Shopped. Just look at the _pixels_! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-awesome-picture-ever-lightining-striking-statue-of-liberty/557257/23 "2010-10-15T20:36:01Z")
Looks like Thor took the break-up pretty hard. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-awesome-picture-ever-lightining-striking-statue-of-liberty/557257/24 "2010-10-15T21:09:23Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > Not to mention that the strikes would come so randomly that the energy would probably have to be stored…expensively and inefficently. Sounds like a job for the Pentagon 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-awesome-picture-ever-lightining-striking-statue-of-liberty/557257/25 "2010-10-15T21:28:51Z")
Hell hath no fury like Lady Liberty scorched. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-awesome-picture-ever-lightining-striking-statue-of-liberty/557257/26 "2010-10-15T21:32:47Z")
> [@dhkendall](#): > > By the power of Greyskull … I’m pleased to know I’m not the only person who thought of that. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-awesome-picture-ever-lightining-striking-statue-of-liberty/557257/27 "2010-10-15T21:45:05Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > Just popping to remind everyone that traditionally, being struck by lightning was taken as a sign of God’s disfavor. Why do you hate America? ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-awesome-picture-ever-lightining-striking-statue-of-liberty/557257/28 "2010-10-15T22:46:10Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > > [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > > > Just popping to remind everyone that traditionally, being struck by lightning was taken as a sign of God’s disfavor. > > Why do you hate America? No, No, remember she’s a French chick. The god’s are pissed at the French. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-awesome-picture-ever-lightining-striking-statue-of-liberty/557257/29 "2010-10-15T23:12:21Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > She’s copper, isn’t she? Wonder how she’s grounded, what kind of power courses through her, if there are burn marks or other signs of increased heat, etc… > > Cool. I’m confident the copper skin and the stainless steel frame is connected at multiple locations with copper strapping and the entire structure is grounded. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2010, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-awesome-picture-ever-lightining-striking-statue-of-liberty/557257/30 "2010-10-16T00:41:54Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > > [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > > > Why do you hate America? > > No, No, remember she’s a French chick. The god’s are pissed at the French. Also explains why she hates America. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![GameHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2010, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-awesome-picture-ever-lightining-striking-statue-of-liberty/557257/31 "2010-10-16T00:52:47Z")
Could nature be…a terrorist? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2010, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-awesome-picture-ever-lightining-striking-statue-of-liberty/557257/32 "2010-10-16T01:33:42Z")
Nobody remembers the poem on the base of the statue? > [@](#): > > Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand > A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame > Is the imprisoned lightning > **[Frequently Asked Questions - Statue Of Liberty National Monument (U.S....](https://www.nps.gov/stli/faqs.htm)** > [@](#): > > \*\*Does the Statue of Liberty get struck by lightning? \*\*Yes! Although the Statue is grounded through the massive concrete and granite base she stands on; the Statue gets struck many times each year. Just how many is not known. The Statue’s height and the conductive material she’s made of, copper, makes it a structure of choice for lightning strikes. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2010, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-awesome-picture-ever-lightining-striking-statue-of-liberty/557257/33 "2010-10-16T11:34:36Z")
I’m trying to allude to an Xmen reference, but my brain is mushy right now. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2010, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-awesome-picture-ever-lightining-striking-statue-of-liberty/557257/34 "2010-10-16T12:50:18Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > Hell hath no fury like Lady Liberty scorched. Really? It seems to me she conducts herself like a lady ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/57b2e6/32.png) [@Quasimodal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodal)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2010, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-awesome-picture-ever-lightining-striking-statue-of-liberty/557257/35 "2010-10-16T16:30:21Z")
Alas, if one reads a bit lower and looks closely, the lady only appears to have been struck. The lightning clearly hits behind the statue. If electricity follows the path of least resistance, it doesn’t make sense for her to have been struck in the chest area. ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Jocko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncle_jocko/32/2932_2.png) [@Uncle\_Jocko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Jocko)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2010, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-awesome-picture-ever-lightining-striking-statue-of-liberty/557257/36 "2010-10-17T03:04:53Z")
> [@Shirley\_Ujest](#): > > I’m trying to allude to an Xmen reference, but my brain is mushy right now. “You know what happens to a Statue of Liberty when it’s struck by lightning?” ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2010, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-awesome-picture-ever-lightining-striking-statue-of-liberty/557257/37 "2010-10-17T13:41:38Z")
Nice picture. But I thought it looked like the lightning struck behind her before I read any comments. Whether it’s photoshopped I don’t know. By the way, lightning is so brief that even small copper conductors will often carry it without damage. Telephone wire, which is 24 AWG or about half a millimeter in diameter, is sometimes damaged but often not. The wire is heated by Ohmic resistance while carrying the current, which can be thousands of amperes, but because of its specific heat capacity this has to go on for a long enough time to make its temperature threaten it. Lightning is so brief this often doesn’t happen. For things that are orders of magnitude more resistive, like trees, it generally turns out differently. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-awesome-picture-ever-lightining-striking-statue-of-liberty/557257.md?page=1)