# Were these people at risk for a lightning strike? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 16, 2021, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-these-people-at-risk-for-a-lightning-strike/933030 "2021-02-16T11:59:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-these-people-at-risk-for-a-lightning-strike/933030/1 "2021-02-16T11:59:23Z")
The first twenty seconds of this video are what I’m interested in: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/5a1oW7yg3c0/maxresdefault.jpg "Melting a Computer Keyboard") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5a1oW7yg3c0) Something similar happened to me a couple of decades ago: we were high up in the Rockies, with weather similar to what is seen in the video, and our hair was standing on end and crackling. We were kind of on a local high point, and I had previously heard that hair standing on end was a sign that a lightning strike was imminent, so I was freaking out as we hustled down to lower altitude. OTOH, the people in this video just seem amused. Was I overreacting 20 years ago, or are the people in the video blissfully unaware of the peril they are in? ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-these-people-at-risk-for-a-lightning-strike/933030/2 "2021-02-16T13:49:21Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Was I overreacting 20 years ago, or are the people in the video blissfully unaware of the peril they are in? I would not say that they were “blissfully unaware” , I’d say that they are called idiots. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-these-people-at-risk-for-a-lightning-strike/933030/3 "2021-02-16T16:27:54Z")
Yeah, the McQuilken siblings would probably have some choice words for the kids in that video… > **[Decades later, hair-raising photo still a reminder of lightning danger](https://www.nbcnews.com/healthmain/decades-later-hair-raising-photo-still-reminder-lightning-danger-6C10791362)** ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-these-people-at-risk-for-a-lightning-strike/933030/4 "2021-02-16T16:40:23Z")
Maybe they just were ignorant. This isn’t basic knowledge everyone is born with. I’m not sure when I learned about hair standing on end, but I very well may have been older than those kids. (Probably not, but, still, this doesn’t have to be a case of willful stupidity.) ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-these-people-at-risk-for-a-lightning-strike/933030/5 "2021-02-16T17:42:01Z")
Now that I look around YouTube, there are a lot of these. They all feature people in exposed high places surrounded by threatening cloud cover, expressing amazement and amusement at their suddenly erect hair. In this one her hair suddenly falls at 0:08, purportedly because lightning may have struck somewhere else and depleted the charge in the area: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/JYq41HtUWWs/maxresdefault.jpg "Hair standing on end in thunderstorm falls when lightning strikes somewhere nearby.") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYq41HtUWWs) In this one, one of the people seems to realize the hazard at first, but then there’s no further mention of it: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/RUx87dSjmXw/maxresdefault.jpg "Lightening about to strike!") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUx87dSjmXw) And another: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/vSKa3rkGu3M/maxresdefault.jpg "The Sights and Sounds of Storm Static Electricity || ViralHog") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSKa3rkGu3M) Yikes. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-these-people-at-risk-for-a-lightning-strike/933030/6 "2021-02-16T17:45:05Z")
Anyone else see the potential for a Geico commercial? “Everybody, lie flat on the ground!” “Are you crazy? Let’s hide under the tree!” ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2021, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-these-people-at-risk-for-a-lightning-strike/933030/7 "2021-02-16T19:38:39Z")
This happened to me with a group of friends I went bouldering with. We noticed it and mentioned it to each other. We knew what it meant, and about 15 miles to the west of us we saw a high thundercloud approaching. We got off the mountain fast.