cocheese 0 #1 July 15, 2005 60 feet. When i was a kid. It hit a nearby tree.Just had one about 300 ft. away a few mins ago. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Viking 0 #2 July 15, 2005 about 20 yards, one hit a tree outside my house when i was kid.I swear you must have footprints on the back of your helmet - chicagoskydiver My God has a bigger dick than your god -George Carlin Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
monkycndo 0 #3 July 15, 2005 About 75'. Sitting in the living room of my sister's place, hit a tree in the front yard. It was in the middle of the night and lit the whole sky to a white/blue color. It led the tornado that hit nearby.50 donations so far. Give it a try. You know you want to spank it Jump an Infinity Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mattsplat 0 #4 July 15, 2005 THe Richmond boogie 2 years ago. About 100' it hit the pavement. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kelel01 1 #5 July 15, 2005 I was about 30 feet away (in my car) from a transformer that got struck about a year ago. Scared the living shit out of me. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amazon 7 #6 July 15, 2005 5ft when I was 14 and was sitting on the porch swing in FL during a kickass afternoon thunderstorms. Lightning hit the graound wire that ran across the tops of the poles and then down the guide wire.. it formed into ball lightning and rolled all the way across the grass to the edge of the house where there was a ground for our antenna for the VHF to contact the boats... REALLLLY looked kewl..... nice little blue balls of fire Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
swedishcelt 0 #7 July 15, 2005 Ok, a bolt hit my house on an outside wall and shot through the electric socket above my head anywheres from 3 inches to 10 or so and streaked out above me and set the wall on fire. My mom came in and grabbed me out of bed. I apparently slept through the whole thing. She saw it outside my room door and almost had a heartattack. I was 10 or 11. I am pretty lucky to be around I guess. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
airtwardo 6 #8 July 15, 2005 Closest you've been to a lightning bolt *** 10-15 feet... I was in the kitchen of our house when a bolt hit the big steel out door gas grill on the deck and knocked it 75 feet out into the yard...it split the gas line but it didn't explode or even burn, just lay there and vented. The only thing left on the deck was the little tempature gauge that had been part of the lid. When it hit, the whole house shook...at least I thought it did...might have just been ME! ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mcneill79 0 #9 July 15, 2005 I was in a house when it got hit by lightning... freaky shit. It split when it got in the house and I still remember when part of it came out the electric stove just as my dad was walking towards. It passed a metal dustpan in its travels, split it in half. For some reason thunder and lightning has totally freaked me out ever since. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TomAiello 25 #10 July 15, 2005 About 30 feet. On an exposed granite talus, next to a lake at 12,000 ft. We didn't so much hear the thunder as feel it. I will never forget seeing chunks of earth and stone thrown into the air by it.-- Tom Aiello [email protected] SnakeRiverBASE.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
swedishcelt 0 #11 July 15, 2005 Me too. Mostly the lightening stuff. I get a little knee shaky though I don't really remember the incident too much like you do. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
waltappel 1 #12 July 15, 2005 About 20 feet! The flash and explosion were unreal. Walt Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ifall 0 #13 July 15, 2005 About 40 ft. Walking back to a campground when I was about 12-13. It started to pour as we were walking and so we started running. It hit a low tree limb on the opposite side of the campground. It totally charged the air around us (or so it felt) for that split second and we could feel the crack of the bolt in our chests. It was scary but really cool also. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mcneill79 0 #14 July 15, 2005 I used to try to find the part of the house I felt safest in. It was usually some corner as far away from electrical appliances, doors and windows as possible. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
swedishcelt 0 #15 July 15, 2005 Does that mean we are part of some special 'freak Beth club'? Close encounters with lightning? The CEWL/ cool Beth club!!! (A kind of scary little club to be in...) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Girlfalldown 0 #16 July 15, 2005 I got caught in a lightning storm with a friend of mine out near Victorville when we were out riding dirtbikes. We were REALLY far away from the house too. The lightning was hitting all around us. Scared the living bejeebus out of us but it was really cool looking seeing the lightning hit the Joshua trees as we sped through the chalkey land for home. I think the closest one was about 30 feet from me and about 5 feet from my friend who was in front of me. Scary shit! I think we would have been ok because of the tires but I really don't know for sure. -------------- (Do not, I repeat DO NOT, take my posts seriously.) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tdog 0 #17 July 16, 2005 Right where I was standing 8-10 seconds before... Felt the hair on my arms go up while in Moab - and ran. Was not looking back, so I don't know how fast I can run in 8 seconds, but the char mark proved where it hit. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tbrown 26 #18 July 16, 2005 On my 8th jump, second freefall. The clouds had been rolling in and it was starting to rain. Raindrops on the Cessna's windows. My asshole JM told me everything was just fine and that he was going to follow me right off the step (he also told girl students he was a Catholic priest and offered to hear their confessions, if this gives you any idea of what kind of a guy he was). So naturally I TRUSTED him and got out on the step and jumped. I looked up and saw the asshole CLOSING THE DOOR, then this HUGE bolt of lightning shot straight across in front of me, while I was still freeffalling on the hill. Don't know what the actual distance was, but it was pretty fucking impressive. I then pulled, opened, and had a pretty normal descent and landing in the pouring rain under the umbrella of a 28 ft. round canopy. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity ! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ltdiver 3 #19 July 16, 2005 30 feet away on a semi-rainy day at summer camp. One group of kids had just left and another was on the way up the mountain to our center. Staff outside. Staff inside. The bolt hit right beside my friend who ran in with the smell of smoke still clinging to her! Shook the whole house and flashed a HOT feeling throughout everyone! Then just this last year, for those of you who know Shirley Pelland (fixes jumpsuits for us all at Perris and Elsinore). She had a lightning bolt come right through her hot water heater into her house....5 feet behind where she was sitting in the kitchen! It burst the water line and flooded the area, but the water kept the fire at bay right there -in-the-water heater's-gas-flame! Only good thing was it toasted all her electronic equipment and the water damaged her house.....she got everything covered by insurance and got a complete redecorating job done on her house! Plus a new computer, tv, etc.... ltdiver Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Meux 0 #20 July 16, 2005 Direct Hit, I was flying an F-16 and saw a bright flash and felt like I'd been hit on the head with a hammer. My wingman was very impressed. Airplane flew on with no problem. It was pilot error, I was in a place I shouldn't have been. Cheers, Mo Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skolls081102 0 #21 July 16, 2005 5 ft- I was camping with the family, walking back from the bathroom, when I heard a real loud crack, felt the ground move, turned around and saw a black spot on the ground smoking. It was cool as hell!!!!! The sole intention, is learning to fly.Condition grounded, but determined to try.Can't keep my eyes from the circling skies.Tongue tied and twisted, just an Earth bound misfit. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Icon134 0 #22 July 16, 2005 20-30 ft the tree that was struck was later hit and fell on our garage. ScottLivin' on the Edge... sleeping with my rigger's wife... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
weirdchris 0 #23 July 16, 2005 been as close as 10 ft on some occasions.. close enough to hear the arc sound. Far better than a six pack and a bug zapper. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BGill 0 #24 July 16, 2005 about 50 yards for me. In 1998 I was at the Tibetan Freedom Concert in DC when the girl on the opposite side of the bleachers from me was struck. I just happened to be looking in that exact direction because I wasn't too interested in the artist who was on stage at the time (Herbie Hancock and the HeadHunters). It was some crazy shit. She lived and is doing fine. I have heard that if you get struck by lightning, and you live from it, you lose your sense of temperature. So basically, you're never hot or cold, always just at that perfect temperature. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freeflir29 0 #25 July 16, 2005 About 40 feet! One afternoon at SD Atlanta a good storm rolled through and me and Rob were watching it through the barely open hangar door. All of a sudden there was a blinding flash and hell of a noise. You can still see the holes it made in the black top out front! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
