Are thunderbolts from the sky, Gods Will, or Electricity?
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The most dramatic victory of science over religion came in the 17th century when churches began putting up lightning conductors.
1165332
No, mother nature is mother nature. Storms have always been a part of the climate. Earthquakes because the Teutonic plates shift. Tornado's by severe storms. Why would you assume that God would be out to get us? He created everything( if that is your belief) so it follows that He created the weather too.
653251
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/resources/askjack/2003-05-06-lightning-airplanes_x.htm
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I saw an interesting documentary on Nova about this.  There is a scientest that has some good proof that the tremendous energy required for lightening to strike actually comes from outside of our earth.  He came to this conclusion after finding that the energy produced by the seperation of + and - in a cloud was just not nearly enough to make the lightening happen.\n\nSo get this, his theory is that the extra energy comes from cosmic rays delivered by dying stars.  He has proved this by using equipment which detected X-Rays where thunder clouds are.
484114
Thor is the God of Thunder from Norse Mythology.  Not the God of lightening, which is the God Loki, also known as the bringer of fire.  \n\nThursday was named after Thor, which means Thors day.  \n\nThor is the son of Odin and Jord, he married Sif, who is a fertility goddess. The Norse myths stated that during a thunderstorm, Thor would ride through the sky on his chariot pulled by the goats Tanngrisni ("gap-tooth") and Tanngnost ("tooth grinder").
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Thunder is caused by lightning. The sound is made as the air around the lightning bolt rapidly heats and cools. The air around a lightning strike is heated to 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit (27,500 C), as the air cools it causes a shock wave to occur known as thunder. The closer the lightning is, the louder the clap of thunder will be. You can think of thunder as nature's way of warning you to take cover to avoid being struck by lightning.
138725
You're right--lightning is just a spark. BUT it's a spark caused by massive voltage. Voltage can be defined as a difference in electrical potential between two points, with one point having a high negative electrical charge, the other a high positive electrical charge. This difference in electrical potential can become enormous when a thunderstorm gets going full force.\n\nRain and/or hail in the storm clouds are violently rubbed together by high-velocity winds, thus building up a net negative electrical charge (abundance of electrons). On the ground below the clouds no such action takes place, thus the ground has a net positive electrical charge (deficiency of electrons).\n\nEven though air is a very good insulator, the difference in electrical potential (voltage) between the storm clouds and ground can quickly reach as high as 500,000 volts, more than enough to produce a lightning "spark."
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well take into fact that ..we are energy..the universe is energy..there is energy all around us..that we cannot see..I dont believe it was lightning..I live in Manitoba and know how weather is..lightning in march is very highly unlikely..I cannot say exactly.but it does sound as if it was an enegy charge..not being there I would assume it was terrestrial in orgin..but may not have been...as I said there is energy everywhere.it could have been an outside force non terrestrial in origin...its strange..perhaps the energy orginated from the stratoussphere and that "space lightning" if you will, that is partially caused by our magnetic field  along with outside sources such as solar winds and other unknown energies from space...ah...what do  I know..would have been easier to say it was a UFO..lol
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buildings do not reach into ionosphere. Surface of eath has zero charge (hence grounding). Lightning goes  from a cloud to the ground, or into another cloud. \n\nAll tall buildings have lighning protection, i.e. a thick metal wire going from top-most point and into the ground.
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The suggestions given ahead of me are a popular but untrue.\n\nLightning rods are sometimes hit by lightning, but their main purpose is to bleed charge from the ground up thru the point of the rod.\n\nClouds have charge from various sources in the cloud. Small pieces of sand blowing together and other various things. All this charge gets stored up in the clouds.\n\nWhen enough charge builds and has nowhere else to go, the path of least resistance to the ground is where the charge dissipates.\n\nThe actual mechanism is complicated, and there are what are called leaders which travel from the ground UP, and this sets off a series of events leading to the actual discharge.\n\nAnyway......the clouds and the ground act like a giant capacitor in essence.\n\nThe points on the lightning rods are areas of extremely high electric fields. The points are placed on them on purpose and for this reason. This ensures that charge will bleed off AT the points of the rods. The charges that bleed off then end up mixing with the excess and opposite charges in the clouds in the vicinity. This helps reduce the electric field, which is responsible for causing lightning in the first place.\n\nIf this field can be reduced then the chance for a discharge is also reduced and the structure will (hopefully) be safe from lightning damage.\n\nAll the buildings around the universities here have multiple small spikes on them every few feet, for just this purpose.\n\nTake a look at an airplane wing next time you get a chance. You will see small spikes at the tips, or you will see what looks like a rod with bristles at the end. This is a series of 'points' from which charge from the 'skin' of the plane will be bled of during flight and reduce the chance for interference with communications and other instrumentation on the plane.
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The correct answer is yes it can.\n\nIn a thunder or cumulonimbus cloud the warm air rises and the cold air sinks, this movement of air causes a huge difference in the electrical distribution with the top of the cloud having a positive charge and the bottom having a negative charge.  A positive charge also builds up on the earths surface.\n\nEventually these charges built to such an extent that there is an electrical discharge from the negative charge at the base of the cloud towards the positive charge at the top of the cloud and also down to the positive charge on the ground.\n\nWhat actually happens is that the first discharge travels towards earth in short but very rapid bursts of about 100 meter lengths - when you see jagged strokes of lightening this is because each burst can change direction.  As it gets closer to earth the strength of the electrical field intensifies until contact is made with the earth.\n\nThis initial discharge is only a weak stroke of lightening and is called the Leader Stroke.  As soon as contact is made there is a much more powerful stroke of lightening which travels from the earth back to the cloud and this is the lightening we see, this is called the Return Stroke.
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I believe they are refering to sheet lightning that never touches the ground. In the tropics it can be extremely brilliant lighting up the sky like a neon glow.
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O.o \n\nNo idea.. But when I was little my mom used to tell me that thunder was the angels bowling.
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thunder is a sound..\nlightning maybe
86044
Ezekiel is describing something that looks very much like the copper "Sea" of Solomon that was in the first Temple. Look it up in Kings, and you will see the similarities.\n\nIt is not connected to UFOs. Sorry.
460435
In ancient days before men understood the scientific reasons for severe storms, and when people were superstitious, thunder-storms, tornadoes, or other types of storms were thought by many to be produced by the gods, who had be-come angry because of the people's misdeeds. The long rolling peals of thunder shaking the very earth were explained as the expression of their wrath, while the flashes of brilliant blue zig-zag lightning shooting forth from the heavens seemed to be intended to strike down the wicked, or to terrify those who had not behaved properly. Fortunately, no longer do we believe as our ancestors of old. Thunder-storms may not only be accounted for, but they can be forecast. How-ever, some persons still fear thunderstorms when they really should not, for their dangers are few. \n\nIf we could actually look into people's brains to learn what their thoughts are when they show fright during a storm, we would probably discover that the crashes of thunder rather than the lightning produced fear. Likewise, when the squally wind howls through the door-jambs and window-casings, people fear the noise of the wind more than the rain or pelting hail which it carries. As a matter of fact, thunder-storms are much less dangerous to life than our automobiles, yet most of us do not fear automobile rides. \n\nThunder, of course, does no damage, as it is merely the noise resulting from the atomic disturbance of the air through which the lightning discharge takes place. It is similar to the click which we sometimes hear when on a cold dry night we run a comb through our hair. This click or sign of a discharge of electricity differs from thunder only in the amount of noise. If people are going to be afraid of storms, they should fear the lightning and not the thunder. \n\nLightning is not very dangerous if we observe a few simple rules. Never stand under a tree during a storm, because trees are excellent conductors of electricity and they are frequently struck by lightning. Trees are tall and pointed and, besides, their roots go deep into the moist earth, thus forming an easy path along which lightning may travel. If a tree is struck, people or live stock seeking shelter under it almost certainly will be shocked and in most instances killed. Trees mark danger spots during thunder-storms. They should be avoided. \n\nWe are much safer indoors than out-of-doors during thunder-storms, but even in our homes certain precautions are advisable. Since lightning generally strikes high points, there always is the possibility of its hitting a chimney. If the chimney contains warm air, the lightning may follow the air down to the fireplace opening into our room. While this may happen only once in a great while, and in most homes never occurs, yet it is well to play safe and no-t sit close to the fireplace or between it and an open door. In fact, we should keep all of our doors and windows closed during a storm, so as to prevent the formation of warm air drafts. Warm air is a much better conductor of lightning than cold air. \n\nIn our large cities lightning :rarely strikes a house because there are so many electric wires all around. The street-railway trolley wires, the telegraph, telephone, and electric-light wires, all conduct electricity. They are so much better conductors than wood and brick buildings that if lightning tends toward these structures, the wires near-by carry off the charge. On the other hand, in the rural districts where buildings are located in the center of large flat areas, all of them should have lightning-rods attached. Oftentimes farm houses, barns, silos, and other structures are the only high points in the region, and therefore lightning discharging toward the earth near them is likely to strike them. Experience of fire-insurance companies has shown that most buildings in small towns and rural districts which have lightning-rods properly attached., with the lower end reaching well down into the moist soil, are i
145391
I believe that you have described radio and TV transmission without cables.  If you could supe that up to practical power levels (lightning?) we would all become receivers and turn to toast.  But I do believe that Tesla had plans on how to transmit power through the air and you might want to check that out as he was an electrical genious.