may not travel one way at a time. It is this fact that kills many people. It is well documented that standing under a tree during a thunderstorm is a foolish activity. Here's is why. Lightning strikes the tallest object (the tree) and down the side of the tree the strike goes (actually it travels between the dead inner part of the tree and the bark. Take a look at the photo unde r "About Me"). On the way down it encounters a person standing next to the trunk. This person is made up of slightly salty water (a better conductor). The lightning strike has not particularly enjoyed the tree as a conductor but finds that a combination of the two is much better. So a subsidiary strike connects to the top of the person and travels to the ground that way, possibly killing both the tree and the person. If a person is caught out in the open during a thunderstorm, they need to crouch down and touch as little surface of the ground as they can. Lightning will hopefully not choose this person as a better conductor because they are not contacting the ground well. Also the other advantage of this method is that in the unfortunate case where the person is still struck. The lightning strike passes through the body of the person to the ground and misses the major organs of the body (mainly the brain and the heart). This increases their chance of survival by