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NOUS44 KMRX 280724
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NCZ060-061-TNZ012>018-035>047-067>074-081>087-098>102-VAZ001-002-005-
006-008-282100-

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MORRISTOWN TN
400 AM EDT THU JUN 28 2007

...HISTORY AND MYSTERY OF LIGHTNING...

SCIENCE INVESTIGATES THE KNOWN, THE UNKNOWN, AND UNKNOWABLE. TODAY, 
LIGHTNING RESEARCH IS DIVIDED INTO VARIOUS DISCIPLINES, SOME OF 
WHICH ARE: 

-ATMOSPHERIC PHYSICS AND ELECTROSTATICS. 

-ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING. 

-CLIMATOLOGY, INCLUDING THUNDERSTORM MORPHOLOGY & DYNAMICS.

-METEOROLOGY AND OTHER SUB-SECTORS. 

THESE DETAILED TECHNICAL EXAMINATIONS MAY NEVER PROVIDE ALL THE 
ANSWERS ABOUT LIGHTNING, BUT MODERN INVESTIGATION TECHNIQUES ARE 
BUSY PROVIDING NEW INFORMATION. 

THERE WAS ANOTHER EARLIER TIME WHEN LIGHTNING WAS THE MAGIC FIRE 
FROM THE SKY WHICH MAN CAPTURED AND USED TO KEEP WARM AT NIGHT . IT 
KEPT THE SAVAGE ANIMALS AWAY. AS PRIMITIVE MAN SOUGHT ANSWERS ABOUT 
THE NATURAL WORLD, LIGHTNING BECAME A PART OF HIS SUPERSTITIONS, HIS 
MYTHS AND HIS EARLY RELIGIONS.

EARLY GREEKS BELIEVED THAT LIGHTNING WAS A WEAPON OF ZEUS. 
THUNDERBOLTS WERE INVENTED BY MINERVA THE GODDESS OF WISDOM. SINCE 
LIGHTNING WAS A MANIFESTATION OF THE GODS, ANY SPOT STRUCK BY 
LIGHTNING WAS REGARDED AS SACRED. GREEK AND ROMAN TEMPLES OFTEN WERE 
ERECTED AT THESE SITES, WHERE THE GODS WERE WORSHIPED IN AN ATTEMPT 
TO APPEASE THEM. THE MUSLIMS ALSO ATTRIBUTED LIGHTNING AND THUNDER 
TO THEIR GOD. THE KORAN SAYS "HE IT IS WHO SHOWETH YOU LIGHTNING AND 
LAUNCHES THE THUNDERBOLTS." SCANDINAVIAN MYTHOLOGY ALLUDES TO THOR, 
THE THUNDERER, WHO WAS THE FOE OF ALL DEMONS. THOR TOSSED LIGHTNING 
BOLTS AT HIS ENEMIES. THOR ALSO GAVE US THURS-DAY.

IN THE PANTHEISTIC HINDU RELIGION, INDRA WAS THE GOD OF HEAVEN, 
LIGHTNING, RAIN, STORMS AND THUNDER. THE MARUTS USED THE 
THUNDERBOLTS AS WEAPONS. UMPUNDULO IS THE LIGHTNING BIRD-GOD OF THE 
BANTU TRIBESMEN IN AFRICA. EVEN TODAY THEIR MEDICINE MEN GO OUT IN 
STORMS AND BID THE LIGHTNING TO STRIKE FAR AWAY. 

THE NAVAJO INDIANS HOLD THAT LIGHTNING HAS GREAT POWER IN THEIR 
HEALING RITUALS. SAND PAINTINGS SHOW THE LIGHTNING BOLT AS A WINK IN 
THE THUNDERBIRD'S EYE. LIGHTNING IS ASSOCIATED WITH WIND, RAIN AND 
CROP GROWTH.

AS LATE AS THE EARLY 1800S IN RUSSIA, WHEN RAIN WAS WANTED, THREE 
MEN CLIMBED A TREE. ONE WOULD KNOCK TWO FIREBRANDS TOGETHER; THE 
SPARKS IMITATING LIGHTNING. ANOTHER ONE WOULD POUR WATER OVER TWIGS, 
IMITATING RAIN. A THIRD WOULD BANG ON A KETTLE TO ATTRACT THE 
THUNDER. AND THROUGHOUT EARLY EUROPE, CHURCH BELL RINGERS WOULD MAKE 
AS MUCH NOISE AS POSSIBLE, HOPING TO SCARE AWAY THE STORMS FROM 
THESE HOLY DWELLINGS WHICH WERE STRUCK FREQUENTLY BY LIGHTNING.

DURING THE NAPOLEONIC WARS, MORE THAN 220 BRITISH TALL SHIPS WERE 
DAMAGED--NOT BY THE FRENCH, BUT BY LIGHTNING. THE SOLUTION, OF 
COURSE, WAS TO INSTALL LIGHTNING RODS. BUT SINCE THAT DEVICE HAD 
BEEN INVENTED BY A "REBEL COLONIST" NAMED BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, HIS 
MAJESTY'S NAVY STEADFASTLY REFUSED. IT TOOK UNTIL THE 1830'S BEFORE 
THE ADMIRALTY FINALLY SAW THE LIGHT AND FORGOT ABOUT OLD COLONIAL 
REBELLIONS.

EVEN SANTA KLAUS GETS INTO THE ACT WITH HIS REINDEER DONNER 
(THUNDER) AND BLITZEN (LIGHTNING). 

EARLY SUPERSTITIONS WERE OBSERVED AS CAUSE AND EFFECT, WHICH NOW HAS 
BEEN FANCIFIED AS SCIENCE. SOCRATES SAID, "THAT'S NOT ZEUS UP THERE, 
IT'S A VORTEX OF AIR." GENGHIS KAHN FORBADE HIS SUBJECTS FROM 
WASHING GARMENTS OR BATHING IN RUNNING WATER DURING A STORM. THALES, 
THE GREEK PHILOSOPHER, IN 600 BC, RUBBED A PIECE OF AMBER WITH A DRY 
CLOTH AND NOTED THAT IT WOULD THEN ATTRACT FEATHERS AND STRAW. 
WILLIAM GILBERT, COURT HEALER TO QUEEN ELIZABETH, IN THE LATE 1500S, 
ALSO USED AMBER TO DUPLICATE THE EARLIER EXPERIMENTS. HE NAMED THIS 
VIA ELECTRICA, AFTER ELECTRA WHICH IS GREEK FOR AMBER. HE DIDN'T 
KNOW IT, BUT HE WAS DEMONSTRATING STATIC ELECTRICITY. 

LIGHTNING IS A BIG SPARK...STATIC ELECTRICITY ON A GIANT SCALE. 
MACHINES FOR CREATING STATIC ELECTRICITY WERE INVENTED...THE LEYDEN 
JAR WAS LIKE A THERMOS BOTTLE WHICH STORED VOLTS. FRICTION MACHINES 
COULD CHARGE THE JARS AND ELECTRICITY COULD BE CARRIED AROUND AND 
DEMONSTRATED. "ELECTRIC MAGIC" WAS IN GREAT DEMAND AT THE ROYAL 
COURTS OF EUROPE AS ENTERTAINMENT. THE PARLOR TRICKS AMUSED AND 
FASCINATED PEOPLE. SCIENCE WAS IN ITS INFANCY DURING THESE TIMES. 
SIR ISAAC NEWTON HAD PROPOSED THAT BASIC MATHEMATICAL LAWS WERE THE 
FOUNDATION FOR UNDERSTANDING THE FORCES OF NATURE. WITH "ELECTRIC 
MAGIC" THERE WAS INSUFFICIENT EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION TO EXPLAIN 
ITS BEHAVIOR. IN 1746, DR. SPENCE FROM SCOTLAND CAME TO 
PHILADELPHIA. HE THERE DEMONSTRATED SOME "ELECTRIC MAGIC" TO AN 
AUDIENCE WHICH INCLUDED THE LOCAL POSTMASTER.

THAT MAN WAS BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. FRANKLIN WAS CURIOSITY PERSONIFIED. 
AT AGE EIGHT HE LEFT THE BOSTON GRAMMAR SCHOOL, ENDING HIS FORMAL 
STUDIES. HE WAS ENDOWED WITH A STRONG SENSE OF INVESTIGATION AND 
SELF-DISCIPLINE. HE LEARNED AND STUDIED THINGS ALL HIS LIFE. HE 
INVENTED THE BIFOCAL GLASSES AND THE FRANKLIN STOVE. AN EXPERT 
SWIMMER, A VEGETARIAN, MULTI-LINGUAL, AND A WORD-SMITH PUBLISHER, 
HIS POOR RICHARD'S ALMANAC WAS SELLING 10,000 COPIES A YEAR IN THE 
COLONIES. EVEN TODAY SOME OF THOSE APHORISMS ABOUT THRIFT AND HARD 
WORK ARE VALUABLE TO RECALL:

HONESTY IS THE BEST POLICY. HE WHO DRINKETH FAST, PAYETH SLOW. SLOTH 
MAKETH ALL THINGS DIFFICULT, BUT INDUSTRY ALL EASY. 

AT AGE 42, FRANKLIN SOLD HIS PHILADELPHIA PRINTING BUSINESS FOR HALF 
THE PROFITS FOR 20 YEARS. HE RETIRED. HE INVOLVED HIMSELF IN SOCIAL 
EXPERIMENTS LIKE THE AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY WAR AND THE DECLARATION 
OF INDEPENDENCE. HE DABBLED WITH THE ELECTRIC LEYDEN JAR AND 
PONDERED QUESTIONS..."HOW MANY SMALL JARS WOULD KILL A CHICKEN? HOW 
MANY LARGE JARS FOR A TURKEY? WHY DID AN ELECTROCUTED TURKEY TASTE 
BETTER THAN A CONVENTIONALLY-KILLED BIRD? WHAT IS LIGHTNING? WHY IS 
IT BURNING DOWN CHURCHES? CAN IT BE CAPTURED TO A LEYDEN JAR? CAN IT 
BE CAPTURED TO EARTH SAFELY?..." THEN CAME THE KITES AND KEYS 
EXPERIMENTS IN 1752-53 AND FRANKLIN'S DEDUCTION THAT LIGHTNING WAS, 
AFTER ALL, ELECTRICITY. THIS WAS FOLLOWED BY HIS LIGHTNING ROD 
INVENTION AND ITS DUPLICATION IN FRANCE AND USEFULNESS THROUGHOUT 
EUROPE. FRANKLIN WAS A CELEBRATED FIGURE IN HIS TIME. FRANKLIN HAS 
BEEN CALLED AMERICA'S PATRON SAINT OF COMMON SENSE. PERHAPS, HAD HE 
NOT BEEN CLOSE TO THE FRENCH ROYAL COURT, AND BEEN ABLE TO INFLUENCE 
FRANCE TO FINANCE THE AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY WAR, ALL OF US HERE IN 
THE USA TODAY MIGHT BE SPEAKING WITH ENGLISH ACCENTS! 

RECENTLY SOME SCIENTISTS HAVE CONCLUDED THAT LIGHTNING MAY HAVE 
PLAYED A PART IN THE EVOLUTION OF LIVING ORGANISMS. NOBEL PRIZE 
WINNING CHEMIST HAROLD UREY PROPOSED THAT THE EARTH'S EARLY 
ATMOSPHERE CONSISTED OF AMMONIA, HYDROGEN, METHANE, AND WATER VAPOR. 
ONE OF HIS STUDENTS, STANLEY MILLER, USED AN ELECTRIC SPARK TO 
DUPLICATE LIGHTNING AND INTRODUCED IT INTO THE CHEMICAL BREW. HE WAS 
CAREFUL TO EXCLUDED ANY LIVING ORGANISMS FROM THE EXPERIMENT. AT THE 
END OF A WEEK, HE EXAMINED THE MIXTURE AND FOUND IT CONTAINED 
NEWLY-FORMED AMINO ACIDS, THE VERY BUILDING BLOCKS OF PROTEIN. DID 
LIGHTNING PLAY A ROLE IN CREATING LIFE ITSELF? SCIENCE NOW IS 
PUSHING THE ENVELOPE OF LIGHTNING'S SECRETS. MORE HAS BEEN LEARNED 
ABOUT THIS TRANSIENT PHENOMENON IN THE PAST 3-4 YEARS THAN IN THE 
PRECEDING TWO HUNDRED FORTY FOUR YEARS SINCE FRANKLIN'S "KITES AND 
KEYS" EXPERIMENTS. STAY TUNED...

MOST OF THE ABOVE WAS ADAPTED FROM VIEMEISTER, P.: 1961, THE 
LIGHTNING BOOK, MIT PRESS, CAMBRIDGE MA. (WORTH BUYING YOUR OWN 
COPY.) SEE ALSO MARTIN UMAN'S SEVERAL BOOKS ON LIGHTNING.

THIS FACTSHEET COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL LIGHTNING SAFETY INSTITUTE, 
LOUISVILLE, CO. TEL. 303-666-8817.
WEBSITE = HTTP://WWW.LIGHTNINGSAFETY.COM

$$