On Jun 11, 2:00*pm, "John Nice" johnDOTniceATbtinternetDOTcom wrote:
"Richard Dixon" wrote in message

...

Just peering out of my window from up in the gods at the approaching
storm and just saw an inbound BA plane to Heathrow get hit by
lightning - that would have been an experience for those on board !

I was returning to Heathrow late one night through a cloudburst. *About one
minute from landing there was a loudish thump, one side of all the cabin
lights went out, and a bright blue-green ball (best description I can put on
it) about 2 inches diameter shot down the middle of the aisle from fore to
aft. *It sticks in my mind because, the aircraft having 'gone technical', we
were parked miles from the terminal and had a 50-yard dash through
torrential rain to the bus.

No idea if that was above cloud lightning you being below cloud or in
it, but Colorado researchers discovered stuff like elves and sprites
come from ionised gasses amybe in the thermosphere.

It is made of the same material that flows through nerves apparantly.

The normal stuff is composed of electrons evolved from the heat lost
in instantly turning vast reservoirs of steam into ice.