"Dartmoor Will" wrote in message
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"a l l y" wrote in message
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Anyone recognise what I'm talking about here? We always called it
"wildfire," as I was growing up in Scotland, but I can't find any
references online using that name, and I'd like to know the correct word.

When you're driving across the moors late at night, and it's really dark
and there's heavy cloud clover, you suddenly see a flash in the distance.
No sound of thunder. No rain. Just a flash. It's a pretty small flash,
though bright and quite intense, which could mean it's far away. Drive a
few miles and there's another flash. And more, at intermittent intervals.
That's what we call wildfire.

I was always aware it was some sort of lightning-related phenomenon, and
this evening I found myself thinking about it, so I went online to search
for info, but couldn't find anything. I don't know the proper name for
this, so I can't look it up. Any ideas?

Thanks!

ally

I saw a similar thing walking on the moor at night a few years ago. I
thought it may have had a human origin at the time, i.e. a flare or
something? Searchlights can do strange things in darkness too, e.g. around
the prison.

No prisons on our Scottish moors though! I've seen this phenomenon often
enough to be pretty certain they're a type of lightning. I now live in rural
Cumbria, and was driving home late last night across a small moorland area
when I thought I saw some wildfire in the distance. I've never spotted it
around here before, so I wasn't quite sure if that was what I was seeing or
not, but it got me thinking about it again.

ally