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Old March 13th 12, 11:22 AM posted to uk.sci.weather
Joe Egginton[_5_] Joe Egginton[_5_] is offline
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First recorded activity by Weather-Banter: Jan 2012
Posts: 486
Default Weird lightning effect AKA wildfire

Dave Liquorice wrote:
On Tue, 13 Mar 2012 08:52:50 -0000, a l l y wrote:

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.


Other (boring) possiblities:

Lamping or even just headlights from distant traffic. Lamping is more
likely to give a "flash" than traffic as the light is swung rapidly.

Flashover on HV power distribution, you do say it's wet.

--
Cheers Dave.
Nr Garrigill, Cumbria. 421m ASL.





Maybe a fanciful idea. Could it be the build up of methane from bogs in
a light / calm air, which spontaneously combusts in a highly static air?

Joe Egginton
Wolverhampton.