Can We Talk About Fulgerite?
I recently stumbled across the Wikipedia article on fulgurite, immediately went on eBay and spent €100 on a few specimen.
Before you judge me, let me explain.
When lightning strikes the ground, it can melt and fuse the material it passes through. In sand, this can leave hollow, glassy tubes, sometimes branching along the path of the discharge. These formations are called fulgurites, often rather wonderfully described as fossilised lightning.
⚡ Fossilised Lightning ⚡
Not literally a fossil, but a physical trace of a lightning strike, preserved in the ground.
How amazing is that?!
I think what gets me is the difference between how briefly something happens and how long its effects can remain. Lightning flashes, you see it, and it's gone. Except sometimes it leaves behind an object. Something you can pick up, turn over and put on a shelf.
A particular bolt of lightning passed through a particular patch of ground, and this is what it left behind.
I knew lightning could damage things. I hadn't really considered that it could make something I would want to own.
There isn't a larger point to this. I just learned that these things exist and felt that more people ought to know about them.
You can read the Wikipedia article yourself, although I should warn you that my visit cost €100.