Re: Attracting Lightning

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "Jim Mora by way of Terry Fritz <teslalist-at-qwest-dot-net>" <jmora-at-jetlink-dot-net>

Hello All,

One could always fly a kite with piano wire as our esteemed U.S. inventor
did.

I had bolt lightning strike within four feet of me during a tornado in the
Midwest while turning a corner in the car. It blasted a power pole,
fireballed along a guard rail, and finally grounded into railroad tracks.
Stuns one a bit:)

Making small strokes is exhilarating. Firing rockets beats a kite I suppose,
but I still love watching such storms from a hopefully a safe vantage point.

  Lightning is awesome.

Golfing, fishing in aluminum boats, and seeking refuge under large trees on
a hilltop purportedly works well too:)

Play Safe,
Jim Mora
Ojai, Ca

----- Original Message -----
From: "Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
To: <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
Sent: Friday, June 20, 2003 6:55 PM
Subject: Re: Attracting Lightning


 > Original poster: "kayaker by way of Terry Fritz <teslalist-at-qwest-dot-net>"
<kayaker-at-sbcglobal-dot-net>
 >
 > Hello All;
 >
 > NASA still uses the method in Florida. Be safe.
 >
 > Doug
 >
 >
 > ----- Original Message -----
 > From: "Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
 > To: <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
 > Sent: Friday, June 20, 2003 10:45 AM
 > Subject: Re: Attracting Lightning
 >
 >
 >  > Original poster: "Ed Phillips by way of Terry Fritz
<teslalist-at-qwest-dot-net>"
 > <evp-at-pacbell-dot-net>
 >  >
 >  > Tesla list wrote:
 >  >  >
 >  >  > Original poster: "Goku Goku by way of Terry Fritz
 > <teslalist-at-qwest-dot-net>"
 >  > <goku1415-at-hotmail-dot-com>
 >  >  >
 >  >  > Hi,
 >  >  >
 >  >  > I was wondering if anyone knew of Tesla's thoughts regarding the use
of
 >  >  > natural lightning. Is it possible to "attract" a bolt of lightning
to a
 >  >  > desired point?
 >  >  >
 >  >  > Leon
 >  >
 >  > Yes.  During the early 1940's lightning researchers at Westinghouse
 >  > used rocket-launched wires to "attract" lightning strikes in order to
 >  > measure details of the discharge currents.  One of my professors at
 >  > Caltech was part of this group and reported an amusing (at least to
 >  > some) incident when one of the rockets went off more or less
 >  > horizontally and the attached wires shorted out a bit interstate power
 >  > line.
 >  >
 >  > More recently there have been reports of using laser-ionization trails
 >  > in air for a similar purpose.  Although I've seen mention of this in
the
 >  > popular press (Scientific American) I've never read a peer-reviewed
 >  > paper verifying this so it may just be anecdotal.
 >  >
 >  > Ed
 >  >
 >
 >
 >
 >