Question:
Hi could you help me because I saw & filmed something very strange that I’m not sure weather could explain,Myself & my girlfriend were standing at our backdoor having a cigarette it was summer time around 5 or 6pm the sky was blue with white clouds but I noticed one that seemed different from the others it stayed in the same place over a period of time without changing shape & I would say it was no more than a quarter mile away then from within the cloud i suddenly started to see massive lightning bolts crackling from the inside out & around it but not ever going outside or away from the visible shape of the cloud like to the ground or across the sky they all kept to within its shape so I thought something could have been inside it because the strangest thing of all was that I’m looking at these giant lightening bolts from inside the cloud for about 20 minutes & there was absolutely zero sound total silence coming from it atol now as I said I filmed this the hole time showing just exactly what I described but having filmed it with my phone & it’s small screen made me think if this was shown on a large screen there’s very possibly things that I couldn’t see at the time with the naked eye so I’m wondering if this is something that needs further investigation if you could let me know
Answer:
This “strange lightning” you observed and filmed is indeed fascinating and may be explained through meteorology, but it also raises questions that require more detailed analysis of your video.
What You Might Have Seen (from a meteorological perspective):
Heat Lightning:
- Heat lightning is a term for lightning from a distant storm where the sound of thunder doesn’t reach you due to the distance or atmospheric conditions. However, your description suggests the cloud was very close, so this may not fully explain it.
Cloud-to-Cloud or Intracloud Lightning:
- The lightning you describe staying “within the cloud” is consistent with intracloud lightning, which occurs entirely within the cloud itself and doesn’t strike the ground.
- These lightning discharges can be massive but are usually accompanied by thunder. The absence of sound could be due to:
- Atmospheric attenuation: Local atmospheric conditions (like temperature inversions or wind layers) can suppress or redirect sound.
- Proximity to other noise sources: Urban environments or wind may mask distant thunder.
A Single Electrically Active Cloud:
- Sometimes a lone cloud can become electrically charged through differential heating or interactions with upper atmospheric layers, leading to localized lightning activity. These are rare but not unheard of.Â
Ball Lightning:
- I saw ball lightning once as a teenager during the most intense thunderstorm I’ve ever experienced – I saw more lightning colors that night than I’ve seen since…and I’ve seen a LOT of storms up close over the decades, but no other ball lightning. Incredibly rare and lasts seconds to maybe a minute or two.
Something Else Inside the Cloud?
- Your idea that “something could have been inside it” is intriguing. Atmospheric conditions can create illusions or amplify things like:
- Aircraft with powerful lights reflecting within the cloud.
- Unusual drones or other human-made objects in operation.
- Less commonly, meteors or space debris causing transient plasma effects. But I don’t think it would last 20 minutes.
- Your idea that “something could have been inside it” is intriguing. Atmospheric conditions can create illusions or amplify things like:
Why Was It Silent?
- Distance Misjudgment:Â If the cloud was farther away than it seemed, sound may not have traveled to you, especially if wind or atmospheric layers redirected it.
- Atmospheric Sound Absorption: Hot or humid air layers can absorb low-frequency sound (like thunder), especially if there’s a temperature inversion trapping cooler air near the surface.
- Filming Artifact:Â If you rely on phone microphones, they may not pick up distant sounds well, even if faint thunder was present.
What to Do Next?
Analyze the Video on a Larger Screen:
- As you suggested, viewing the footage on a larger screen or enhancing it with software could reveal details that weren’t visible to the naked eye or on a small phone screen.
Share the Video with Experts Like Us:
- We could take a look at the video to see if it’s an unusual phenomena. I’m guessing the file is fairly large but if you upload it to YouTube or another similar platform and send us the link, we’ll view it and let you know.
