Xref: utzoo comp.dcom.modems:3929 sci.physics:8346 Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!philmtl!philabs!ttidca!hollombe From: hollombe@ttidca.TTI.COM (The Polymath) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.modems,sci.physics Subject: Re: TrailBlazer Plus vs. lightning Message-ID: <4516@ttidca.TTI.COM> Date: 30 May 89 20:58:09 GMT References: <3784@phri.UUCP> Reply-To: hollombe@ttidcb.tti.com (The Polymath) Organization: The Cat Factory Lines: 21 In article <3784@phri.UUCP> roy@phri.UUCP (Roy Smith) writes: } This morning, I was sitting at home connected via my TrailBlazer }Plus. It was raining a bit. Suddenly I heard a soft , like a }relay. It sounded exactly like a modem hanging up the line. Before I even }finished recognizing the noise, there was an amazingly bright lightning }flash (it must have been *very* close) ... } My physics question about all this is, what was the click I heard? It might have been the pilot bolt before the main bolt. The pilot bolt is a relatively small charge that ionizes the air between the ground and the cloud. This creates an easy path for the main bolt which is, therefore, much more powerful. The pilot bolt would have registered as a click on your speaker. The speaker noise created by the main bolt would have been drowned in the distraction of the flash and thunder. -- The Polymath (aka: Jerry Hollombe, hollombe@ttidca.tti.com) Illegitimati Nil Citicorp(+)TTI Carborundum 3100 Ocean Park Blvd. (213) 452-9191, x2483 Santa Monica, CA 90405 {csun|philabs|psivax}!ttidca!hollombe