TARGET 070425

Car struck by lightning
(intentionally)

A British television program called "Top Gear" regularly tests myths and urban legends. In one segment, they decided to see what would happen to a human if he were sitting in a car when it got hit by lightning.

So, they took it to the Siemens High Voltage Laboratory in Berlin to see whether or not a person was capable of staying alive when his car is being struck by 800,000 volt lightning bolts.

The facility (for those who viewed and described the location) is an outdoor location which has arrays of science-fiction-looking equipment jutting up into the air, as shown in the pictures below.

The experiment was held in the early evening so the lightning would show up better for the cameras.

   

The facility is full of strange, science-fiction-looking equipment which insulates the electricity from everything until the discharge is triggered.
   

The driver brings the car into place under one of the discharge points and waits, wondering what will happen and what he will feel in the process.
   

From a very safe distance away, the control room operator starts the process of charging the capacitors up to 800,000 volts and then releasing the energy which has to go through the car in order to get to the ground.


The discharge, itself, comes from a simple metal washer hanging from a metal wire, suspended directly over the car.
   

The driver sits helplessly inside as lightning repeatedly strikes the car.
       

As you can clearly see, he is not worried a single bit.


You can see a 5 minute video of the entire event by clicking here.
(You may have to skip a loud and annoying commercial that comes before the video.)

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