Can You Be "Slightly" Struck By Lightning?

[Father Mannix]

A little earlier, a thunderstorm was rolling by. I was sitting in my living room trying to get a bit of work done on my (plugged in) laptop, which was sitting on a little table in front of me. I was scrolling using the touchpad, so only one hand actually on the laptop at the time.

Suddenly I felt the sensation of a pin sticking into my index finger, then the same sensation you feel if you put your tongue on a 9 volt battery, except all over. At the same time I hear a little crack, followed by an incredibly loud boom. The whole thing happened in a fraction of a second.

The strange thing is that nothing appears to have been damaged. Except for a slight panic attack that followed the initial shock, I feel fine. The laptop and every electronic device I've checked in the house all seem to be in working order.

Has anything similar to this happened to anyone else?

[Chuck]

Not to me.

Buy a lotto ticket.

[Father Mannix]

Hadn't thought of it, but I think I might do that.

[The Mad Plumber]

[Bix Dugan]

Slightly struck.
Extremely fortunate...

[Father Mannix]

Aug 17, 2010 9:04:38 GMT -5 Bix Dugan said:

Slightly struck.
Extremely fortunate...

Seriously. I'm not going to be pushing my luck any time soon.

Aug 16, 2010 22:08:58 GMT -5 The Mad Plumber said:

It's funny that you posted this, because that character was one of the first things that popped into my head after the whole thing happened.

[Mr. Atari]

Sounds like you got yourself on the winning end of a power surge.

A good friend of mine was working on some HVAC ductwork when lighting hit the roof of a house 3 doors down. He was knocked over from the shock, but had no burns or after-effects.

[Skyroniter]

I've had lightening strike a tree near my house then travel through the ground into my house. Didn't feel anything either but heard a loud pop and had over 2K in damage. And a dead tree.

Consider yourself lucky.

[(busdrivertohell)]

It is possible. I was indirectly struck by lightning when I was 12. It went through the truck (old farm truck= large piece of steel) and through my hand. I was in a coma for 3 days.

[Father Mannix]

After reading these posts, it looks like I was indeed very lucky. I'm still amazed that I didn't have any damage, although I'd just been assuming that it had hit very close. After reading Mr. A's post, now I'm not so sure.