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Viral Vid. Shows the Shocking Moment an SUV Gets Struck by Lightning — But Is It Real?

Oct. 2, 2012 8:55am Liz Klimas

The dash-cam video of a stormy day in Russia catches the moment a bolt of lightning supposedly cracks down on a fellow motorist.

The YouTube video posted a couple weeks ago, which is now going viral, states that the on-board computer of the Toyota Land Cruiser capturing the footage is faulty, most likely including this information to account for the time-stamp of the video.

Dash Cam Captures Footage of SUV in Russia Being Struck by a Bolt of Lightning

(Image: YouTube screenshot)

Watch the clip that has more than 1.6 million views and has been reposted more than a half a dozen times on YouTube:

The event begs the question: Just what did the drive do to earn God’s wrath? Some commenters of the video speculate that it’s a hate for SUVs. Others say that the Marvel comic character Thor is raining down his fury and some call up Doc Brown’s quote “Great Scott!” from the 1985 film “Back to the Future.”

This isn’t the first time either that a dash-cam in Russia has captured a stunning event during a driver’s commute. Earlier this year, TheBlaze reported on a video showing a power plant explosion emitting a blinding light in the dark sky. Some on the Internet and a commenter on this latest video speculate that cameras are becoming more common place on dashboards of cars in Russia to prevent insurance scams.

Still, as Life’s Little Mysteries points out, it cannot be guaranteed the lightning in the video is 100 percent authentic. It states that fake lightning videos have seen viral fame before. It notes the National Weather Service stating that a car experiencing a lightning strike might see damage to its electrical system, tires or other parts. The SUV in the video doesn’t appear to have such damage.

According to NOAA, the odds of being struck by lightning in a given year are one in a million.

(H/T: Daily Mail)

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Comments (17)

ZengaPA65
Posted on October 3, 2012 at 8:31am
Google how often churches and pastors especially get struck by lightning.

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RayofDarkSunshine
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 7:30pm
Wow! Thor, reduced to a Marvel comic character!
Nordic areas must be in flames, no?

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dandmdz
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 1:59pm
Reg, in The Great Outdoors was struck by lightning sixty-nine times and has the NeoSkunk hair going
for him.

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Dont-hate-on-me-2
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 11:25am
When my car got hit by lightning that is exactly what it looked like. The after effect is complete blindness for about 10 sec. Will never forget it.

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- OniKaze
  Posted on October 2, 2012 at 11:52am
  I can’t see the video (as I am at work, on break, and can’t watch vids)…
  
  When your car got hit, how much damage was done??? What did it look like? I always kinda wondered what would happen if lightning hit the car I was driving (so far I am glad I have not found out…)
  
  Report this comment
- COFemale
  Posted on October 2, 2012 at 12:30pm
  If lightning strikes don’t always do damage to the electrical system, if that was the case many planes would be falling out of the sky as many are struck with lightning. The SUV tires ground the car thus the strike flows out through the tires. If you note near the end of the video, it appears the SUV stops. I would imagine it may appear as if the lightning struck the vehicle, but is it possible it missed and struck close?
  
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- Ducky 1
  Posted on October 2, 2012 at 12:56pm
  Pretty sure we got hit by lightening in our conversion van many years ago. No damage to the vehicle but had the black out thing you described. It was a very scary experience.
  
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FormerLib
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 11:14am
Clearly, Bush did it.

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- OniKaze
  Posted on October 2, 2012 at 3:42pm
  That evil, stupid Jerk…..
  
  First He plans 9/11, and then he purposely sabotages the economy, THEN he calls in a favor from the creator to smite this poor Russian’s SUV….
  
  DOES HIS EVIL KNOW NO BOUNDS???
  
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Master.Debater
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 10:26am
I was on a flight at night looking out the window and actually saw a bolt of lightning strike the wing. This was followed by several seconds of extreme turbulence. That was scary!

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MrBigBillyB
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 10:11am
“According to NOAA, the odds of being struck by lightning in a given year are one in a million.”

And yet people are struck by lightning all the time. One in a million is hardly out of the realm of possibility.

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MidwestRay
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 9:38am
Here’s another video where a guy gets struck by lightning TWICE and lives. Sure, 99% chance it’s fake, but funny as hell.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZvqle-NGQA

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RRFlyer
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 9:37am
Of course it’s real. If it had been faked they would have had the SUV explode, or at least get knocked across the road.
Cars are not grounded, neither are airplanes. Airplanes are struck by lightning every day with no effects, except maybe a pin hole in the skin. THe lightning just goes through and exits to the ground on both cases. And before anyone criticizes my statement, there are many articles on the internet about lightning striking cars and airplanes. Look it up.

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- 00100111
  Posted on October 2, 2012 at 10:08am
  Close. Cars and airplanes don’t have to be connected to earth ground to dissipate a lightning strike. Both cars and airplanes have their own chassis ground. It isn’t at the same potential as earth ground, but compared to a higher potential (statically charged particles in the clouds), it is ground. Cars get struck by lightning all the time wit no ill effect. The frame usually shunts the static charge around the cabin, then it jumps from the undercarriage to ground. It can screw up electronics temporarily, or even fry them, but it won’t blow up the car. Same with airplanes. Airplanes are at a lower potential than the clouds, but the plane has a chassis ground. The strike hits the plane, the and electron flow goes to chassis ground. It doesn’t blow up either.
  
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- RCN598
  Posted on October 2, 2012 at 11:56am
  Closer. Neither the car nor the plane chassis ground come into play with the lighning discharge. The lighnting passes through the car’s frame and plane’s frame and jumps to earh ground. The bolt couldn’t care less about the chassis ground.
  
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USPATRIOT101
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 9:25am
Shazaam!!!

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bdandsl
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 9:11am
Wow!

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