--- title: "Video Captures Lightning Shooting Up From Buildings Into Sky" description: "Ever seen lightning shoot upwards from a building to catch another lightning bolt mid-air? Well, if you haven't, you're in luck." date: "2023-03-28" modified: "2023-03-28" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/video-lighting-shooting-up-from-buildings" categories: - "Science & Energy" tags: - "lightning" - "lightning strike" - "the digest" - "weather" --- # Video Captures Lightning Shooting Up From Buildings Into Sky ![Ever seen lightning shoot upwards from a building to catch another lightning bolt mid-air? Well, if you haven't, you're in luck.]() *\Image: Geophysical Research Letters\* ## Caught Ya! Ever seen lightning shoot *upwards*? If not, you're in luck. Last year, researchers in São José dos Campos, Brazil were able to capture the exact moment that several buildings' lightning rods reached out to meet descending lightning bolts in midair. In other words: the lightning rod managed to contain lightning — with lightning. And while the pictures of the event, first [published in the journal *Geophysical Research Letters*]() back in December, are mesmerizing in their own right, a video that pieces those photos together, [as shared today by *The New York Times*](), is truly something to behold. https://twitter.com/NYTScience/status/1640713198432309248 ## Lucky Strike To capture the incredible imagery, the scientists utilized a high-speed camera that records 40,000 images per second, positioned roughly 150 yards from the strike. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the goal of the São José dos Campos-based study was to closely examine the efficacy and function of building-mounted lightning rods. Generally speaking, the idea is that a copper or aluminum rod is installed at a building's highest point; that rod is then attached to wires that run to the ground, which work to divert a lightning bolt's intense electric charge around and away from the structure. Unbeknownst to our human eyes, however, the rod itself isn't passive. Triggered by lightning's negative charge, the metal rod launches a positive charge toward the oncoming electrical thread, as can be witnessed by the incredibly lucky high-speed video captured by the Brazilian team. ## It's Electric But fascinatingly, lightning rods aren't the only objects that launch electrical charges to meet oncoming lightning bolts. Humans do, too. "Any person standing in an open area can similarly launch an upward connecting discharge from their head or shoulders," Marcelo M.F. Saba, a senior researcher at the National Institute for Space Research in Brazil and an author of the study, told the *NYT*, "and be injured by lightning even when not directly struck by it." That said, if you're suddenly in the market for a lightning rod? According to Saba, don't fall for any sales gimmicks — they're all pretty much the same. "Some salesmen say that their lightning rods are better than the rest," Saba told the paper, "but this is just sales talk. There is no solid research on that." **READ MORE:** [*One of the Luckiest Lightning Strikes Ever Recorded*]() \[*The New York Times*\] **More on weather events:** [*Scientists Test System for Controlling Where Lightning Strikes Hit Using Lasers*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()