Episode Information

Beautiful and deadly, megalightning is the recently-discovered phenomenon of giant lightning bolts in often magical shapes, firing up into the sky – instead of down to earth. Scientists have compared its discovery to biologists finding a new body part. But some experts fear this natural phenomenon will be found to be the culprit in a number of mysterious aerial disasters. For years, pilots have been describing gigantic, exotically shaped and coloured flashes from above their aircraft. Mostly the sightings have been dismissed or left unresearched but in recent years NASA’s own concerns about megalightning has driven much more serious and urgent inquiry into these powerful forces. The crew of the ill-fated Columbia space shuttle captured images of the lightning whilst in orbit. Ironically, their disastrous re-entry led some to suspect a megalightning strike had been involved. Although the official Columbia investigation found other explanations, fears remain about the dangers of these lightning bolts – which can fire above the clouds to a height more than 20 times that of Mount Everest. Experts are convinced there’s still a whole uncharted world out there.