It really is like an explosion... the closest I came, a bolt hit on the mountain summit maybe only 50 feet from me and it was a rather incredible (scary) experience, but I did not feel the electricity per se..... scared the crap out of me and my friends, though... many years ago now, on a mountain summit in New Mexico. Then other times in WY and in UT, not as close, but maybe 300-400 ft away on ridgelines....
A girlfriend and I were camping on a ridge above a lake in the Wind Rivers in WY and lightning was hitting the ridge above the opposite side of the lake. It was probably a half mile away and spectacular...but scared me to death.
Years later, two of our young kids and I had just arrived by train in Florence, Italy and were walking from the train station to our hotel. A tremendous storm blew in and lightning hit the building across the street from us. I’ve never heard such a BANG or seen such a brilliant light.
Just this week, I was driving back home from watching the eclipse in Oregon and went through a powerful storm in Modoc Countyin NE California. There was lightning everywhere...striking the mountains all around me, simultaneous flashes on opposite sides she of the valley, cloud-to-cloud. It went on for the better part of an hour with a torrential downpour and blacker than black clouds.
There’s nothing like a big strong storm to make you in awe of nature!