[OrangeHoof]

Just curious. How do they know it was a lightning strike and not other dangers people face in the wild?

[Red Badger]

Good question................

[George from New England]

They know by the obvious bodily remains.
Now if they died by lightning and were after dead, eaten by nature ... well

[ProtectOurFreedom]

It IS curious, isn't it?

• The bodies were found fully clothed and didn’t show any outward signs of trauma.
• In most instances of fatal lightning strikes, there are entry and/or exit wounds from a massive bolt of electricity.
• The tree that Porter and Stasko were apparently standing under also didn’t show any signs of a strike.

Martin said there’s no way of knowing for certain what transpired, but he surmised that the electricity from the bolt that struck the tree likely traveled through the tree, and into the ground.

The other thing that's odd is that hunting boots usually have insulating thick rubber Vibram soles. Such shoe soles often provide some protection against electrocution.

Lightning struck a tall pine tree about 70 feet from our house a few years back. It was instantaneous FLASH BOOM with zero delay. The lighting traveled down the tree, blew a vertical strip of bark off on the way down, then went half way around the tree before continuing downward. The way it stripped the bark off down to the cambium was amazing. I lost some electronics in the house from that.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Albuquerque Journal reported the autopsy results today. I know a guy who hunted that area android lightning was a real threat, especially higher up.

[laplata]

“Just curious. How do they know it was a lightning strike and not other dangers people face in the wild”?

Because there were no signs of a violent attack. The autopsy showed internal organ damage consistent with what lightning does.

You’re welcome. I didn’t mind reading the story.