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WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has lifted lightning restrictions for the most widely used version of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, allowing the Lockheed Martin jet to fly in thunderstorms for the first time since 2020, Breaking Defense has learned. The Defense Department formally lifted the restrictions on March 19 after devising a hardware and software fix for the lightning protection system used aboard the F-35A conventional takeoff and landing variant, JPO spokesman Russ Goemaere said in response to a press inquiry. The F-35A had been prohibited from flying within 25 miles of lightning since June 2020, when damaged tubes were...

Two women laughing and smiling in a viral video with hair standing straight up from static electricity were likely in the path of an imminent lightning strike and are lucky they weren’t fried If...the static electricity in the air makes your hair stand on end, a lightning strike isn’t a risk. It’s imminent. Those were the circumstances behind a viral video filmed at the Horseshoe Bend Overlook in Arizona’s Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. A woman filmed her mother as her long hair stuck straight out from her head and static crackled from the end of her pointed finger on...

[Catholic Caucus] "Buenos Aires: lightning on the halo and keys of St. Peter. Bergoglio at the end of the road?"I am reposting another article by Andrea Cionci that was originally published in Sfero.Well, from a faith perspective, how should we interpret the lightning bolt that struck the statue of St. Peter on December 17th?Statue of Saint Peter, Buenos AiresOn Sunday December 17, 2023, lightning literally pulverized the key and halo of the statue of Saint Peter, located on the facade of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Rosary of San Nicolas , north of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The news...

A F-35 jet could have crashed on Sunday due to poor weather in South Carolina, new audio suggests - as questions mount as to why the disastrous training exercise was allowed to proceed. The F-35B Lightning II which the unnamed Marine pilot was flying is believed to be at risk of malfunctions if it flies in thunderstorms, according to a Forbes investigation in November. Its sister jet, the F-35A, is more severely affected and cannot fly within 25 miles of lightning he issue lies within the F-35's OBIGGS (Onboard Inert Gas Generation) system, which pumps nitrogen-enriched air into its fuel...

NORTH CHARLESTON – An investigation is underway to determine what prompted a pilot to eject from a military jet Sept. 17 near North Charleston and to locate the aircraft. Joint Base Charleston said its working with local emergency responders to determine what it described as a “mishap” involving a Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort F-35B Lightning II fighter jet. The pilot, after safely ejecting, was picked up near South Kenwood Drive and transported to a local medical center. He is in stable condition, according to a news release from the Joint Base Charleston. A second aircraft was able to return...

The owner of a 2023 Ford F-150 Lightning Lariat electronic vehicle (EV), Dalbir Bala, is claiming that EVs are the "Biggest Scam of modern times" after he was forced to abandon his truck on a family road trip from his home in Winnipeg to Chicago because of faulty charging stations. In a letter posted on Facebook, Bala described how he paid $115,000 on the Truck in addition to thousands of dollars more installing chargers, explaining the cost is "not justified." He said, "EVs are only good for limited urban use, as a second car. but expensive second car..!" He went...

Florida deputy was injured after his patrol vehicle was struck by lightning on Sunday, law enforcement officials said. According to the Walton County Sheriff’s Office, a deputy was driving his patrol vehicle south on U.S. Route 331 South near Sherwood Drive when it was struck by lightning. Officials said the deputy was transported to a local hospital and “is awake and conscious and is expected to be okay.” His patrol vehicle was inoperable after the strike fried his electrical system, according to the release. Deputies said they also responded to a water rescue at Morrison Springs at 11:45 a.m. for...

That the F-35 Lightning II has been prohibited from flying anywhere near lightning is ironic. That the F-35 has been under development since 1994 and that the Pentagon “doesn’t have a path forward” to fix the F-35 is unforgivable.That a plane that’s supposed to be the foundation of American air supremacy has an Achilles heel so easily exploitable is a glaring example of how our military procurement system wastes taxpayer dollars while failing to provide the weapon systems needed to meet our national security needs.Yes, the F-35, the aging “wunder plane” that the U.S. Air Force and Lockheed Martin have...

Amassive six-alarm fire ravaged a 160-year-old Massachusetts church, a blaze that the interim pastor believes may have been started by a lightning strike. An automated alarm brought firefighters to the First Congregational United Church on Main Street around 3 p.m. Friday. Sign up for our Newsletters Firefighters did not see any fire or smoke when they first arrived at the church, but when they went inside, they discovered smoke inside the steeple. The flames spread quickly from there and grew in intensity.

Very interesting storm in Southeast MO tonight! This thing popped out a lightning bolt 35 miles(!!!) in front of any precip showing on radar.

This is an "ELVE"--short for Emissions of Light and Very Low Frequency Perturbations due to Electromagnetic Pulse Sources. It's a rare species of sprite discovered in 1990 by cameras onboard the space shuttle. Binotto may have just taken the best ever picture of one from the ground. "The ELVE was generated by intense lightning in a storm near Ancona about 285 km south of me," says Binotto. One bolt was so strong, it generated an intense electromagnetic pulse (EMP). The red ring marks the spot where the EMP hit Earth's ionosphere. Normal lightning bolts carry 10 to 30 kilo-ampères of...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The 2023 National Prayer Breakfast came to an abrupt and premature end today due to severe lightning that kept striking the building where the politicians were gathered. "Well anyway, you know, we're here to pray to, you know... the thing!" said a barely audible Biden as deafening thunder shook the room. "Let's all remember that a woman's right to choose is fundamental to our..." The President was unable to complete his sentence as lightning struck again and killed power to the entire building. "I've never seen anything like it," said Congressman Scalise as he dove out of...

Another day, another price hike for the popular electric Ford truck. Buyers of the 2023 Ford F-150 Lightning can now expect to pay around $52,000, up another $5,000 over the most recent price jump. Taking into consideration some of the Lightning electric truck’s ownership costs, is this truck still a good buy?

Three people were killed by a lightning strike on Thursday just across the street from the White House and Reuters used the sad occasion to hype... climate change. I kid you not as their own headline on Friday reveals: "Washington DC lightning strike that killed three offers climate warning."Reuter's reporter Gloria Dickie then goes into the details of how this tragedy is indicative of climate change starting with the very first sentence of her story:

Three of the four people who apparently were hit by lightning near the White House on Thursday have died, Washington, D.C., police said in updates Friday. James Mueller, 76, and Donna Mueller, 75, tourists to D.C. from Janesville, Wisconsin, were killed, police said Friday morning. A 29-year-old man also died, police said later Friday. His name was not immediately released. The Muellers were semi-retired high school sweethearts visiting D.C. for their 56th wedding anniversary, their niece told News4. James Mueller owned a drywall business, Donna Mueller was a teacher, and they had five children, 10 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. ..

CROWELL, Texas - A North Texas wind farm is one turbine down thanks to what officials believe was a devastating lightning strike to one of the massive structures on Friday afternoon. Videos from witnesses and firefighters showed the wind turbine generator ablaze and disintegrate in the sky over Crowell, Texas. Doppler radar indicated there was plenty of lightning strikes around the Foard City wind facility before firefighters received the call about the high-altitude fire. Crews with the Crowell Volunteer Fire Department responded, but Fire Chief Perry Shaw said there was little his firefighters could do to put the fire out....

A bolt of lightning that stretched nearly 500 miles across three U.S. states is the new world record holder for longest flash. The single flash extended 477.2 miles (768 kilometers) across Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi in April 2020, the World Meteorological Organization said Monday. That beat the old record set in 2018 in Brazil of 440.6 miles (709 kilometers). Also in 2020, a single lightning flash over Uruguay and northern Argentina lasted 17.1 seconds, nipping the old time record of 16.7 seconds. Normally lightning doesn’t stretch farther than 10 miles and lasts less than a second, said Arizona State University’s...

Investigators fear a £100million F-35 fighter jet crashed into the Mediterranean while taking off because the cheap rain covers had not been taken off properly. Officials believe the rain cover was sucked into the F-35B Lightning II stealth plane's engine as it took off from the flight deck of the HMS Queen Elizabeth, forcing the pilot to eject. Naval personnel reported seeing the cover floating in the sea nearby Britain's flagship aircraft carrier after the accident in the Mediterranean on Sunday. Sources said the RAF pilot realised the issue and tried to abort take-off but was unable to stop the...

Another possibility is being investigated in a case that one sheriff has called the most mysterious of his career. Responding agencies treated the scene as a hazmat situation because of uncertainty about the cause of the fatalities, and everything from toxic algae to dangerous mine gasses to murder has been probed. According to a New York Times feature on the family, now lightning strikes have been added into the mix. A handful of causes of death have been ruled out. Previous autopsy data provided by the Mariposa County Sheriff's Office excluded acute trauma, such as stabbing, gunshot wounds or blunt-force...

A man from Robertson County, Tennessee was playing a video game on Saturday night during a storm when a nearby lightning strike resulted in him being shocked straight up the wire of his controller. He was able to make the call, and when ambulance crews arrived, they found that he didn’t appear injured, “wanted to be checked out to make sure he was not injured” and didn’t need to be transported to a local hospital. And while this might sound like a one-in-a-million kind of event, it was just last year that Karma, a pro Rocket League player, was playing...