Weird Wednesday: My Petrified Lightning Collection

I have some weird stuff in my flotsam and jetsam collection, but nothing quite as strange as fulgurites. Fulgurites are strange, sandy-glassy tubes left by lightning striking the beach (or any area with suitable levels of silica in its soil). The lightning is so hot (well, it's plasma!) that the sand forms glass tubes in the shape of the actual lightning forks. Not surprisingly, fulgerites are known colloquially as "petrified lightning", and I live in one of the major fulgerite hotspots on the planet.

Fulgurites, MR, 2013

Way cool! I had been looking for these for years, and finally, when I was meandering around the beach, I found a whole pile of them. I sent a few to my science-savvy relatives who like this sort of thing, and kept the rest. They are certainly the crown jewels of my flotsam and jetsam collection.

A side note, the longest fulgurite in the world was also found in Florida, and it was 4.9m long! Too bad I missed that one....