The International Center for Lightning Research and Testing (ICLRT) is attempting to find an answer to the age-old question of where lightning comes from.
Operating out of the Camp Blanding Florida Army National Guard Base, the ICLRT is using a unique method of rockets and copper wire to reach into the clouds and facilitate a lightning bolt.
About a meter long, the rocket is attached to a long Kevlar-reinforced copper wire and fired into a storm cloud, which ideally provides a pathway for lightning-causing charged particles to go. This movement in the particles helps create lightning, which is then analyzed for data.
The current understanding of charged particles leading to a lightning strike stands as a solid theory, although Nerdist reports that researchers feel they're still missing something, as the charge imbalances in the clouds don't seem to be powerful enough to create lightning. One theory suggests that cosmic rays from the exploded stars in our universe may be at work, as they are able to strip ample electrons and atoms to create a massive charge.
Currently, research is still ongoing. No definitive conclusion has been reached, although taking one step forward toward fully understanding the phenomenon could ultimately help us get a better handle on how nature operates around us.
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