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burning hair and noticed it was their own that had caught —_ sense of smell and remarkable mathematical abilities, fire. They then realised they had just been struck by —_ suggesting that "a lightning strike turns a person into a lightning. mutant...it may also give a powerful stimulation to hidden Superficially, they were unharmed. Something was and unexplored abilities of the human mind". Slightly different on the inside, though, particularly in McNairn's sensational though this comment may be, it has to be case. In an article in the Toronto Star, published on 3 admitted that lightning not only damages and kills people August 2008, McNairn said that people had noticed a _ but transforms them in a very fundamental way. Some of change in her personality. "People said, ‘There is _ the effects caused by lightning strike injuries are so bizarre something different about Kim.’ Someone told me later] _ as to be classified as paranormal. It's little wonder, then, seemed kind of Zen... They thought something was wrong __ that tales of the paranormal often crop up in relation to because I'm a high-energy person..." To survive a lightning _ lightning strikes and, indeed, lightning strike injuries. strike is "so thrilling’, she added. "It made me focus my Steve Melvin's story certainly deserves to be classified ife on what's important. | found myself as paranormal. Melvin, a former storm- saying, ‘I'm really happy to get another chaser from Ohio, USA, was struck by chance. What am | going to do with the ightning in June 1989 at the exact same ime | have?” moment that he was taking a photograph. Following the incident, Strange side-effects elvin, then in his late twenties, Some lightning strike survivors claim discovered that his camera had been at they've not only become more Incredibly, the final damaged as a result; it was melted down spiritually minded, but they've even he front. The film inside, however, was gained psychic abilities. photograph shows still okay. Incredibly, the final On the National Weather Service's the ghostly outline photograph shows the ghostly outline of Lightning Safety website, run by the US a human framed in lightning. How this ational Oceanic and Atmospheric of a human framed image came about is a complete Administration (NOAA), which features in lightning. mystery, as Melvin had been standing on he stories of numerous lightning strike the other side of the lens at the time he took survivors, one woman named 7. the photograph. In an article Missy wrote that she was struck by How this Image published in the UK Independent on ightning through the phone line. came about is a 7 November 1999, Melvin commented: "Some say it was me having an out-of-body experience. Some say it was my grandmother coming down from heaven to push me out of the way of the lightning. Some say it was a glimpse of an entirely different dimension. I'll never know." The accident occurred when Missy, while foolishly using the phone during a thunderstorm, suddenly heard a loud explosion and saw, at her feet, a bright white ight "which was football-shaped, and had spikes". "It blew me across the floor, and I was knocked out for a few seconds,” she said. Melvin's encounter with lightning Missy's son found her lying on altered him in such a way that he the kitchen floor. She felt a numb sensation travel up one _—now has a strange effect on the pager he wears. The side of her body, starting from her feet. Her son dialled __ batteries inside it, instead of lasting for months, die every 911 and she was taken to hospital, where doctors few days. confirmed that she'd been struck by lightning. A bizarre A comparison can be drawn between Melvin's story and side-effect of the accident, she noted, is that she now _ that of Robert Davidson, who, after stopping his experiences extrasensory perception (ESP) every once ina motorcycle on the side of the road to put on his while. waterproofs, was instantly struck by lightning and spen She explained: "There have been times where | speak — seven weeks in a coma. The incident occurred when he someone's name, someone that I haven't heard from or _ was 38, about 30 years ago. Following his injury, Davidson seen in many years, and all of a sudden they walk in the —_ noticed that whenever he put on a new watch, it would door... I've had eerie feelings about things, just before burn out in days, whereas his old battered watch—the they actually happen... Most people that know me are one he was wearing when he was struck—continued to amazed. And so am |. This periodic thing only started function perfectly. The problem ceased after a period o! complete mystery... after my lightning incident." 15 years, and these days Davidson can wear any watch he According to an article published on the website of the __ likes. Russian newspaper Pravda, lightning strike survivors have One is instantly reminded of how watches, cameras, been known to develop, among other things, aheightened radios and other electronic devices are known to Incredibly, the final photograph shows the ghostly outline of a human framed in lightning. How this image came about is a 56 * NEXUS complete mystery... FEBRUARY - MARCH 2010 www.nexusmagazine.com