10 Famous Blue Lightning Strike Events in History, with the 5th Still Unexplained!

2. The Great Blue Bolt of 1876

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Chicago citizens saw an amazing blue lightning strike lighting the whole city skyline on a July night in 1876. Along with a loud thunderclap that shook buildings to their foundations, eyewitnesses reported a great blast of electric blue light that seemed to split the sky in two. Known as "The Great Blue Bolt," the incident stayed with the people of the city and evolved into local mythology. Later theories among scientists suggested that the extraordinary colour and strength of the lightning could have resulted from a rare mix of atmospheric conditions and specific particle presence in the air. This occurrence spurred fresh enthusiasm in the research of lightning colours and their sources, therefore advancing our knowledge of atmospheric electricity. Still among the most striking and thoroughly recorded blue lightning strikes in American history, the Great Blue Bolt of 1876