The natural phenomenon, which kills between 6,000-24,000 per year, has mesmerized and terrified humankind for ages. Although scientists had long ago proved that lightning flashes and thunderstorms are the result of electricity in the atmosphere rather than signs of the divine will, images of lightning still sometimes make people hold their breath and shiver. Check it out for yourself in Sputnik's gallery.
Lightning illuminates the sky above the Swiss Federal Palace (Bundeshaus) in Bern, Switzerland on May 27, 2018.
Spring lightning over blocks of flats in Moscow, Russia.
Lightning strikes over the sea on the coast of the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, during an early morning thunderstorm on October 12, 2017.
This photograph taken on August 14, 2017, shows a lightning bolt striking a Stalin-era skyscraper during a storm over Moscow.
This picture taken on April 28, 2018, shows lighting over Mount Sinabung volcano in Karo, Indonesia. Sinabung roared back to life in 2010 for the first time in 400 years; after another period of inactivity it erupted once more in 2013 and has remained highly active ever since.
Lightning flashes over windmills of the Odervorland wind energy park near Sieversdorf, eastern Germany, on August 1, 2017.
7/10
© AP Photo / Noah Berger
Lightning forks over San Francisco's Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes through Oakland, California, US, on September 11, 2017.
Flashes of lightning strike above "La Cite du Vin" in Bordeaux, southwestern France, during a thunderstorm on July 18, 2017.
Lightning strikes off the coast of Montevideo, Uruguay, on August 28, 2017. Following days of heavy rains, flooding in Uruguay has forced almost 900 people to flee their homes, authorities said Monday. Flooding in the country has grown increasingly common.
Lightning strikes above Wembley Stadium in London, the UK on May 26, 2018.
