The superstitious may attach some religious significance to this thing and it may even become the object of a chain text. LOL.

Hope God’s not taking a proactive role in dispensing divine justice. I promise I’m not that evil. Good thing I’m on the 2nd floor, no lightning bolts can reach me there….earthquake, now that’s another thing ;)

I have experienced being inside a building when a lightning struck very near it. The shock wave made the walls shake and temporarily interrupted the electricity. And since there were no debris of any projectile, a lightning would be the best explanation for this phenomenon.

Shaking walls and power interruptions - check. Looks like lightning. Damn I was hoping for some UFO shit… :) thanks for the comments Sassy and Danny.

Like Danny, I have witnessed lightning striking the side of a building, leaving damage similar to what’s seen in this photo. It was a case of lightning all right.

But whether it was a case of divine justice or a sign of impending dooom is best left to those with a guilty conscience. :)

Physical damage to the building’s exterior is in the wrong place to have been caused by lightning.

A bolt would have caught the structure at the highest point and caused damage in the direction the energy travelled; the highest point to the lowest point, and the shortest possible path.

Unfortunately, I can’t come up with an explanation as to what else it could have been.

Not necessarily. Smaller building do get hit while adjacent taller structures remain unscathed, if the charge on that building is opposite the one in the clouds.

And while a lightning attempts to travel to the shortest distance to the ground, the path itself is not a straight line, allowing for the lightning to hit the side, as opposed to the tip, of the structure.