- A lightning bolt reportedly 10 miles long was filmed in Long Island, New York
- Former FDNY firefighter Kenny Gunther recorded the bolt from his Bayport home
- Gunther claims the bolt extended beyond the video frame, suggesting greater length
A massive lightning bolt, reported to be 10 miles long, was captured in a now viral video in Long Island, New York. Although the exact length hasn't been officially confirmed. Former New York City Fire Department (FDNY) firefighter Kenny Gunther recorded the lightning bolt using his iPhone while at his home in Bayport.
The video shows the bolt lighting up the night sky, and Gunther claims it went out of frame, suggesting it was even longer than what was captured.
Watch the video here:
The video was shared on Islandwide Weather's Facebook page, with the caption: "ONE OF THE SICKEST BOLTS OF LIGHTNING I'VE EVER SEEN ON LONG ISLAND!!!!!!! Just south of Bayport, NY."
While speaking to the New York Post, Gunther said that he was watching TV when he felt the floor under his feet rumbling. When he looked outside the window, he saw a flash.
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"I just grabbed my iPhone and I just stick it on the windowsill in my bedroom facing south with its widest angle, and I just had it record," he recalled.
"I turn all the lights off and I'm just sitting there quiet. And then all of a sudden I saw that lightning and I said, 'Oh my God, I think I just got that!' And I went back and watched it and I said, 'Holy cow, that is freaking amazing.'"
"It actually went out of frame. That thing had to be 10 miles wide," he said, clarifying that what was captured in the video wasn't the entire length of the lightning bolt.
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"And that one wasn't even that much of a clap of thunder. But the one before that was, that's the one that shook the house."
Viewers expressed mixed reactions, with some finding it breathtaking and others worrying about the implications for Earth's climate.
One user wrote, "I thought a nuke dropped. I didn't know what to do."
"Mother Nature gave us a beautiful show," another added.
"It's like from a movie," another person wrote, while another said, "Not sure this is a good sign for Earth."
Notably, the World Meteorological Organization recorded a lightning bolt spanning 477 miles across Texas to southern Mississippi in 2020, certified as the world's longest flash on record.
