Lichtenberg scars are unique and rare natural “tattoos” caused by electricity. While they possess a captivating pattern, obtaining these scars is a challenging and excruciating process. The danger involved makes it undesirable to have these scars. Nonetheless, the uncommon beauty they possess is undeniable.
Regarding beauty, a lightning strike scar isn’t worth the risk. So, if you are searching for your next unique tattoo, save your health and get one made from ink. While it might have a slight chance of looking “great,” you can also get a lightning burn scar. A fusion of skin that will hurt like hell and look even worse.
However, there is still so much to learn about the Lichtenberg scars. Did you know that lightning is just one way to create them? Well, find out more about it in the post below. We must warn you that some images are disturbing, so keep that in mind.
If you don’t believe our compiled photos, we have real-life survivors, too. Although we didn’t take the interview ourselves, the lightning strike scar he got stayed with him. Make sure to stick till the end (or rush there now, your choice) to find out what a lightning strike survivor has to say.
How Do Lichtenberg Scars Work?
Our bodies and the nature around us work together in mysterious ways. Sometimes, positively. When it comes to electricity and our bodies — usually negatively. According to a 2008 report, when a high enough electrical current flows through us (like from a lightning strike), smaller subcutaneous capillaries are harmed by heat. The result is blood-vessel-like patterns that commonly disappear after 24 hours.
(h/t allthatisinteresting, businessinsider)
Image credits: unknown
Image credits: unknown
Image credits: whampbeef
Image credits: unknown
Image credits: unknown
How Painful is a Lightning Strike?
Believe it or not, lightning strikes aren’t lethal 100% of the time. You can survive it. While the Lichtenberg scars from lightning might look painful now, it’s nothing compared to the before-effects. A lightning strike can reach the numbers of around 300 million Volts and 30,000 Amps. Now, imagine that many volts and amps are flowing through your body. While it happens only for a couple of milliseconds, the paint is still immense.
In a 2019 report, two people were struck by an indirect lightning strike. After a few seconds, paralysis set in, and a lingering burning sensation stayed. A few moments later — the typical lightning strike on skin marks appeared. All of this was from an indirect lightning strike.
More life-threatening problems can occur from a direct strike. Cardiac arrest and burn marks do appear. Sadly, these effects can be lethal in most cases.
Image credits: unknown
Image credits: unknown
Image credits: nejm
Image credits: unknown
Image credits: unknown
What Do Lichtenberg Scars Look Like?
The scars have a reddish and fractal style. Like blood veins, they are between red and pink colors instead of blue. They can appear several hours after a direct lightning strike or even later. However, there are some abnormal cases. Ones that break away from the typical style. In the case of these scars — they can appear in random places and even have different colors.
According to the 2022 report, 45 year woman was struck by lightning. Five days later, during an autopsy, workers found Lichtenberg scars from lightning. The strange part? They were green. It was an atypical case. So, it’s easy to conclude that each case, each lightning strike, affects a person differently.
Image credits: CBS
Image credits: unknown
Image credits: unknown
Image credits: nejm
Image credits: sciencegeekgirl
Image credits: geardiary
What Happens When Lightning Strikes?
Since it’s rare, the first-hand experience of a lightning strike survivor is always engaging. They rival the most amazing medical stories ever. In 2011, Gear Diary got the chance to interview a lightning strike survivor. Ironically, the man was an electrician.
“I went outside to save my pumpkins. After that, I was going back inside,” Winston Kemp, the lightning strike survivor, told Gear Diary. However, something unexpected happened. “I just know it struck in our neighbor’s backyard, and it was bright and loud. I didn’t feel anything.”
“I just came back inside like nothing was wrong. Umm…my arm was sore. <…> [It was] maybe an hour before I saw the marks,” Kemp continued to say. “A few hours after it happened, it really started to bother me. The next day it was bad. The blisters started forming; they were really big.”
The marks continued to grow for a week. And you can see the Lichtenberg Scars he developed below!
Image credits: geardiary
Image credits: geardiary
Image credits: geardiary
Can Fractal Burning Be Safe?
Fractal burning, initially, is extremely dangerous. We are talking about volts and amps passing through a piece of wood (or any other non-living object) high enough to cause severe health problems. However, given enough time, when electricity and heat disperse, it is safe to touch the beautiful creation of electricity.
Image credits: Kansas City Golf
Image credits: Anna Garcia
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Image credits: Anna Garcia
That's what we see from the outside, I wonder the consequences on the organs. I hope for them it didn't damage anything and that it's not too painful.
The third picture down, ouch! That one certainly looks painful :( the poor guy.
Load More Replies...The patterns it can leave may look beautiful but, OW. Must be so painful.
It's almost like the patterns left by 'Jack Frost' on the inside of window panes in unheated houses.
Load More Replies...I was struck by ground lightning last Fall. We had one huge old 100+ year oak that was our main shade tree. It was 20 mins after a storm, the sun was out, skies blue. I heard no thunder. Then out of nowhere an incredibly loud BANG and WHITE LIGHT and the lightning hit that tree! I was not under it, but not far from it. I felt the lightning go through my body. I was lucky! About 4 months later, that old oak was dead. All brown leaves. We had to have it cut down. It was SCARY!!!! Like you've heard, the dangerous time is AFTER the storm, when you think it's safe!! It isn't.
That's scary. Saw your second comment regarding the awning and the girl there dying. So sad. We always were told as children to stay away from trees and that cars were the safest place because of tyres being made of rubber. You can't always be prepared for random though!
Load More Replies...Meet The (Un)lucky People Who Got Struck By Lightning And Survived SERIOUSLY - THE (UN)LUCKLY WHO SURVIVED - MY SISTER DIDN'T SURVIVE -
Like a map of your smallblood vessels... I agree they are hauntingly beautiful in a way...but scary..
Yep first thing I thought. I was like really. They are going to put up fake pictures? But they moved on, so that's good. I could have sworn when I opened this post it said "that wished they hadn't survived" in the title. Weird. It doesn't say that now of course.
My husbands grandma was struck three times in her life. The last time she was in her 80's. Dont think she ever had these marks though! But did live to be over 100
So scary, I lost my nephew who was sleeping in a tent with his wife and 6 month old baby. Lightning struck a tree nearby and traveled through the root right to the keys in his pocket, very sad.
My dad's friend was flying a model airplane when lightening started, and he was bringing his plane in when it cut out and stopped working. My dad opened up the remote control box he was holding and found everything fused together. My dad asked his friend, "did the hair on your arms go up just before it stopped working?" Yes, it did. Lucking, the box acting as a conduit away from his friend, but it was struck by lighting.
I went to church with a man who has been struck by lightning on two different occasions. He receives disability pay because of it. I can't even imagine!
Hey Rokas L / Bored Panda, not much point crediting your images with 'unknown'.. it makes the 'credit' part redundant. I reverse searched these on Google Images and came up with the sources fairly easily. So maybe try a little harder next time?
How cool that the guy who discovered them has "light" in his last name! "Light Mountain" I believe is the complete translation.
"These marks are so pretty!" *keeps reading* "I may have spoken too soon."
Knew lightning wasn't safe but just read two days ago that tattoo ink is unregulated and a lot contain carcinogens.
Load More Replies...Meet The (Un)lucky People Who Got Struck By Lightning And Survived SERIOUSLY - THE (UN)LUCKLY WHO SURVIVED - MY SISTER DIDN'T SURVIVE -
Finally. One post without depression, anxiety or any other disorder. This is just informative and I like it.
I hate to say it (because it sounds wrong) but I kind of agree with you. Not that I don't care about mental illness, but we need to clear our minds because thinking about the problems too much puts us down.
Load More Replies...Lightning strikes twice, even 3 times. Just today, in Central FL, our house was hit for the 3rd time since 2009. We lost a desktop pc, modem & router. Last time, we lost a laptop (I got shocked as I was typing), paper shredder, garage door opener & my car computer. The 1st time we lost a big screen tv, paper shredder, phone jacks, phones & shattered the capacitor on the side of the house under the meter. Before we bought our current home, lightening hit a 10” diameter tree, broke the trunk in half & it caught fire. We have left what remained & use it w/Halloween decorating. Our first home in Central FL was hit by lightning after contract/inspection, before closing. The owner lost tv’s phones, all parts of the security system & the fireplace tile blew off the wall into the sofa & embedded into the sofa. Lucky for the owner, she was in Illinois working on buying her new home. She spent most of her days sitting on the sofa shopping the Home Shopping Channel. Had 2nd inspection.
Sorry to tell you this but 2 is the photos are Not from people who survived... They were taken in the morgue.
I can't believe 90% of people survive getting struck by lightning when it heats the surrounding air to 5 times hotter than the sun! That's insane! And what with all the electricity causing organ failures. I think it's amazing that the human body can survive lightning strikes.
Such an interesting article, I learn something everyday on the net! Thank you&keep up the great work
Las corriente de electrones e iones se "disipan" por donde menos resistencia eléctrica encuentra; por eso la imagen de un relapago en el cielo, no es tan diferente a las que deja en la piel. Dicho de otra manera, el agua de los ríos, que deja una imagen sobre la tierra parecida; corre por donde menos resistencia encuentra (en base a esa premisa ya conocida,la por derivada o el gradiente matemático, las describen con exactitud). ..... The streams of electrons and ions "dissipate" where less electrical resistance is found; That's why the image of a relapse in the sky is not so different from the ones it leaves on the skin. In other words, the water of the rivers, which leaves an image on the similar earth; runs where least resistance finds (based on that premise already known, the derivative or the mathematical gradient, describe exactly).
The current of electrons and ions dissipate where less electrical resistance is found. Las corriente de electrones e iones se disipan por donde menos resistencia eléctrica encuentra.
the scars in the third image look a lot different than the others. wish they would give some background and further information
If you're referring to the Black man, those are Keloid scars which many people of African descent get when they scar for any reason
Load More Replies...This article made a teeny mistake. Lightning is only 5 times hotter than the SURFACE of the sun, not the whole sun.
What is the story of the black gentleman with all the horrid scaring? It's not like the other pictures.
If you're referring to the Black man, those are Keloid scars which many people of African descent get when they scar for any reason
Load More Replies...the person in the tenth picture is most likely dead. that looks like a mortuary table, and the bruises look sullen.
A bolt of lightning has 1 billion volts, and you have 1 in 960,000 chance of being struck. Everything else is correct....and cool
The chances of being struck vary depending on the methodology you use to calculate them. As for this post, we're counting on the National Lightning Safety Institute (http://lightningsafety.com/nlsi_pls/probability.html). The voltage of a lightning bolt depends on a loooot of factors, and while the average of cloud-to-ground strikes is a lot lower, you're right the max. can climb up to 1 billion. Thank you for pointing that out, we'll specify that in the text :)
Load More Replies...The first image is make-up and definitely not what your skin looks like after being struck by a lightning :)
Could it be that picture 1 is bodypaint? It stops at the beginning of his underwear and looks way different than the rest. Furthermore ; interesting post!
Picture 1 is definitely body paint. It's from a zombie special fx make up gorkafx did on Deviant Art.
Load More Replies...This looks very similar to the Lichtenberg burning people do (I got my table done in this process!)
Yo that's way cool! I mean it looks terribly painful aha... But like... Is it wrong that I kinda want a scar like that too? XD
That's what we see from the outside, I wonder the consequences on the organs. I hope for them it didn't damage anything and that it's not too painful.
The third picture down, ouch! That one certainly looks painful :( the poor guy.
Load More Replies...The patterns it can leave may look beautiful but, OW. Must be so painful.
It's almost like the patterns left by 'Jack Frost' on the inside of window panes in unheated houses.
Load More Replies...I was struck by ground lightning last Fall. We had one huge old 100+ year oak that was our main shade tree. It was 20 mins after a storm, the sun was out, skies blue. I heard no thunder. Then out of nowhere an incredibly loud BANG and WHITE LIGHT and the lightning hit that tree! I was not under it, but not far from it. I felt the lightning go through my body. I was lucky! About 4 months later, that old oak was dead. All brown leaves. We had to have it cut down. It was SCARY!!!! Like you've heard, the dangerous time is AFTER the storm, when you think it's safe!! It isn't.
That's scary. Saw your second comment regarding the awning and the girl there dying. So sad. We always were told as children to stay away from trees and that cars were the safest place because of tyres being made of rubber. You can't always be prepared for random though!
Load More Replies...Meet The (Un)lucky People Who Got Struck By Lightning And Survived SERIOUSLY - THE (UN)LUCKLY WHO SURVIVED - MY SISTER DIDN'T SURVIVE -
Like a map of your smallblood vessels... I agree they are hauntingly beautiful in a way...but scary..
Yep first thing I thought. I was like really. They are going to put up fake pictures? But they moved on, so that's good. I could have sworn when I opened this post it said "that wished they hadn't survived" in the title. Weird. It doesn't say that now of course.
My husbands grandma was struck three times in her life. The last time she was in her 80's. Dont think she ever had these marks though! But did live to be over 100
So scary, I lost my nephew who was sleeping in a tent with his wife and 6 month old baby. Lightning struck a tree nearby and traveled through the root right to the keys in his pocket, very sad.
My dad's friend was flying a model airplane when lightening started, and he was bringing his plane in when it cut out and stopped working. My dad opened up the remote control box he was holding and found everything fused together. My dad asked his friend, "did the hair on your arms go up just before it stopped working?" Yes, it did. Lucking, the box acting as a conduit away from his friend, but it was struck by lighting.
I went to church with a man who has been struck by lightning on two different occasions. He receives disability pay because of it. I can't even imagine!
Hey Rokas L / Bored Panda, not much point crediting your images with 'unknown'.. it makes the 'credit' part redundant. I reverse searched these on Google Images and came up with the sources fairly easily. So maybe try a little harder next time?
How cool that the guy who discovered them has "light" in his last name! "Light Mountain" I believe is the complete translation.
"These marks are so pretty!" *keeps reading* "I may have spoken too soon."
Knew lightning wasn't safe but just read two days ago that tattoo ink is unregulated and a lot contain carcinogens.
Load More Replies...Meet The (Un)lucky People Who Got Struck By Lightning And Survived SERIOUSLY - THE (UN)LUCKLY WHO SURVIVED - MY SISTER DIDN'T SURVIVE -
Finally. One post without depression, anxiety or any other disorder. This is just informative and I like it.
I hate to say it (because it sounds wrong) but I kind of agree with you. Not that I don't care about mental illness, but we need to clear our minds because thinking about the problems too much puts us down.
Load More Replies...Lightning strikes twice, even 3 times. Just today, in Central FL, our house was hit for the 3rd time since 2009. We lost a desktop pc, modem & router. Last time, we lost a laptop (I got shocked as I was typing), paper shredder, garage door opener & my car computer. The 1st time we lost a big screen tv, paper shredder, phone jacks, phones & shattered the capacitor on the side of the house under the meter. Before we bought our current home, lightening hit a 10” diameter tree, broke the trunk in half & it caught fire. We have left what remained & use it w/Halloween decorating. Our first home in Central FL was hit by lightning after contract/inspection, before closing. The owner lost tv’s phones, all parts of the security system & the fireplace tile blew off the wall into the sofa & embedded into the sofa. Lucky for the owner, she was in Illinois working on buying her new home. She spent most of her days sitting on the sofa shopping the Home Shopping Channel. Had 2nd inspection.
Sorry to tell you this but 2 is the photos are Not from people who survived... They were taken in the morgue.
I can't believe 90% of people survive getting struck by lightning when it heats the surrounding air to 5 times hotter than the sun! That's insane! And what with all the electricity causing organ failures. I think it's amazing that the human body can survive lightning strikes.
Such an interesting article, I learn something everyday on the net! Thank you&keep up the great work
Las corriente de electrones e iones se "disipan" por donde menos resistencia eléctrica encuentra; por eso la imagen de un relapago en el cielo, no es tan diferente a las que deja en la piel. Dicho de otra manera, el agua de los ríos, que deja una imagen sobre la tierra parecida; corre por donde menos resistencia encuentra (en base a esa premisa ya conocida,la por derivada o el gradiente matemático, las describen con exactitud). ..... The streams of electrons and ions "dissipate" where less electrical resistance is found; That's why the image of a relapse in the sky is not so different from the ones it leaves on the skin. In other words, the water of the rivers, which leaves an image on the similar earth; runs where least resistance finds (based on that premise already known, the derivative or the mathematical gradient, describe exactly).
The current of electrons and ions dissipate where less electrical resistance is found. Las corriente de electrones e iones se disipan por donde menos resistencia eléctrica encuentra.
the scars in the third image look a lot different than the others. wish they would give some background and further information
If you're referring to the Black man, those are Keloid scars which many people of African descent get when they scar for any reason
Load More Replies...This article made a teeny mistake. Lightning is only 5 times hotter than the SURFACE of the sun, not the whole sun.
What is the story of the black gentleman with all the horrid scaring? It's not like the other pictures.
If you're referring to the Black man, those are Keloid scars which many people of African descent get when they scar for any reason
Load More Replies...the person in the tenth picture is most likely dead. that looks like a mortuary table, and the bruises look sullen.
A bolt of lightning has 1 billion volts, and you have 1 in 960,000 chance of being struck. Everything else is correct....and cool
The chances of being struck vary depending on the methodology you use to calculate them. As for this post, we're counting on the National Lightning Safety Institute (http://lightningsafety.com/nlsi_pls/probability.html). The voltage of a lightning bolt depends on a loooot of factors, and while the average of cloud-to-ground strikes is a lot lower, you're right the max. can climb up to 1 billion. Thank you for pointing that out, we'll specify that in the text :)
Load More Replies...The first image is make-up and definitely not what your skin looks like after being struck by a lightning :)
Could it be that picture 1 is bodypaint? It stops at the beginning of his underwear and looks way different than the rest. Furthermore ; interesting post!
Picture 1 is definitely body paint. It's from a zombie special fx make up gorkafx did on Deviant Art.
Load More Replies...This looks very similar to the Lichtenberg burning people do (I got my table done in this process!)
Yo that's way cool! I mean it looks terribly painful aha... But like... Is it wrong that I kinda want a scar like that too? XD
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