An average lightning strike can produce 500 mega joules of energy and can heat up a strike area to 10,000° C. The ability to direct lightning strikes to a desired location has been sought out for scientific and military applications. A relatively modern technique used in lightning research is the use of a sounding rocket to drag a grounded wire up to a highly charged region in the atmosphere. Although limited success has been achieved in directing a strike with this technique, it results in the lightning strike coming back to the initiator's location. Hence, this technique has little is any beneficial application in a military situation.
For the reasons stated above and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the present specification, there is a need in the art for an effective and efficient method of controlling lightning strikes.