Includes 1 large irregularly textured fulgurite with an info card in the box.

Have you ever wondered what the Earth looks like once it is struck by lightning? Great news! The answer is right here. Fulgurite, derived from the Latin word fulgur, meaning lightning, is the result of a lightning strike hitting sand. The strike melts the silica (quartz) instantly and creates these natural tubes. It takes a monstrous amount of heat to form the glass tubes. In fact, a temperature of 3272°F is required to instantaneously melt sand and create a fulgurite. Their shape mimics the path of the lightning bolt as it disperses into the ground, and just like snowflakes, no two fulgurites are the same.

It is cool to think that something as instantaneous, fleeting, and ephemeral as lightning can actually leave behind a permanent record of its existence. Thanks to this phenomenon, scientists can study fulgurites to gain a better understanding of past lightning activity, soil composition, and even climate conditions.

These specimens feel like the ghost of an ancient storm captured and preserved in the soil of our world. They may look a little mundane, but in reality, they are absolutely extraordinary. If you are superstitious, it is said that lightning never strikes the same spot twice. By carrying one of these around, you might be lightning-proof. Okay, probably not, but it is a cool thing you can show off the next time you are stuck in a weather delay at a football game.