struck by lightning

When it comes to the hilarious little pranks of the Joker, at least one man can testify to their having a darker side. A side that can feel like persecution, or like the universe in general is ganging up on you. And that one man was Roy Sullivan who was struck by lightning seven times in his lifetime. It was so bad that people started to avoid him for fear of being struck themselves. As he related at the time,

"For instance, I was walking with the chief ranger one day when lightning struck way off. The chief said, 'I'll see you later.'" You can't really blame the chief ranger, I mean, walking with a lightning rod? Got to be tough. So here's an account of each of the seven times this poor guy was struck by lightning.

1. The first documented lightning strike of Sullivan occurred in April 1942. He was hiding from a thunderstorm in a fire lookout tower. The tower was newly built and had no lightning rod at the time; it was hit seven or eight times. Inside the tower, "fire was jumping all over the place." Sullivan ran out and just few feet away received what he considered to be his worst lightning strike. It burned a half-inch strip all along his right leg, hit his toe, and left a hole in his shoe.[6]
2. The second bolt hit him in July 1969. Unusually, he was hit while in his truck, driving on a mountain road—the metal body of a vehicle normally protects people in cases such as this. The lightning first hit nearby trees and was deflected into the open window of the truck. The strike knocked Sullivan unconscious and burned off his eyebrows, eyelashes, and most of his hair. The uncontrolled truck kept moving until it stopped near a cliff edge.[5][6]
3. In 1970, Sullivan was struck while in his front yard. The lightning hit a nearby power transformer and from there jumped to his left shoulder, searing it.[5][6]
4. The fourth strike occurred in 1972, while Sullivan was working inside a ranger station in Shenandoah National Park. It set his hair on fire; he tried to smother the flames with his jacket. Then he rushed to the rest room, but couldn't fit under the water tap and so used a wet towel instead.[6] Although he never was a fearful man, after the fourth strike he began to believe that some force was trying to destroy him and he acquired a fear of death. For months, whenever he was caught in a storm while driving his truck, he would pull over and lie down on the front seat until the storm passed. He also began to carry a can of water with him and believed that he would somehow attract lightning even if he stood in a crowd of people.[3][7]
5. On Aug. 7, 1973, while he was out on patrol in the park, Sullivan saw a storm cloud forming and drove away quickly. But the cloud, he said later, seemed to be following him. When he finally thought he had outrun it, he decided it was safe to leave his truck. Soon after, he was struck by a lightning bolt. Sullivan stated that he actually saw the bolt that hit him. The lightning set his hair on fire, moved down his left arm and left leg and knocked off his shoe, although it did not untie the lace. It then crossed over to his right leg just below the knee. Still conscious, Sullivan crawled to his truck and poured the can of water, which he always kept there, over his head.[3][7]
6. On June 5, 1976, Sullivan was struck by the sixth bolt, injuring his ankle. It was reported that he saw a cloud, thought that it was following him, tried to run away, but was struck anyway.[5]
7. On Saturday morning, June 25, 1977, Sullivan was fishing in a freshwater pool when he was struck the seventh time. The lightning hit the top of his head, singeing his hair, and traveled down burning his chest and stomach. Sullivan turned to his car and then another unexpected thing happened—a bear appeared and tried to steal trout from his fishing line. Sullivan had the strength and courage to strike the bear with a tree branch. He claimed that was the twenty-second time he hit a bear with a stick in his lifetime.[3]

All strikes were recorded by the chief ranger and verified by a doctor. Finally, probably feeling that something was indeed out to get him, he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the stomach. Incredibly unlucky? Or a target for the dark humour of the Cosmic Joker?

(all quotes got from wikipedia on Roy Sullivan)

silly silly hippies...

La Bete

Just to prove that this isn't just going to be my obsession with the cosmic joker, but a few things, supernatural and otherwise that interest me, here is a topic in which I have been fascinated. So much so that I based a Dragonlance adventure on it (yes, I'm a gamer, point and laugh now...) La Bete Du Gevaudan, an unknown creature that preyed on the people in the Gevaudan district of France in the late 18th century. Some of this is from Wikipedia on the subject;

"The first attack that provided a description of one of the creatures took place on 1 June 1764. A woman from Langogne saw a large, lupine animal emerge from the trees and charge directly toward her, but it was driven away by the farm's bulls.
On 30 June, the first official victim of the beast was Jeanne Boulet, 14, killed near the village of Les Hubacs, not far from Langogne.
The beast also seemed to target people over farm animals; many times it would attack someone while cattle were in the same field" See this, to me, screams trained attack dog. It was driven away by animals, and never targeted animals in it's campaign of terror, always going for the shepherdess rather than the sheep. Why? Because it had probably been taught from an early age - attack the sheep and you will be beaten with this stick.

Also, it seems that people who stood up to attacks by the Beast, were not killed by it. In other words, it was easily cowed by a human, holding a big stick. There was also definitely more than one, as it appeared in different areas almost at the same time. But this part is my favourite

"The killing of the creature that eventually marked the end of the attacks is credited to a local hunter, Jean Chastel, at the Sogne d'Auvers on 19 June 1767. Later novelists (Chevalley, 1936) introduced the idea that Chastel shot it with a silver bullet of his own manufacture.[4] Upon being opened, the animal's stomach was shown to contain human remains.[2]
Controversy surrounds Chastel's account of his success. Family tradition claimed that, when part of a large hunting party, he sat down to read the Bible and pray. During one of the prayers the creature came into sight, staring at Chastel, who finished his prayer before shooting the beast. This would have been aberrant behavior for the beast, as it would usually attack on sight." Exaggeration encouraged by religious mania? Or proof that the creature was trained by Chastel to attack his neighbours? Also consider that Chastel had been imprisoned for two weeks by the local guard for threatening soldiers. During that two weeks, there were no attacks.

Loki

life is funny

Have you ever been struck by the weird coincidences of life and how it's twists and turns, at times, seem to have a darkly comedic undertone? If so, then you're not alone. Charles Fort (he of Fortean fame) came up with the idea, although possibly not the name, of the Cosmic Joker. However, this figure does have his precursors throughout history - Loki of the Norse Gods and the Coyote in Native American culture being just two examples of his various incarnations. And here is an example of his work, condensed slightly from an article in the Fortean Times.

"Around Mid Januay 1922 the Farm of Alexander McDonald in Antigonish, Nova Scotia accquired a poltergeist. Iniitally the house was plagued by mysterious fires forcing the family to move out... Speculative explanations include that Mary Ellen set the fires while seleepwalking and unconsciously choreographed the phenomena using the energy supplied by the radio current. That the radio current and her intellectual impairment allowed a roaming spirit, perhaps that involved in the Amherst case, to manifest as a poltergeist and to use Mary Ellen's body as a tool for setting the fires, since the area did not have enough energy to let it manifest independently. Nevertheless it seems a satisfactory theory will never be found. "

"In 1913 a similar but totally unconnected case occurred in Missoula, Canada where a farm owned by an unrelated Alex MacDonald with an adopted daughter Mary Ellen. The reported phenomena however were limited to a series of knockings from the room next to that where their Mary Ellen slept. The knockings seem to have been produced by Mary Ellen. A few months later their farm burned down. Maybe there really was a poltergeist there. "

And so, two completely unconnected families, and the coincidence that binds them. Somewhere up there, the Cosmic Joker was probably laughing his ass off.