THE WEAPONS OF THE GODS

documentary
Science | Technology
THE WEAPONS OF THE GODS
a natural history of lightning
F
or thousands of years mankind assumed that thunder and
lightning were nothing less than the weapons of the gods.
To this day scientists describe lightning respectfully as the
“last secret of classical physics”.
On our earth there are between 50 and 100 flashes of lightning
every second, and a single thunderstorm unleashes the concentrated power of an atomic bomb. No wonder research into these
gigantic electric discharges is such an adventure.
length
50 minutes
director
manfred christ
harald pokieser
year
1995
format
beta sp
version
english and german
completed
AUSTRIA’S TOP FILM AND TV PRODUCERS OF DOCUMENTARIES
documentary
Science | Technology
THE WEAPONS OF THE GODS
a natural history of lightning
W
hen in ancient times pitch-black piles of clouds loomed high in the sky, when the thunder roared over the land and bolts of lightning shook the earth, man believed that
these forces of nature were actually weapons of the gods. Thor, the Nordic thunder-god,
Jupiter and Zeus hurled the heavenly fire to the earth to protect the good and punish the bad.
Probably the most spectacular encounter with these forces of nature can be witnessed at the
Langmuir Laboratory near Soccoro, New Mexico. From a 3000 metre high mountain small rockets are launched from several ramps into the storm clouds. They are tailed by a wire which
triggers lightning discharges from the menacing clouds
To shoot “The Weapons of the Gods” the team tracked thunderstorms for months, accompanying atmospheric researchers and scientific storm chasers at their daring experiments.
Through their adventures they bagged shots that even scientists had not seen before:
•
Fiery paintings sketched on the black sky of an Australian night.
•
A thunderstorm illuminating the setting sun in the Arizona desert.
•
In Japan a flash of ball lightning, generated in a cage, passes through a ceramic tile –
without leaving a trace.
•
In New Mexico, lightning strikes only 12 metres from the cameraman, an event that
visually proved that the flash of lightning does not come from above but rather strikes
upwards from the ground.
For further information please contact
HEINRICH MAYER
Interspot Film-Ges.m.b.H
A-1230 Vienna
Walter-Jurmann-Gasse 4
phone: + 43 1 | 80 120-420
fax: + 43 1 | 80 120-222
e-mail: mayer@interspot.at
www.interspot.at
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