Does Sand Really Turn to Glass When Struck by Lightning?

"Sweet Home Alabama" did get something right — when super hot lightning (at least 1,800 degrees Celsius/3,272 degrees Fahrenheit) hits sandy beaches high in silica or quartz, it fuses the sand into silica glass beneath the ground. That means you can actually dig up petrified lightning if you know where to look.

Can you really make glass from lightning?

Lightning also has the power to make glass. When lightning strikes the ground, it fuses sand in the soil into tubes of glass called fulgurites. When a bolt of lightning strikes a sandy surface, the electricity can melt the sand. ... Then it hardens into lumps of glass called fulgurites.

What happens if sand gets struck by lightning?

When it hits a sandy beach high in silica or quartz and the temperature goes beyond 1800 degrees Celsius, the lighting can fuse the sand into silica glass. The blast of a billion Joules radiates through the ground making fulgurite — hollow, glass-lined tubes with a sandy outside. Petrified lightning.