Two recent lightning studies provide interesting insight into the formation of lightning and the terrestrial gamma flashes, (also known as dark lightning), that sometimes accompany it[1][2][4]. While both studies make use of the radio pulses created during lightning formation they seem to differ in their explanations of how the radio pulses are created. Lake Maracaibo from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catatumbo_lightning First a little background on lightning formation. The following great summary is from a recent post by +John Baez .[3] "Lightning happens in stages. First, a streamer of electricity travels from one charged area to another, say, from a cloud to the ground, or from one layer within a cloud to another. This prompts a return stroke with the reverse charge to go in the opposite direction. The initial streamer electrified the air it moved through, creating a path of least resistance that allows the return s...