Weird lightning strike wipes out hundreds of reindeer simultaneously

A strange lightning strike took out hundreds of Norwegian reindeer, all at the same time.

“Officials surmised that an extremely high discharge of electricity from the storm on Friday afternoon—and the interaction of the lightning with the earth and water—had electrocuted the animals,” according to the New York Times. “Olav Strand, a senior researcher at the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, inspected the site on Sunday, and said the animals appeared to have died ‘as if someone just turned off a switch.’ The air was filled with a smell that seemed both sweet and sour, he said.”

(thanks to Ed Webb)