Rebecca Boren, 33, from Seattle, Washington, captured a lightning bolt forming a heart shape over Cannon Beach, Oregon, on July 22. She only noticed the romantic shape while reviewing her phone footage after the storm.
How It Happened
Boren said: "It was just a stormy afternoon at the beach, and I've never seen lightning there before. I put my phone on video with high frame rate and scrubbed through and noticed it afterwards." The strike was part of 8,357 lightning strikes that hit Oregon that day, which have sparked wildfires in the area.
Lightning Dangers
While beautiful, lightning is dangerous. In the US, about 25 million lightning flashes occur annually. A single bolt can heat the surrounding air to 30,000°C, causing thunder. According to the CDC, 517 lightning-related deaths were recorded in the US from 2006 to 2025, with men four times more likely than women to be struck. In the UK, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents reports one or two deaths per year.
