wrote in message
...
On Oct 15, 10:54 am, Ian Jackson
wrote:


One reason for lightning conductors (and for grounding elevated
conductors, like radio antennas) is that it helps to stop a high
electrostatic charge from accumulating in the air immediately above
them. The intention is to PREVENT a direct lightning strike, rather than
conduct a strike to ground. Of course, if a direct strike DOES occur, an
antenna (and even a stout lightning conductor) may be seriously damaged.
--
Ian

"The only problem with that is that the charge is so quickly
replenished
that I think trying to bleed off the charge is a waste of time."

The turn of the century genius, Testla, patented some lighting protection
devices based on having an insulated "cap" at the highest object on the
protected property. The "cap" would rise thousands of volts above the
protected structure and this would reduce the tendency of lightning to
strike.

Seems to me that the federal government has lots and lots of buildings and
would relatively inexpensively conduct definitive experiments to see what
works and what doesn't in the area of lightning protection.

So far as I know, the feds have done no such thing.