"Ed Price" writes:

...
And BTW, what would be so bad about having some way to create a
conductive channel from the charge to a place of YOUR choice? Even
that modest goal could vastly expand the "cone of protection" that
existing masts provide. Imagine being able to initiate safe
cloud-to-cloud discharges. Imagine being able to direct all charge for
a one-mile radius to discharge (even violently) to a designated
lightning rod. One rod could protect an entire building; several rods
could protect an entire large airport. My speculation about selection
paths of ionization by RF excitation was just groping toward one way
to create those channels, and HAARP naturally came to mind.

A long time ago, there was some (theoretical at least) effort to see
whether UV lasers could be used to create an ionized channel over a
long distance. Something like that might do the job. OTOH a
rainstorm is generally pretty opaque to UV.

Teh RF excitation has already been tried -- I think someone has a
patent on it. One problem with it is that where there is lightning
there tends to be wind, so that the ionized air is blown away faster
than it can be generated.

Regards,
Allen WA0OHE