Fulgurite ("frozen lightning")

Great Sand Sea, SW Egypt
Large Cabinet, 20.5 x 0.7 x 0.7 cm
Start Time: 04/04/2009 8:00:00 pm (CDT)
End Time: 04/14/2009 8:00:00 pm (CDT)
Auction Closed

Item Description

A fulgurite is formed when lightning flashes into desert sand and literally melts the sand around the impact site into a glass cast following the shape of the electrical discharge. Obviously, large fulgurites, being thinwalled and elongated as they are, are fragile and hard to obtain. This is a fairly good-sized specimen, though, and from the classic locality for the material that I first was fascinated by as a kid, several decades ago now. I do not often see them for sale now it seems, except as small 1 inch shards and samples in museum gift shops, for too much money. This, however, is a good one!

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