App that shows real-time lightning on Earth is showing bombings in Middle East

0ut0flin3 51 points 12 comments March 29, 2026
maps.blitzortung.org · View on Hacker News

Discussion Highlights (10 comments)

stared

Is sad times when Blitzortung becomes a monitor of Blitzkrieg.

exitb

How could it possibly work like that? Isn't the detection based on lightning radio emissions?

btbuildem

That's kind of amazing. You could use weather app data to remove ~all the lightning and the remainder would be a livestream of missile strikes and bombings. Insane.

throawayonthe

are you sure it isn't actually thunderstorms? https://www.ventusky.com/thunderstorms-map/cape-shear

guerrilla

Are you sure about that? There have been thunderstorms all over the Middle East this week. It was flooding in Oman a few days ago and today it's raining in Iran. There's video of the lightning from various places.

thomasgeelens

I was like: wow there is an app that tracks real-time lighting? Cool! Then I went.. oh.

quuxplusone

This headline seems editorialized, given that the URL just goes to maps.blitzortung.org, which makes no such claim (and AFAICT the map shows no unusual activity around Iran as of this particular instant either — maybe it did an hour ago, for all I know).

0dayman

false headline, static map, bullshit app

akazantsev

If that were the case, you could see at least some activity in Ukraine.

opengrass

Nothing in Iran. 23:00 in eastern Ukraine and nothing shows up.

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