DRI atmospheric researcher Dr. John Hallett was delighted to read a newspaper account involving a 74-year-old woman, a chicken in a pot, and an electrical storm. To learn about lightning, Hallett has flown in airplanes through hurricanes - this time, all he had to do was get in his car and drive to the Reno home of Catherine Baker.

The article in the Reno Gazette-Journal described how, on the afternoon of June 27, 1996, a chicken was simmering in a pot on a stove in Baker's home a few feet from the table where she sat with her great-grandsons, ages 4 and 6. They were talking about how close the thunder sounded when the diminutive woman saw a flash and heard an explosion. A bolt of lightning had entered the kitchen vent and zapped her dinner. It left a 3/8" diameter hole in the chicken and a slightly smaller hole in the bottom of the pot. It also left Baker, her grandsons, and her cat a little shook up.

When Hallett contacted her, the gracious great-grandmother welcomed the opportunity to learn more about why lightning struck her house and her dinner. The DRI scientists was excited about the rare chance to study an object struck by naturally occurring lightning, as opposed to lightning created in a laboratory. While Hallett had hoped to examine both the pot and its contents, Baker told him she was sorry, but she had thrown the bird out the day it was blasted.

Hallett explained it might be possible to infer the intensity of the lightning's current by studying the hole in the pot. He also assured her the chance of lightning striking her house again was about the same as her chances of winning the lottery. He took the pot back to his laboratory, took a lot of photographs and made several measurements. When Hallett returned her pot, Baker recounted the details of that fateful afternoon. When they parted, each agreed both had learned more about lightning - and probably more than Catherine Baker ever wanted to learn!. Hallett said he's looking forward to learning more once he gets the time to add "The Case of the Lightning-Fried Chicken" to his store of knowledge on the subject.