Alexander Gurevich posite
Alexander Gurevich posited that its cause was comic rays discharging atomic nuclei in a "runaway breakdown." The world's first mobile femto-second laser was built to simulate this phenomenon; the laser ionizes air in its beam and thus creates a conduit through which current can flow. Older techniques for enticing this phenomenon include launching rockets with trailing copper wires into the air. For ten points, identify this atmospheric discharge, confirmed by Benjamin Franklin to be a form of electric current.
Alexander Gurevich posited that its cause was comic rays discharging atomic nuclei in a "runaway breakdown.
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