NOT WHAT YOU WANT TO SEE

[TampaYankee]

When the lightning flashes, this is NOT what you want to see.

THIS IS A PICTURE THAT SOMEONE TOOK WHO WORKS ON AN OIL RIG. HE WAS GOING TO TAKE A PICTURE OF THE LIGHTNING AND WAS UNAWARE OF THE TORNADO UNTIL THE LIGHTNING ILLUMINATED IT.

This is a one-in-a-million photo taken Thursday night, April 3, 2008.

Lariat Sandridge Energy south of Ft Stockton , TX

[AdamSmith]

Mother of god.

Pickles got nothing on this, for sure.

[MsGuy]

How can you look at that picture and not wish to have been standing beside that roughneck? super

[BigK]

Very cool picture. Thanks.

[Guest StuCotts]

How can you look at that picture and not wish to have been standing beside that roughneck? super

Standing?

[Guest BewareofNick]

Sadly, this photo is a fake.

From http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_texas_tornado.htm:

Analysis: The above image was manipulated to combine two different photos, one of an oil rig (origin unknown), the other of a nighttime waterspout illuminated by a lightning stroke over Lake Okeechobee, Florida, taken by amateur photographer Fred Smith on June 15, 1993 (see original).

The latter has circulated for several years along with various false descriptions, including one claiming the twister was photographed near The Villages, Florida in 2007, and another claiming the picture was taken in Sedalia, Missouri in March 2006. Most recently it was incorrectly identified as a tornado that touched down in Pisgah, Alabama in February 2008.

Where will it (not) strike next?

[MsGuy]

Sadly, this photo is a fake.

Party pooper. I want my illusions back.

StuCotts: Some situations call for a little romance.

[TampaYankee]

Sadly, this photo is a fake.

Can't say I'm shocked. That's the problem with most one-in-a-million photos. Still... it does give one pause to consider what might go through your mind, or into your pants , if you were to encounter this circumstance.

Thanks for shedding light on this.