Case file · High strangeness
Catatumbo lightning
Almost nightly silent lightning over the Catatumbo river mouth on Lake Maracaibo, long called the 'Lighthouse of Maracaibo'; tradition says it exposed Francis Drake's ships in 1595.
1595 CE · 9.35, -71.65 · status: explained
The account
Lope de Vega's epic 'La Dragontea' (1598) is the classic early mention. Satellite data rank the area as the world's lightning capital, with storms on up to 260 nights a year.
The sceptical view
Natural: warm lake air meets cold winds off the Andes and Perijá ranges; the lightning seems silent because it is too far away to hear.