From
lightning bolts to volcano vaults, rocket implosions to missile explosions -
Mother Nature had it all during 2014, all caught through camera lenses across
the globe. RT.com published this collection.
Ukrainian
driver narrowly misses missile
A driver near the Ukrainian
city of Donetsk was just a couple of seconds from certain death after a missile
exploded just meters in front of his car. He emerged unscathed and posted
the video on the main Russian social network Vkontakte (In Contact), entitling
it “My second birthday.” He may need a
new car though as the front was smashed by debris from the road after the
missile struck.
Antares rocket
goes up in flames
An Antares rocket exploded
seconds after launch on the Virginia coast on October 28. The US spacecraft was
heading to the International Space Station (ISS) on a supply
mission. No one was killed during the unmanned launch, but NASA warned that
the explosion may have resulted in debris scattering across surrounding areas,
which may wash up on shore. Stunning video footage was released a month later,
giving some spectacular close-up shots of the explosion. Different angles captured
the moment the US$200 million rocket went up in flames.
Unexplained
bright lights stun scientists
It was a cold dark evening
on a road in the Ural Mountains region of Russia. Nothing unusual there - until
a brilliant collage of orange,
yellow and red momentarily lit up the dark landscape. But what caused it? This
question still puzzles Russian scientists after the moment was caught on a
dashcam. A new meteorite or military exercise were some of the top guesses from
the bewildered public. However, both were dismissed by officials. So could it
have been a UFO? The truth is out there.
Birdseye view
of Chernobyl
An American photographer
used a drone to capture amazing images of the area surrounding the Chernobyl
nuclear power plant. He gave a new perspective of the desolation the accident
caused. Phillip Grossman was given access to the control room at reactor number four,
where the disaster on April 26, 1986 began. The room is still highly
radioactive, while Grossman described this area as one of his most poignant
memories of his trip.
Twin Twisters
cause havoc
A
rare double tornado tore through the American Mid-West state of Nebraska in
June, leaving a trail of destruction
in its wake. The US national weather service confirmed the presence of the twin
twisters, which were about 1 mile apart. One five-year boy was killed, while 19
people required hospital treatment.
Stunning Icelandic lava flows illuminate desolate landscape
Streams
of lava spewing out from the Bardarbunga
volcano over the summer were reminiscent of Mount Doom in ‘The Lord of the
Rings’. In September, a tour company was offering flights over the crater at a
height of just 150 meters for just shy of US$1,000. The eruption is considered
one of the largest in Iceland's history. By October 1, Bardarbunga had already
ejected more sulfur dioxide than any other volcano there in several hundred
years. It was much greater than Eyjafjallajokull’s
headline-grabbing eruption in 2010 - which was surprisingly paltry in
comparison – because of how it grounded flights across southern Europe.
Blood moon eclipse
Astronomers and stargazers
were given a special treat on October 8, as the moon was lit up in a blood
red color. An optical trick played by the Earth's atmosphere offered a rare
chance to see both an eclipsed moon and a rising sun at the same time. The
optical phenomenon was best seen from Asia, Australia, North America and
Russia’s Pacific region. The first ‘bloody’ eclipse out of a sequence of four
red moons called a tetrad set for 2014-15 happened on April 15. The third and
fourth will take place on April 4, 2015 and September 28, 2015.
Multiple
Thunderbolts batter NYC
A
powerful thunderstorm swept through New York in early July, creating some
breathtaking images for amateur photographers. It was a prelude to Hurricane
Arthur and dumped plenty of rain on the Big Apple. Massive lightning bolts
rent the skies above Manhattan, with one striking the top of One World Trade
Center. The torrential rain led to a section of an underpass of the Brooklyn
Bridge collapsing, leaving five people injured, while other parts of the city
suffered flooding.
SEE VIDEO HERE
SEE VIDEO HERE
Tesla Tower
lightning machine
The
6-Megavolt generator, one of the most powerful in the world, is capable of
generating 200-meter-long lightning bolts and was put back into action especially
for RT. Having been constructed in the 1970s to test the effects of
lightning on aircraft, it had been largely out of action since the collapse of
the Soviet Union. It has become an eager destination for tourists who want to
have a closer look at the mysterious coils. Meanwhile the scientists
who operate the tower are hopeful that the facility, which unleashes as much
energy as 25,000 plugged-in sockets working all at once (albeit only for a
fraction of a second), will start to attract more business in the future.
A 'window into hell'
Two Americans are among the
first explorers to have stepped inside one of the world’s most dangerous and
inaccessible volcanoes. They described the volcano in Vanuatu in the South
Pacific as being like a “window
into hell.” In fact, more people have visited the moon than the lava-filled
crater on the tiny island. The duo had to wear protective suits because of the
extreme heat and to stop acid rain from burning them. George Kourounis said
that the Marum volcano was one of the most intense experiences he has ever had
and that it was "kind of like a reverse climbing of Everest." 
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