Lightning doesn't always follow 'the rules'.
Here's am image of a bolt hitting the NASA Space Shuttle water tower about three-quarters of the way down from the top. This was captured from HDNet's coverage of an aborted Space Shuttle launch.
Some lightning 'experts' will be very surprised by this. I'm not. Anyone that pays attention will have seen various examples that violate the rules-of-thumb proclaimed by the lightning protection snake-oil salesmen.
The more cameras, the more clear it becomes that lighting hasn't always read 'the rule book'.
