National Geographic's Best Photo's of October

WOW!!! A very rare event seeing a fire/smoke generated lightning.

_{ok ok volcanic. went to the website after posting}.

That picture is so neat I have to wonder if it is real. The clouds around the tornado seem to have a circular pattern and not tower far above the top of the tornado. The clouds seem circular and don't seem to be part of a front (I'll admit, we can't see enough to be sure). I'm not an expert but I thought that most tornados usually are caused by the rolling air at a frontal boundary being tipped down (often at a bow or hook in the front). I think tornados also can form in a single HUGE thunderstorm cell. Having the jet stream overhead can create a vacuum cleaner effect to make the tornado stronger but I don't think the jet stream can create a tornado by itself.

Being National Geographic I'll assume that it is real but I still wonder.

What tornado?

Check out the article, find out what it is, my curiosity forced me to.

It's a UFO I tell ya

They have arrived, don your foil hats, pack up your families and valuables and run, run I say.

Nice find, excellent picture - Thanks Baxter

There are some really powerful images in that gallery. Thanks for sharing