Even in our age of science, such a phenomenon as lightning still holds many mysteries. For example, we still do not know exactly what ball lightning is and whether it is connected to ordinary lightning or represents a completely different phenomenon.
Below is a now-forgotten story from old archives that took place on August 14, 1901, in the tiny town of Hanston, Kansas, USA.
It all began when the 5-year-old daughter of wealthy farmer Samuel McPrease (the girl’s name was not published in the press) suddenly died. She passed away on the morning of Saturday, August 13, and the very next day her body was washed, dressed, placed in an expensive coffin, and taken to the cemetery. It was noted that during all the time the body was being prepared for burial, no one noticed any signs of life in the small body. According to eyewitnesses, the girl was undoubtedly dead, although the cause of her death was not indicated.
When the small funeral procession was almost at the cemetery, the weather suddenly worsened, clouds gathered, and then it began to rain. Suddenly, a powerful lightning bolt struck directly into the hearse!
The strike was so strong that both horses harnessed to the carriage collapsed to the ground, and the driver also fell and lost consciousness. For several minutes, the frightened companions stepped back from the carriage, but suddenly they heard a child’s voice coming from the hearse.
When they approached, they saw that the coffin lid had been blown off, and inside sat the “dead” girl, completely alive and unharmed in appearance. She was crying and calling for her mother.
At first, the crowd simply stood and stared at the child, shocked by what they saw. Only after about ten minutes did someone finally approach the carriage and take the girl in their arms. She was then handed over to her parents, who took her home.
Later, the girl’s parents stated that they believed in the miracle of resurrection and that the lightning had been sent to them by God. Doctors, however, believed that the girl had not actually been dead but was in a “cataleptic state,” and that the powerful lightning strike had brought her back to consciousness.
One of those who examined the girl after her “resurrection” wrote in a letter to a journalist that she was in perfect health and felt no “unpleasant sensations” after lying in the coffin for more than 24 hours.
Naturally, the scene of the incident was carefully examined, and it turned out that the lightning strike had been extremely powerful. It completely destroyed one side of the carriage, melted the metal parts of the coffin (!), and burned part of the horses’ harness. The horses survived but were so frightened that they were difficult to get back on their feet. They received no injuries, and the driver escaped with only a fainting spell. This too was called a miracle.
The girl lying in the coffin did not receive a single burn!
Local residents also reported that after this lightning flash, an unusually soft, muffled light was observed in the sky above the spot for some time. It was so different from sunlight that practically the entire surrounding area noticed it.
The girl’s parents, the McPreases, were Catholics, but by the time of this incident they had become somewhat disillusioned with their faith and had stopped attending church. Some believed that the lightning strike and the revival of their child were sent to make them reconsider their “rejection.”
One way or another, this incident had a rather negative effect on the girl’s mother. She began to have “hysterical fits” and fell into “prostration.” In the end, rumors spread that she had lost her mind.
