Golf Ball Turned Black After Being Hit by Lightning Bolt
Fast as lightning is often a phrase used to describe sporting ability, but for one man this was genuinely the case when practicing at a golf driving range.
Tomas Gomez, 18, hit a ball at 88 mph at Topgolf in Charlotte, Texas, during a storm, and managed to strike a lightning bolt.
The incredible footage was posted to TikTok garnering 1.1 million views.
However, for those wondering if the ball survived the hit, another video has since been shared of what the ball looks like now.
Posted on the official Topgolf TikTok account, a man can be seen picking up the ball and exclaiming: "That's a black golf ball!"
To this, another person responds: "That is d**m sure a first, I have never seen that."
The footage shared on June 30, is captioned: "yikeslee313 found the [lightning bolt emoji] ball [Lightning bolt emoji] via #golftiktok #viral #lightning #parttwo #explainit."
The video of the discovery has since been viewed 133,400 times and surpassed 11,200 likes.
@topgolf Part 2: @yikeslee313 found the⚡️ball⚡️via #golftiktok #viral #lightning #parttwo #explainit
♬ original sound - Claudia Stuto
Many flooded to the comments section to share their thoughts on the rare find.
One TikTok user, Adam Theirry, joked: "That's not my ball. That's an infinity stone."
Another person, Zach, typed: "Listen if that ball ain't put in a glass case and protected at the front of y'all's building we going to have to have a talk..."
Alex added: "I would keep it, not gonna lie."
Richard Troxell stated: "Hope you played the lottery after that."
@topgolf Only one golf ball was injured in the making of this video. Everyone else was safely evacuated. 📹: via @arletteibarra @tgom2 #fyp #golftok2
♬ оригинальный звук - Молюсь на казуху
Gomez, writing from his account tgom_2, wrote: "They found my ball," alongside a laughing-face emoji.
To this, Topgolf replied: "Gotchu."
However, some people doubted the authenticity of the ball, including James Houston Jr who wrote: "I didn't believe that this is the same golf ball have you ever seen what lightning can do to a tree and other objects there is no way."
Samohtecirp agreed, typing: "Looks like somebody hit the ball with a Sharpie."
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Gomez described his sensational swing, explaining: "When I saw the lightning bolt my first instinct was to run.
"I slipped on the wet floor and was just happy I caught myself... I was just glad that [lightning] hit the ball instead of me."
However, lightning can still be very dangerous, and in Jaipur, India, recently 11 people died after they were struck by a bolt while taking selfies at a popular tourist spot on Sunday, July 11.
On Twitter, Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Ashok Gehlot, described the loss of lives as "very sad and unfortunate."
He added: "My deepest condolences to the families of the affected, may God give them strength."
Newsweek has contacted Topgolf for comment.
