Spectacular Chile Volcano Eruption

Nature still has the best special effects....

Several weeks ago, a volcano that had been dormant for 9,000 years near the
coast of Chile erupted spectacularly, hurling liquefied rocks many miles
into the sky with lightning. The results, which you see here, are called a
'dirty thunderstorm,' and are quite rare.

Nobody is certain what causes them, but according to National Geographic
it's believed to be 'the result of rock fragments, ash, and ice particles in
the plume colliding to produce static charges-just as ice particles collide
to create charges in regular thunderstorms.'
(click on image to enlarge)