Chilling pic shows brothers grin with hair standing on end just before disaster

13 September 2023 , 19:04

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A haunting image shows two California brothers grinning, their hair standing on ende seconds before being struck by lightning (Image: Michael McQuilken)

A haunting photo captures the delight on two brothers' faces as they giggle at each other's crazy, static-lifted hair. Seconds later, disaster strikes — literally.

Michael McQuilken, 18, and his 12-year-old brother Sean hiked to the top of Moro Rock in Sequoia National Park in California with their older brother Jeff and sister Mary, 15. Mary's friend Margie also joined them.

Equipped with an old Kodak Instamatic camera, the siblings managed to capture each other's grins as they laughed at each others' hair. Completely unaware of what was to come, the siblings found the occurrence hilarious.

"I took a photo of Mary, and Mary took a photo of Sean and me," Michael told NBC News in 2013. "I raised my right hand into the air, and the ring I had on began to buzz so loudly that everyone could hear it."

Moro Rock, where the McQuilken siblings hiked and were struck by lightning in 1974 (Getty Images)

Michael and Sean's sister Mary also had her hair standing on end during the incident (Michael McQuilken)

Then, the temperature suddenly dropped, and the siblings agreed to trek back down the mountain. But they didn't get very far before a mighty bolt of electricity arced from the sky and electrocuted both Michael and Sean.

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Michael remembers feeling as though he was being lifted off the ground for numerous seconds before falling back down. His younger brother had been knocked unconscious, and smoke was pouring from his back and elbows as he huddled on his knees, Michael told the outlet.

Sean suffered from third-degree burns that day in the 1970s, but miraculously, when Michael went to check on his sibling, the boy was still alive. He had a pulse, and he was still breathing.

Hikers are being cautioned against venturing up mountains during storms for fear of lightning strikes (Getty Images)

So, Michael hastily put out the fires that lit up the boy's body and carried him down to the parking lot. Everyone in the group survived, and those who needed it received medical attention. The pictures their Kodak had procured were submitted to local rangers, who then used them in handouts warning hikers about the dangers of lightning strikes atop the granite peaks in the park.

But what caused the boys' hair to stand on end as it did that fateful day on August 20, 1975? The answer lies in electrical charges found in the atmosphere, which indicate the imminence of a strike. They cause static to course through the air and frazzle hair.

The siblings didn't know any better before the lightning struck (Getty Images)

"We were from San Diego and really stupid," Michael said. "We thought it was something funny." He added that he hadn't exercised caution before that day but that every time he ventures out on hikes that take him to mountainous peaks these days, he flees quickly every time he sees clouds gathering.

After losing Sean to suicide in 1989, Michael, now 66, has become an even greater advocate for hiking safety, specifically when it comes to weather phenomena like the bolt of lightning that struck him and his siblings. But he said many are brash like he and his siblings once were and don't heed his warnings.

He said the experience "feels like it happened yesterday," and in 2013, he told NBC that he still received emails at least once a week from strangers asking him what had happened to him that day.

Jeremiah Hassel