trustmebro.to/r/…
✓ checked
trust me, bro:
here is the receipt.
the claim

The visible bright flash of a lightning strike travels upward from the ground to the cloud.

the verdict
CONTESTED PARTIAL
Recorded sources
2 sources for · 1 against

Counts group repeated records of the same source within each side. They do not measure evidence strength or source independence.

Is it true that the visible bright flash of a lightning strike travels upward from the ground to the cloud?

Partly. One reference describes upward-propagating ground-to-cloud lightning, and a peer-reviewed study documents upward leaders from grounded objects, but these concern leaders rather than the visible bright flash of an ordinary strike. Another peer-reviewed study reports no visible upward-propagating light before or during the return stroke, so the retrieved evidence only partially addresses the claim and points in different directions.

Verdict: CONTESTED PARTIAL · 2 sources for, 1 against · Last checked

The private library was unavailable for some searches in this check. Missing library results are not evidence against the claim.

Evidence for · 2
Lightning strike
Get citation
Lightning strike. (n.d.). en.wikipedia.org. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning_strike

Evidence against · 1
Leader observations during the initial breakdown stage of a lightning flash
Get citation
Leader observations during the initial breakdown stage of a lightning flash. (n.d.). cir.nii.ac.jp. https://doi.org/10.1002/2014jd021994

See more details
More for · 1
Upward Leaders Initiated From Instrumented Lightning Rods During the Approach of a Downward Leader in a Cloud‐To‐Ground Flash
2023
Get citation
Saba, M. M. F., Lauria, P. B., Schumann, C., Silva, J. C. d. O., & Mantovani, F. d. L. (2023). Upward Leaders Initiated From Instrumented Lightning Rods During the Approach of a Downward Leader in a Cloud‐To‐Ground Flash. doi.org. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022jd038082

Receipt History
Anyone with this link can read the claim and its public receipt, including any personal information in that text. Open permanent receipt.
Check your own claim
Challenge the receipt
Requests are recorded for review. This does not start an automatic check or guarantee a response time.

Citation formatting by citeproc-js (Frank Bennett) and the Citation Style Language project. Source and licenses.

This receipt is an automated verdict against our published method · not an opinion about any author or publication.
Terms · Privacy · How verdicts work