Franklin, himself NEVER claimed to have preformed said experiment, but only described it in scientific letters. All that is known about Franklin’s experiment comes from two resources: Joseph Priestley’s account, published fifteen years afterwards in 1767 and Franklin’s own description of the experiment in a scientific letter written to Peter Collinson in 1752. In that letter he only describes the expected outcome, but never states that he experienced it personally.

Shame on Mythbusters – have fun but be factual!

I imagine Franklin spent years researching and experimenting before he decided to tie a string & key to a kite. Franklin was an incredably brilliant man by all accounts, I am sure he understood the lethal potential of lightening and having NO Death-Wish took all reasonable precations.

I think there was a TV program about it.

The story was that a group of residents had noticed a rather unpleasant smell
emanating from a room/apartment whatever.

Constable Plod was called in to investigate and on knocking the door down
the place was seen to be empty of human occupation. The occupier who had been missing for a while was nowhere in evidence.
However the walls and ceilings were covered
by an oily sooty mess.

This had happened on a number of previous occasions. The connecting facts being, that the occupier had lived alone,it was winter time,all the places where cold air could enter the room were sealed, there was evidence of a fire being lit.

The conclusion was that the person had fallen unconscious in front of the fire
and his clothes had acted like a wick.!

I shared “digs” ( rooming house with two
meals provided)with a group of law students.
These dudes, the enquiring legal mind no
doubt,had recently discovered that a Flatus
could be ingited.

I as a mere Engineer could have told them
that when flame velocity > gas velocity
you get burn back, a very painfull condition.