Florida boaters race to shore after St. Elmo's fire appears: 'What in the world?'

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Published September 30, 2026 3:31 PM EDT

The Brief

    • A group of five fishermen sped 30 mph back to shore after static electricity from a distant storm created St. Elmo's fire on their boat.
    • The metal frame began clicking and emitting visible blue plasma while the boat was anchored 50 miles off the coast of Bradenton.
    • Although one fisherman received a shock, the group escaped safely and is remarkably still considering purchasing the vessel.

BRADENTON, Fla. - A routine boat inspection turned into a high-speed escape when static electricity from a fast-moving storm began generating St. Elmo's fire on a vessel 50 miles off Bradenton. 

Bradenton boat St. Elmo's fire

The backstory:

Scott Gilligan of Wesley Chapel says he had never heard of St. Elmo's fire until the metal frame of a boat he was on began clicking on Tuesday morning.

Gilligan was checking out a boat with four friends to see if it was a worthy investment.

Courtesy: Scott Gilligan

They thought they were safe by anchoring about 50 miles offshore, and more than 20 miles away from an incoming storm.

But after about a half hour, the boat began clicking and blue plasma began appearing.

Fishermen describe electric shock

What they're saying:

"One of my friends went to pick one of the rods up out of the rod holder and got shocked and was like, ‘What in the world?’" Gilligan said.

They were stunned and moved further towards the shore.

"We all kind of just started looking around, and then you start hearing more ticking, and just every little piece of metal on a boat just started ticking, ticking, ticking, and then you look up, and you could see the little blue arcs going between the metal, between, like, the rod holder and the frames," Gilligan said.

But the storm was very fast-moving. And as they tracked it on radar, they started speeding at 30 mph back to shore, afraid that lightning could strike at any moment.

"We were like, ‘This is way too dangerous,’ and didn't realize even until I got back now, you know, last night when I looked it up online of how bad it really was," Gilligan said. "We just took off. We were like, ‘We have to go.’"

Atmospheric plasma phenomenon explained

Dig deeper:

The phenomenon is called St. Elmo's fire. Static electricity builds up and causes a difference in charges between the object and the air around it. That difference causes visible plasma in the atmosphere. That itself is considered harmless, but it can be a precursor to a very dangerous lightning strike.

Courtesy: Scott Gilligan

Gilligan said the group did not buy the boat yesterday, but believe it or not, they are still considering it.

The Source: The information in this story was gathered from first-hand accounts and statements provided by Wesley Chapel resident Scott Gilligan following his offshore fishing trip. 

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