The Bell Tower Incident at Sigolsheim

Z. A. Hartono & I Robiah
September 2010

With hundreds of thousands of ESE air terminals allegedly installed around the world, the users of these air terminals have every reason to be very concerned about the safety of these buildings and the people that occupy them. This is because the ESE air terminals have also been proven to be very ineffective in France, the country which has produced the most ESE air terminals for the world market.

In May 2009, lightning struck the bell tower of the Saint Pierre and Paul church which is located in the town of Sigolsheim in eastern France. While this incident may seem trivial since many places of worship around the world have been struck by lightning throughout history, it is highly significant due to the size of this bell tower, the climate of the region and the protection that it was provided. The lightning had struck and damaged a stone cross which was installed on one end of the roof while a non-conventional air terminal (i.e. lightning rod) was installed on the other end. An investigation conducted by the French authorities revealed that lightning had not struck the early streamer emission (ESE) air terminal which is claimed to provide protection for the entire church building.

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