Balloon Struck by Lightning — Jules Verne's Five Weeks in a Balloon, 1863

High above a storm-wracked sky, a hydrogen balloon is battered by savage lightning strikes while its desperate occupants cling to the rigging. Streaks of white-hot electricity lance through churning clouds, threatening to incinerate the fragile craft. This harrowing scene captures a pivotal moment from Jules Verne's pioneering adventure novel, rendered in masterful wood-engraved line work that conveys both the vast emptiness of the upper atmosphere and the mortal peril of early aerial exploration.