I’ve experienced three lighting strikes in twenty years . Two whilst driving (funnily enough, both inbound to LHR in the BIG hold. Who says lightning never strikes in the same place twice?). Both involved a flash and muffled “phutt” sort of sound - at least in the flight deck - and had absolutely no effect on the aircraft systems (777 & 787). Thank you Mr. Boeing. The biggest hassle was that both aircraft would have been grounded afterwards for post-strike engineering inspections.
The third time was sat down the back of an A320, also inbound to LHR. There was an almighty bang and a huge flash from outside, as if we’d been lit up by the world’s biggest flashgun. Knowing what it was, I wasn’t bothered, but the cabin went extremely quiet - as in a deathly, hushed silence. One could almost hear the sighs of relief when the skipper made a soothing P.A. a minute or two later. I learned about the importance of soothing P.A.s from that…