Fire Starter - Twisted Fire Starter

When I stumbled onto the picture of lightening below I was so impressed that I wrote to the guy who had posted it on Flickr. I wanted to know all about how he made this picture. It turns out that he did not take it. Which is a bummer cause it could be a fake, but I don't want it to be. I want it to be real. Thing is there are things wrong with it. Where is the lightening comming from? Why the dome glow where it strikes but nowhere else? Why do some of the forks just fade away? Nature can produce some startling images, but so can Photoshop. If anyone knows about this picture (Yes I know that the readership of my little personal blog is so small as to be almost undetectable.) or has an informed opinion, please let me know.