there's something odd about that article, certainly the incompetent discussion of it on here. first of all the point is not that the laser heats up the air but

there's something odd about that article, certainly the incompetent discussion of it on here. first of all the point is not that the laser heats up the air but that it ionizes the molecules of the air. this ionization then naturally causes a dipolar arrangement along "filaments" which then channel the flash. lightning bolts don't strike down onto the earth out of nowhere - they are prepared by filaments growing up from the earth and down from the cloud and then a discharge happens when those filaments meet or get close enough.