Jason's car hitting something on his way to work

The sun was setting as Jason sat into his car to drive to his workplace.

It was about twenty minutes drive away from their home and there was no relevant public commuter options available to them, so they had four cars in various states of repair. Jason's car, befitting his status as a part time worker, was a small cheap Japanese thing that would last with minor maintenance until it rusted away. And, closing in on it's 20th birthday, it was starting to change color around the edges hinting at its ultimate destiny.

As he was getting onto one of the minor highways and getting into the grind of driving, as he was switching songs on his phone and put his eyes back on the road, he found himself staring directly into a shimmering orb floating into a crash trajectory in front of his car.

Jason struck the thing, everything went white and his ears began ringing after a loud bang went through his car. He pushed the brakes, after a second he could hear the wheels screaming on the tarmac. The engine choked as he forgot to put the manual in neutral, and everything but the ringing sound in his ears went quiet. For a few long seconds Jason was fighting the adrenaline running through his system.

He glanced into the mirrors to see if any cars were going to hit him from behind, then he did a quick scan of himself to see if he was bleeding or injured in some sort of fashion. He looked uninjured, though he had goosebumps.

"What the hell had just happened?" he muttered to himself as he tried reigniting the engine. Not a single sound. Did he hit a lightning orb? That's the weirdest stuff he'd ever experienced. And now his car wouldn't start.

I really need the car to work, he thought as he gave the key another twist. For a second, nothing. Then suddenly he could hear the relays ticking, starting the engine. "Yes! phew," Jason sighed as various lights began blinking back on. The radio made some strange garbled noises and flickered its screen before it was back to normal. He looked around and found his phone by his feet, the screen flickering as well. It was rebooting, so he left it in the passenger seat for now and got the car moving.

As he stopped in the parking lot at work, he took a trip around the car. It showed no signs of impediment. Jason was happy that the old Japanese girl was capable of surviving lightning strikes without having a care. He glanced at the sky, pondering if the weather conditions were right for this sort of phenomenon. It was a bit ominous, warm with low dark clouds hinting at a cold war between thunder gods, but no rain.

Jason figured it would be wise to get inside before lightning decided to strike again. It might not hit the same place twice, but a car rarely was at the same place all the time now, was it? He locked the car manually with his keys and paced off towards the worker entrance to clock in.