WRAL.com56%
Lightning topples tree, igniting natural gas line near Harnett County home 6%
By WRAL staff22%
7/21/2026, 12:17:15 PM
BS Summary: This article contains 10 faulty reasoning types, including Appeal to Authority, Unattributed Quote, and Negativity Bias, with Post Hoc (False Cause) as the most egregious example at 24.5% saturation with 35 hits. Analysis detected 199 faulty-reasoning hits from 143 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 21.9% and a BS Rank of 6% (18,221 of 19,215 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 94.80% of the article peer group.
No one was hurt after lightning hit a tree and led to a natural gas line igniting outside a Harnett County home.
The lightning struck just before midnight in the front yard of a home in Buies Creek on Keith Hills Road.
The downed tree damaged and ignited a natural gas line, Piedmont Natural Gas said.
The home was evacuated while crews began working on the line.
The crew dug underground and stopped the gas flow to extinguish the line.
The company said no one was hurt and no other damage was done.
"Since the damage was to the
service line running to the customer’s home, there were no other customer
outages.
Piedmont will be back at the home today to replace the damaged service
line," a Piedmont Natural Gas representative said.
Confirmation Bias
9.1%Confirmation Bias
OverallThis article
9.1%AuthorWRAL staff
3.2%PublicationWRAL.com
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Anchoring Bias
0%Anchoring Bias
OverallThis article
0%AuthorWRAL staff
1.8%PublicationWRAL.com
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Availability Heuristic
0%Availability Heuristic
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0%AuthorWRAL staff
1.8%PublicationWRAL.com
2.5%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Representativeness Heuristic
0%Representativeness Heuristic
OverallThis article
0%AuthorWRAL staff
2%PublicationWRAL.com
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Hindsight Bias
0%Hindsight Bias
OverallThis article
0%AuthorWRAL staff
0%PublicationWRAL.com
0.1%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Overconfidence Bias
0%Overconfidence Bias
OverallThis article
0%AuthorWRAL staff
0%PublicationWRAL.com
1.8%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Framing Effect
0%Framing Effect
OverallThis article
0%AuthorWRAL staff
4.2%PublicationWRAL.com
8.3%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Loss Aversion
0%Loss Aversion
OverallThis article
0%AuthorWRAL staff
0%PublicationWRAL.com
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Status Quo Bias
0%Status Quo Bias
OverallThis article
0%AuthorWRAL staff
0%PublicationWRAL.com
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Sunk Cost Effect
0%Sunk Cost Effect
OverallThis article
0%AuthorWRAL staff
0%PublicationWRAL.com
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Optimism Bias
9.1%Optimism Bias
OverallThis article
9.1%AuthorWRAL staff
4.5%PublicationWRAL.com
1.5%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Pessimism Bias
0%Pessimism Bias
OverallThis article
0%AuthorWRAL staff
0%PublicationWRAL.com
2%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Negativity Bias
15.4%Negativity Bias
OverallThis article
15.4%AuthorWRAL staff
3.3%PublicationWRAL.com
9.5%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Self-Serving Bias
0%Self-Serving Bias
OverallThis article
0%AuthorWRAL staff
0%PublicationWRAL.com
5%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Fundamental Attribution Error
0%Fundamental Attribution Error
OverallThis article
0%AuthorWRAL staff
0%PublicationWRAL.com
0.6%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Actor-Observer Bias
9.8%Actor-Observer Bias
OverallThis article
9.8%AuthorWRAL staff
1.4%PublicationWRAL.com
0.1%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
In-Group Bias
0%In-Group Bias
OverallThis article
0%AuthorWRAL staff
0%PublicationWRAL.com
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Out-Group Homogeneity Bias
0%Out-Group Homogeneity Bias
OverallThis article
0%AuthorWRAL staff
0%PublicationWRAL.com
0.2%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Halo Effect
0%Halo Effect
OverallThis article
0%AuthorWRAL staff
13.8%PublicationWRAL.com
2.6%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Horn Effect
0%Horn Effect
OverallThis article
0%AuthorWRAL staff
0%PublicationWRAL.com
1%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Dunning-Kruger Effect
0%Dunning-Kruger Effect
OverallThis article
0%AuthorWRAL staff
0%PublicationWRAL.com
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Recency Bias
0%Recency Bias
OverallThis article
0%AuthorWRAL staff
0%PublicationWRAL.com
1.2%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Primacy Effect
0%Primacy Effect
OverallThis article
0%AuthorWRAL staff
0%PublicationWRAL.com
0.3%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Blind-Spot Bias
0%Blind-Spot Bias
OverallThis article
0%AuthorWRAL staff
0%PublicationWRAL.com
0%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Ad Hominem
0%Ad Hominem
OverallThis article
0%AuthorWRAL staff
0%PublicationWRAL.com
1.1%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Straw Man
0%Straw Man
OverallThis article
0%AuthorWRAL staff
0%PublicationWRAL.com
0%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Appeal to Authority
23.8%Appeal to Authority
OverallThis article
23.8%AuthorWRAL staff
12.7%PublicationWRAL.com
3.8%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
False Dilemma
0%False Dilemma
OverallThis article
0%AuthorWRAL staff
0%PublicationWRAL.com
1.5%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Slippery Slope
0%Slippery Slope
OverallThis article
0%AuthorWRAL staff
0%PublicationWRAL.com
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Circular Reasoning
0%Circular Reasoning
OverallThis article
0%AuthorWRAL staff
0%PublicationWRAL.com
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Hasty Generalization
0%Hasty Generalization
OverallThis article
0%AuthorWRAL staff
5.9%PublicationWRAL.com
2.9%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Red Herring
0%Red Herring
OverallThis article
0%AuthorWRAL staff
0%PublicationWRAL.com
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Bandwagon
0%Bandwagon
OverallThis article
0%AuthorWRAL staff
0%PublicationWRAL.com
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Appeal to Emotion
0%Appeal to Emotion
OverallThis article
0%AuthorWRAL staff
4.5%PublicationWRAL.com
3.4%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Begging the Question
0%Begging the Question
OverallThis article
0%AuthorWRAL staff
0%PublicationWRAL.com
1.4%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Post Hoc (False Cause)
24.5%Post Hoc (False Cause)
OverallThis article
24.5%AuthorWRAL staff
3.4%PublicationWRAL.com
4%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Tu Quoque
0%Tu Quoque
OverallThis article
0%AuthorWRAL staff
0%PublicationWRAL.com
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Burden of Proof
0%Burden of Proof
OverallThis article
0%AuthorWRAL staff
0%PublicationWRAL.com
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Appeal to Nature
0%Appeal to Nature
OverallThis article
0%AuthorWRAL staff
0%PublicationWRAL.com
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Composition/Division
0%Composition/Division
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0%AuthorWRAL staff
0%PublicationWRAL.com
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Anecdotal
0%Anecdotal
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0%AuthorWRAL staff
3.2%PublicationWRAL.com
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No True Scotsman
0%No True Scotsman
OverallThis article
0%AuthorWRAL staff
0%PublicationWRAL.com
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Ambiguity (Equivocation)
8.4%Ambiguity (Equivocation)
OverallThis article
8.4%AuthorWRAL staff
1.2%PublicationWRAL.com
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Gambler’s Fallacy
0%Gambler’s Fallacy
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0%AuthorWRAL staff
0%PublicationWRAL.com
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Middle Ground
0%Middle Ground
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0%AuthorWRAL staff
0%PublicationWRAL.com
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Personal Incredulity
0%Personal Incredulity
OverallThis article
0%AuthorWRAL staff
0%PublicationWRAL.com
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Special Pleading
0%Special Pleading
OverallThis article
0%AuthorWRAL staff
0%PublicationWRAL.com
1.5%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Genetic Fallacy
0%Genetic Fallacy
OverallThis article
0%AuthorWRAL staff
0%PublicationWRAL.com
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Unattributed Quote
18.9%Unattributed Quote
OverallThis article
18.9%AuthorWRAL staff
7%PublicationWRAL.com
3.1%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Quote-first Misdirection
4.9%Quote-first Misdirection
OverallThis article
4.9%AuthorWRAL staff
3.2%PublicationWRAL.com
1.3%Bar shows this article. Yellow and cyan markers show the selected author and publication averages.
Biased Writer Voice
15.4%Biased Writer Voice
OverallThis article
15.4%AuthorWRAL staff
7.4%PublicationWRAL.com
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Indoctrination
0%Indoctrination
OverallThis article
0%AuthorWRAL staff
2%PublicationWRAL.com
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Politically Left Leaning Bias
0%Politically Left Leaning Bias
OverallThis article
0%AuthorWRAL staff
0%PublicationWRAL.com
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Politically Right Leaning Bias
0%Politically Right Leaning Bias
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0%AuthorWRAL staff
0%PublicationWRAL.com
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Attempt to Sell a Product or Service
0%Attempt to Sell a Product or Service
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0%AuthorWRAL staff
0%PublicationWRAL.com
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143 words analyzed.
Analysis
Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.