Every other electrical and electronic equipment in my house is alright. How can alarm company prove the above in a court of law or to Better Business Bureau ?
Possible though unlikely. Other electronic equipment may have a delayed reaction (no I ain't blowin smoke up ur *ss) IE lowered life expectancy and or reliability. Lightning can do some strange things you never know what will blow what won't or what may be damaged.
The alarm company employs the expert who says so! I'd say it is completely possible. One problem with an alarm system is all the wiring connecting it to the various triggering devices. It is usually long, and elevated, not shielded in any way. It works like a large antenna. So, a lightning flash doesn't even have to cause a surge on the power lines, in order to induce a voltage on all this wire. Distant lightning will produce an EMP (electro-magnetic pulse). It is like a strong radio signal. It only has to exceed the breakdown voltage of any chip it can get to. As this has to be some particular chip, it could be taken out alone. It only takes the destruction of a single gate in it to render it useless. I'm sure the manufacturer would have had enough experience to realise the cause of that particular chip being taken out! Nothing else in your house can present such a large antenna to the pulse.
