Thanks for the answer. I'm confident i have the details correct still,
however i agree you are most likely correct that it must have been the fabric conducting, and the storm a coincidence.
There was certainly nothing else in his pocket.
Once during a severe hail storm (it lasted a few minutes and looked like it had snowed everywhere),
my friend starting jumping around as if something was burning him, and he pulled 2 AA batteries out of his pocket and threw them outside. They were really hot and quickly melted a hole in the...