In the midst of a biblical thunderstorm, you could be forgiven for assuming the end was nigh when a large, red jellyfish appeared in the sky. The bizarre weather phenomenon is actually the result of red sprites, a type of electrical discharge that happens much higher up than conventional-looking lightning. That said, if I ever saw this in real life, I’m not sure the scientific explanation would do much to settle my fears that the evil overlord cnidarians had finally
landed.
The picture above, taken by Stephen Hummel of the McDonald Observatory in Mount Locke, Texas, shows one such red sprite event. The ultra-fast bursts of electrical activity crackle their way up to 80 kilometers (50 miles) into the atmosphere, traveling far enough to be papped by the International Space Station. In these photos, they can be seen as red squiggles above the bright white light of a lightning storm.
