A series of bright red columns recently photographed above a storm have sparked curiosity around the world. While the scene certainly looks extra-terrestrial, scientists confirm that this is a completely natural phenomenon referred to as sprites.
These short, high-altitude flashes have intrigued researchers for decades because they only appear for just a split second and are often overpowered by the storms that create them.
What Sprites Look Like
Sprite features unusual shapes and colors. They may appear as straight red pillars, branching jellyfish-like forms or clusters that seem to float above storm clouds. Their upper regions shine in deep red or orange hues, their more tenuous lower reaches crowned with delicate bluish tendrils that give them the appearance of glowing roots.
Sprites illuminate the thin air of the mesosphere far above ordinary lightning, between 50 to 90 kilometers above the ground.
How Sprites Form
These flashes are caused by strong lightning strikes within thunderstorms. When a strike is powerful enough, it disrupts the electric field stretching up toward the edge of space. That disruption creates a momentary burst of electrical activity high above the storm, producing a sprite.
Because they unfold so fast and at extreme altitude, they remain unseen to most observers unless captured on high-speed cameras or seen from an aircraft.
Why Sprites Remain Mysterious
Sprites are a rare class of upper-atmospheric electrical events among the so-called transient luminous events. Though pilots had reported strange, red glows for years, scientists captured the first verified image only in 1989.
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Since then, satellites, specialized instruments and astronauts have shown that sprites are more common than once believed, though still difficult to study.
Recent Sightings Renew the Buzz
Interest in sprites shot up after NASA’s Spritacular program released a stunning new image, taken by contributor Nicolas Escurat, that froze a bright red flash bursting above a storm for just a moment. Astronaut Nichole Ayers captured a similarly towering column of red from the International Space Station back in July 2025.
Two photographers witnessed another unusual episode in 2022: they recorded 105 red pillars over the Tibetan Plateau-a number now verified as the greatest number of sprites observed in a single burst in South Asia. These join the wealth of recent sightings that have illuminated one of Earth’s most spectacular atmospheric events.
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Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and reflects current scientific understanding of atmospheric phenomena.
