Red lightning bolts in the shape of jellyfish along with its tentacles have been photographed and filmed over Texas. This is a type of lightning called a “sprite” which is a rare phenomenon.
Discovered and described by scientists in 1989, these atypical lightning bolts called “sprites” are very often hidden behind storm clouds and require a special observation technique.
From a ridge of Mount Locke in Texas, astronomer Stephen Hummel of the McDonald Observatory took more than four hours to immortalize this celestial phenomenon of rare beauty.
A photo and video he posted to his Instagram account show what looks like a red jellyfish with tentacles plunging toward Earth.
The English word “sprite” was proposed by Davis Sentman, professor of physics at the University of Alaska, who wanted to describe the magical and fleeting nature of this lightning.
Also called red sylphs, these are ultra-rapid discharges that form in the upper regions of the atmosphere, at an altitude of 50 to 130 kilometers in the sky. According to the author of the images, some sylphs are gigantic. They can be up to 50 kilometers long and can be seen at a distance of over 800 kilometers.
For this reason, it is easier to observe them from space as seen by the photos taken by the astronaut from the International Space Station.
