2019 October 8
Explanation:
This phenomenon occurs in the sky over our heads, not the sea.
It is a type of lightning known as red sprite, and
rarely has it ever been photographed in this detail.
Even though sprites have been recorded for over 30 years,
their root cause remains unknown.
Some thunderstorms have them, but most don't.
These mysterious bursts of light in the upper atmosphere momentarily resemble
gigantic jellyfish.
A few years ago
high speed videos
were taken detailing how red
sprites actually develop.
The
featured image was captured last month in high definition from
Italy.
One unusual feature of
sprites is that they are relatively cold -- they operate more like long
fluorescent light tubes than
hot compact light bulbs.
In general, red sprites take only a fraction of a second to occur and are
best seen when
powerful thunderstorms are visible from the side.