Spot This in the Sky? Go Home Fast

Lightning is one of the most fascinating and awe-inspiring natural phenomena that occur on our planet. It is a powerful electrical discharge that occurs between the ground and the sky, or within clouds, during thunderstorms. Lightning is so powerful that it can heat the air around it to temperatures five times hotter than the surface of the sun and release energy that can light up a city for days. Despite being a common occurrence, lightning still holds many mysteries that scientists have yet to unravel. In this article, we will explore some of the rarest and most mysterious types of lightning that occur on our planet.

Gigantic Jets

Instead of striking down toward the ground like any normal lightning would, or at least zipping sideways between clouds, a gigantic jet blasts upward from the top of the cloud. It shoots more than 50 meters into the sky, almost touching the lower edge of space. The gigantic jet is the most powerful and rarest kind of lightning. It occurs about 1,000 times a year and emits up to 50 times as much energy as a regular lightning bolt does. Not so long ago, researchers detected probably the largest gigantic jet ever recorded. It originated in a cloud over Oklahoma in 2018. The charge transfer was nearly double the previous most powerful gigantic jet. Scientists said it was comparable to the largest ever detected.

Lightning Balls

Lightning balls are small floating spheres of light. They can be orange, yellow, or even red. Sometimes, lightning balls descend from the sky, and in other cases, they appear out of nowhere, hovering several feet above the ground. They don't emit any heat and produce very little sound. Lightning balls can bounce off objects. If they come across something electrical, like a TV, they usually disappear with a quiet "PP," leaving behind the smell of sulfur. But lightning balls can also start fires or explode. Scientists believe this phenomenon might be connected to thunderstorms, but there's no proof yet.

Red Sprites

While traveling by plane at night, you might witness huge bright red flashes illuminating the sky at a distance. They resemble bizarre space jellyfish, but of course, they're not. Those are Sprites or red Sprites, also known as cloud-to-space lightning. Such visual shapes flickering in the night sky are large-scale electric discharges. They happen high above thunderstorm clouds at altitudes of up to 56 miles. That's why you can't see them from the ground. Unlike regular lightning, red Sprites are positively charged, which makes them exceptionally rare. Just a mere 5% of all lightning strikes. For the first time, people saw this phenomenon in 1886 and photographed it in 1889.

Naga Fireballs

Naga fireballs are weird Balls of Fire that appear out of the blue in the sky above the Mong River in Thailand. They're also called ghost lights or Mong lights. Those glowing spheres are said to rise from the water into the air. They can be as tiny as small sparkles and as large as a basketball. Locals claim to have seen from 10 to a few thousand fireballs per night. This beautiful and mysterious phenomenon has been baffling people for hundreds of years. According to one legend, Naga fireballs are created by a ginormous serpent-like creature named the Naga. It lives in the Mong River and spits out spheres of fire to ward off evil spirits. But of course, science has a different, way more boring explanation. It's believed that the spheres of light are related to methane gas that ignites when it comes into contact with air.

Clear Air Lightning

Perhaps one of the most mysterious types of lightning is clear-air lightning. It's also called a bolt from the blue because it occurs in areas where the sky seems to be blue. But the most amazing thing about this lightning is that it strikes horizontally. It's a cloud-to-ground flash which usually comes out of the side of a thunderstorm cloud. Then it travels a large distance away from the cloud, and only after that does it angle down and strike the ground. Such lightning bolts are known to travel a few miles away from their parent storm cloud. And the most dangerous thing about them is that they come from a clear blue sky. Once a cyclist wearing a helmet experienced a lightning strike to the head when the weather was fine, and the sky was cloudless. Experts concluded that the bolt must have originated in a thunderstorm around 10 meters away.