In fact, this is a rare natural phenomenon known as red sprites.
These gigantic electrical flashes occur 50–90 km above thunderstorm clouds and last only a few milliseconds.
Different colours seen during some different strikes.
Thunderstorm last night in south Australia.
Caught this wave rolling in right over the open tree line. It sets off a cool chain reaction across the horizon before a few lighter bolts start streaking closer to the house.
A couple years ago there was a lightning strike on our house, it went up a 12 foot steel reinforced concrete column, exploded a 12 foot vertical wooden post above it, and exited (entered?) the house, making a hole in the grass roof.
We 2 large aluminum service wire up the back of the house, burying about 10 feet of it a few feet deep and the cables ending about a meter above the roof. Since then, that has been hit only once.
But the original concrete post struck first, was struck 4 times since then. Theres a loud pop and white flash at the top of the post, followed by a flash in the sky and thunder very quickly after. No damage or smell or smoke.
But today, that post wast hit very quietly, but then minutes later a loud bang and red flash near a post 12 feet away, then minutes after that, a third post, this one towards the middle of the house, another loud bang and white flash. Both were followed by lightning and thunder. No damage or smell or anything.
I'm wondering, how unusual is this?
And what's wrong with my lightning rod? Should it be connected to the posts?
I took this from the car last night driving back from Limassol to Nicosia. The lighting was both dramatic and beautiful.
This is the final moments before the core of the storm moved in over the house. The next video I upload shows the absolute wall of water and severe downpours that followed right after this massive branching strike!
https://reddit.com/link/1wwiosw/video/iq7j94gsw7th1/player
Spotted this unusual phenomenon from my balcony yesterday. The sky kept flashing like this every second for several hours.
We just had a massive downpour pass through Lebanon, TN, and everything cleared out for a moment. You can really see the storm charging back up in this clip before the next wave hits.
People who work around strong magnetic fields, like the electrical busbars in pot rooms see flashes of light in their eyes. These are called magnetophosphenes.
The magnetic field can create tiny electrical currents that stimulate the retina, and the brain interprets those signals as flashes of light.
Lightning uses the same idea. Every lightning strike produces electromagnetic energy in the atmosphere, and the frequencies associated with these natural electromagnetic phenomena were studied by Otto Schumann.
Two completely different scales, but both connected to electromagnetic energy and the experience of flashes of light.
It’s an interesting parallel, isn’t it?
