Strange occurrences known as red sprites and blue jets, are weather oddities that have been puzzling airline pilots and scientists for years. As pilots fly in the evening over thunderstorm clouds, many have reported seeing flashes of red or blue light beaming up out of the top of the clouds (opposite of lightning). These flashes of lights only last a few thousandths of a second, which makes them very hard for scientists to trace and study. These light pulses can shoot up to 50 miles above thunderstorm clouds. Scientists do agree that the sprites and blue jets are related to supercharged lightning. The sprites are generally observed at times where thunderstorms produce an excess amount of electricity, setting the stage for the sprites above the charged thunderstorm clouds. The electricity from the blue jets or the sprites is thought to interact with the free-roaming electrons in the ionosphere, which contributes to their magnitude. Different areas may experience different colors of the blue jets or sprites depending on the negative or positive charge release during the thunderstorms.
This is an amazing phenomenon that the electrical charges may actually connect from the earth’s surface to the ionosphere in less than a second. Perhaps the energy and voltage in the blue jets or red sprites could be greater than regular lightning, since they require so much electrical energy to form. I wonder if they are strong enough to “zap” an airplane or if maybe they don’t last long enough to do any damage. Pilots can navigate through storms since they are capable of flying above the actual storm clouds, but if the sprites or blue jets are shooting up through the clouds, they could pose a serious problem to air traffic. The existence of red sprites and blue jets was only confirmed in 1989, therefore many questions about them are still unresolved.
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