Majestic And Haunting Red Jellyfish Lightning Over Texas Captured In Brilliant Photos

These haunting spurts of lightning have been dubbed “sprites.” Scientists have been documenting rare phenomenon in recent years: streaks of red lightning that resemble the tentacles of a glowing crimson jellyfish hanging high from the sky.

Sprites were given their magical name by late University of Alaska physics professor Davis Sentman, who devised the name for this weather phenomenon due to it being "well suited to describe their appearance" and fleeting, fairy-like nature. In some cases, the jellyfish sprites can be absolutely massive, with Hummel's recent photograph depicting ones that tower "probably around 30 miles long and 30 miles tall," he said. In some cases, the massive glowing tentacles be seen upwards of 300 miles away. However, no all thunderstorms produce sprites – instead, they occur when lightning strikes the ground, releasing positive electrical energy that requires balancing by an equal and oppositely charged electrical discharge into the sky. The sprites also occur much higher into the sky than regular lightning, which strikes in between electrically charged air, clouds, and our planet's surface.