The Red Sprites
For decades, pilots described brief red flashes shooting upward above thunderstorms. Hardly anyone believed them.
What was reported
Airline and military pilots flying at night near large thunderstorms sometimes reported strange, brief flashes of red light shooting upward from the tops of the clouds, towards space. Because they lasted only a fraction of a second and scientists had no explanation, the reports were largely dismissed.
In July 1989, scientists from the University of Minnesota were testing a sensitive camera when they caught one by accident: a huge, faint flash above a distant storm.
Explanations offered
These flashes are now known as red sprites, a kind of electrical discharge high in the atmosphere, set off by powerful lightning below. They have since been filmed from aircraft, mountaintops and the International Space Station. The pilots had been right all along.
- When
- Reported by pilots for decades; filmed in 1989
- Where
- Minnesota, USA, and above storms worldwide
- Witnesses
- Pilots, then scientists
- Status
- Confirmed
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.