Over the past century a number of writers on Fortean topics have speculated that there are strange, unknown beings that live above us in the sky – atmospheric beasts that range from dragons to massive ‘sky jellyfish’. Could it be possible that some sightings – in particular of the latter type of ‘beast’ – are caused by atmospheric phenomena that are only just now beginning to be understood?
A case in point would be so-called ‘sprites‘ – “large-scale electrical discharges that occur high above thunderstorm clouds, or cumulonimbus, giving rise to a quite varied range of visual shapes flickering in the night sky.” The first report of a sprite sighting was in the late 19th century, but they weren’t photographed until a century later.
Now, sprites are captured in photographs and on video quite often – and recently, some were even seen from above, by astronauts on the International Space Station (see image at the top of this post). On August 10th, the astronauts spotted red sprites above a cluster of storms over Mexico and El Salvador, and managed to snap some wonderful images.
Click through the link below for more imagery and information.
