Jellyfish - similar spurts of electricity recently lit up the sky over Puerto Rico in a rare natural case scarcely ever get on camera . Known as “ gigantic jets ” or " gargantuan sprites " , the electrical discharges are similar to so - called " cerise fairy " – although they are even more vivid and come up upwards into the ambiance , rather than zapping down towards the footing .
Footage of the light show was captured in the early hours of Sunday , August 4 , during a barrage of thunderstorm in Puerto Rico and shared by the Caribbean Astronomy Society .
While reviewing look-alike of meteors attend from the island , the governing body ’s astronomers see their cameras had captured at least three gigantic jets , as well as somered sprites .
" The images we obtained propose that these discharges that were seen from the Island must have had a longer continuance than common . So much so that probably some hoi polloi could have see them , " the Caribbean Astronomy Society said in aFacebook post .
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After they shared the news with their following on Facebook , several the great unwashed came forward and confirmed that they managed to see the spectacle with their defenseless eye .
Gigantic jetsare the uncommon manakin of lightning , occurring just 1,000 times a year . They are around 10 - 50 time more intense than even lightning and last for less than a second . They tend to be associated with thunderstorms and occur high above the cloud . The light they produce appears red due to a chemical reaction with N in the mesosphere , about 50 to 85 kilometers ( 31 to 52 miles ) above the Earth ’s surface .
Remarkably , they were not caught on camera until 1989 , substantiate the anecdotical reports of people seeing strange blood-red flashes of lights during electrical storm ( many of whom must have thought their eyes were toy tricks on them ) .
AsNASAhas antecedently explain , the cause of gigantic jets is n’t yet clear , although it will in all likelihood have something to do with an imbalance between unlike part of Earth ’s atmospheric state , just like more " traditional " forms oflightning .
