Behold the red sprites of the night sky

One of Earth’s strangest mysteries.

Is it an alien attack? A jellyfish parade? The upside down? Let’s not panic.

What you are seeing is nothing but an atmospheric phenomenon known as the “Red Sprites” or a “Sprite”

Sprites are electric discharges that are triggered by thunderstorms and discharge of positive lightning, which leads to the build up of electrical charge in the clouds whereas the excess charge is released on the ionosphere. It is similar to a lightning strike but instead of shooting down from the clouds, sprites are shot up into the atmosphere, often at an altitude as high as 81 kilometers. Additionally, the often red color comes from the excitement of nitrogen molecules.

Electric jellyfish in flight

Just like lightning, sprites occur in an instant. But they are rare and only appear for milliseconds in a high altitude, making it difficult to observe from the ground. But when one is lucky enough to see it, they appear in shapes like those of a jellyfish and a carrot in the night sky.

In recent times, several sightings of sprites have already gained attention in the media, with the most recent known sighting occurring in Australia dating as far back as January 2026. In the Philippines, a post by Rob Kerby Villaruel gained attention back in 2024 after capturing photos of a red sprite over Bataan.

Our planet has many mysteries, the sky being one of them. Our sky is just another world within our world, containing ounces of secrets waiting to be revealed.