Gigantic Jet' Lightning Spotted Over China

Gigantic Jet' Lightning Spotted Over China

news.yahoo.com

The first confirmed gigantic jet was reported in 2001, after American researchers saw a blue jet reaching 44 miles (70 km) above the clouds at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. This was nearly double the 26-mile (42 km) limit for jets that was previously observed.

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Not confirmed until 2001?

More evidence on how little we really know.

Speculation

There is a great deal more to the electrical universe than science wants to admit?

Giant plasma streams into outer space?

Which direction does the current flow?

I would assume a negative stream to the Earth.

Does science needs to completely re-think the source of lightening strikes.

news.yahoo.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Wiki article on upper atmospheric lightning - it and het links from it are very interesting

reply to post by Aloysius the Gaul


Looks a lot like a jellyfish, doesn't it?

What I question is if this plasma structure exits before and after it appears in a visible, or detectable light spectrum.

Well it seems fairly obvious to me. There's a large difference in charge between the upper ionosphere and the storm layer, just like the potential difference between the Earth and the clouds acting like a huge capacitor, and when enough charge builds up it discharges. I imagine lightening mostly hits the Earth because it's the shorter path of least resistance?

They are known as "sprites" and I have seen them described like this on a TV documentary at least 10 years ago if not longer.

It was a satellite in orbit (possibly even the ISS that 1st saw them if I recall) I've not bothered to check this I am just going on my vague memory of the documentary I saw but it was at least a decade ago.