Watch: Mysterious Red Lights Flash Above Tibet During Thunderstorm

A video showing giant red pillars of light shooting above thunderstorms in Tibet has been making the rounds online, leaving many people wondering whether they are looking at a natural phenomenon or something straight out of a science-fiction film. The footage captures bright crimson streaks appearing far above storm clouds, lighting up the night sky for a brief moment. While the visuals look almost unreal, scientists say there is a perfectly logical explanation behind them. The phenomenon is known as "red sprites", one of the rarest and least-seen forms of lightning in Earth's atmosphere.What Are Red Sprites?Most of us are familiar with lightning striking between clouds or hitting the ground. Red sprites are different. They occur much higher

up, well above the thunderstorms that trigger them.Scientists classify them as Transient Luminous Events (TLEs), which is essentially a technical term for short-lived flashes that appear in the upper atmosphere. When an especially powerful lightning strike occurs below, it can generate strong electrical fields high above the storm. Those electrical fields energise nitrogen molecules in the atmosphere, creating the distinctive red glow.What's fascinating is that sprites do not always look the same. Some resemble jellyfish floating in the sky. Others appear like branching roots, giant columns or even upside-down trees. The structures seen above Tibet belong to the more dramatic pillar-like variety.

They can stretch across huge distances, but they are incredibly brief. Most last only a few milliseconds, making them very difficult to spot without specialised cameras.Researchers study sprites to better understand how thunderstorms interact with the upper atmosphere. They may also provide valuable clues about how electrical energy moves between different layers of Earth's atmosphere and how those processes influence atmospheric chemistry.ISRO Detects Possible Underground Ice In Lunar South Pole Craters Using Chandrayaan 2 DataWhy Tibet Is A Good Place To Spot ThemTibet offers conditions that are unusually favourable for observing these events.The region's high altitude means there is less atmosphere between the observer and the sky above. Add relatively low light pollution and vast open landscapes, and visibility improves significantly.Thunderstorms over the Tibetan Plateau can also be particularly energetic, producing the powerful lightning discharges needed to trigger sprites in the first place.