During a storm in China, "electric jellyfish" were seen in the sky»

In the Chinese province of Guizhou on May 9, severe thunderstorms raged, one of the witnesses managed to capture rare discharges of red color at the top of the storm. This phenomenon resembles giant jellyfish in appearance and is known as a sprite — a powerful discharge of electricity high in the atmosphere, AccuWeather reports.

Scientists suggest that sprites can strike up to 100 km above the Earth's surface. The red sprite is considered one of the most common types. The rich color is the result of the interaction of a natural electric discharge with nitrogen contained in the atmosphere.

Sprites last from 10 to 100 milliseconds, and they are very difficult to photograph, despite the considerable length of the discharges. Storm chasers are convinced that this requires not only a great camera, but also a lot of luck. A photographer in China captured two sprites that flashed one after the other.

This phenomenon has been observed over every continent except Antarctica. Most often, sprites were observed over the central part of the United States in the area of Tornado Alley.