20 Rare Weather Events Caught Defying the Sky

Invisible to the naked eye until the Space Shuttle discovered it, sprites flicker in the mesosphere — red, tendril-like bursts erupting above thunderstorms. They form when powerful lightning discharges trigger electric fields high in the atmosphere, painting brief crimson forests in the dark. Astronauts describe them as silent fireworks from

the gods. Cameras, at last, proved heaven had its own lightning.