Article Posted on : - Feb 25, 2009

The appearance of a "sprite" (about 30 miles high by 30 miles wide), flashing above a distant thunderstorm. The "sprite" is about 175-250 miles away from the camera. (Credit: ILAN Science Team)

JERUSALEM (BNS): Scientists from Tel Aviv University led by Colin Price have discovered that some very real ‘sprites’ are zipping across the atmosphere providing a possible explanation for those other legendary denizens of the skies, UFOs.

Colin Price, head of the Geophysics and Planetary Sciences Department at Tel Aviv University said that thunderstorms are the catalyst for a newly discovered natural phenomenon called ‘sprites.’ Price leads the study of ‘winter sprites’ that are visible only during the winter months in the northern hemisphere.

Price says that sprites appear above most thunderstorms, but they were not visible until recently. “They are high in the sky and last for only a fraction of a second. While there is much debate over the cause or function of these mysterious flashes in the sky, they may, explain some bizarre reports of UFO sightings,” Price said.

Scientists have said that sprites are described as flashes high in the atmosphere, between 35 and 80 miles from the ground, much higher than the 7 to 10 miles where regular lightning bolts usually occur.

“Lightning from the thunderstorm excites the electric field above, producing a flash of light called a sprite. We now understand that only a specific type of lightning is the trigger that initiates sprites aloft,” Price explained.

Researchers have said that though sprites have existed for millions of years, they were first discovered and documented only by accident in 1989 when a researcher studying stars was calibrating a camera pointed at the distant atmosphere where sprites occur. Legend says sprites are trolls, elves and other spirits that dance high above the ozone layer.

“Sprites, which only occur in conjunction with thunderstorms, never occur on their own, and are cousins to similar natural phenomenon dubbed by atmospheric electricians as elves, goblins and trolls. These flashes are so named because they appear to dance in the sky, which may explain some UFO sightings,” Price noted.

Tel Aviv University research team led by Price are now working in collaboration with other Israeli scientists from The Open University and The Hebrew University to take three-dimensional pictures of sprites to gain a better understanding of their structure. Researchers said that using remote-controlled roof-mounted cameras they are looking at the thunderstorms that produce sprites when they are still over the Mediterranean Sea.

The researchers are leading the world in the study of winter sprites from their unique vantage point in Israel. Price said that with the help of his new camera techniques, it has come to light that sprites are circular structures much like those candles on a birthday cake. Price and his team using triangulation have also been able to calculate the dimensions of the sprites' features. “The candles in the sprites are up to 15 miles high, with the cluster of candles 45 miles wide - it looks like a huge birthday celebration,” Price noted.

“Because of their high altitude, sprites may also have an impact on the chemistry of the Earth’s ozone layer. Since they are relatively infrequent, the global impact is likely small. But we're researching that now,” Price explained.