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A red sprite is a large-scale electric discharge that occurs in the mesosphere, high above thunderstorm clouds, or cumulonimbus, giving rise to a varied range of visual shapes flickering in the night sky. They are usually triggered by the discharges of positive lightning between an underlying thundercloud and the ground¹².

Red sprites were first photographed in 1989. Since then they have been seen from various aircrafts, the space shuttle, and the International Space Station, usually about 50 miles high in the atmosphere¹. Yet red sprites remain mysterious—they flash for just fractions of a second, leaving scientists little time to gather data¹.

Some of the recent sightings of red sprites include:

- August 10, 2023: Two mysterious red hazes hovered over Earth, one over the Midwest–either Illinois or Missouri–and another one over Mexico. They were captured by astronauts onboard the International Space Station¹³.

- November 10, 2023: A double red sprite was recorded over the Aegean Sea during a thunderstorm. The mother lightning that created it was located in Ikaria and had an intensity of 76kA. The phenomenon was captured by a photographer and posted on social media⁴⁵.

- July 21, 2023: A red sprite was photographed over Oklahoma by a storm chaser. The sprite appeared above a severe thunderstorm that produced large hail and damaging winds⁶⁷.