"Red Sprites & Blue Jets" - the video

The original 1994 video clip from which the terms "Red Sprites" and "Blue Jets" are derived. The video was made at a local TV station in Oklahoma City from example events recorded during an aircraft campaign to investigate basic properties of sprites. The clip shows examples of: (a) the first color images of sprites, (b) the first images of blue jets, (c) the first recordings of distinctive radio signatures associated with sprites, and (d) the first realistic determination of the altitude reached by sprites (~95 km). The blue jet images were obtained on 1 July 1994 over an extremely active thunderstorm that dumped 7 cm diameter hail on Texarkana, Texas/Arkansas. The horizon is slightly tilted because the aircraft were flying at close to their service ceiling of ~45,000 ft. The clip shows the two jet aircraft that were flown ~50 km apart to obtain stereoscopic views, some of the instrumentation inside the aircraft used to make the observations, and the team.

The reports based on these observations are (1) Sentman et al. (1995), "Preliminary results from the Sprites94 aircraft campaign: 1. Red Sprites", Geophys. Res. Lett., vol 22, pp 1205-1208; and (2) Wescott et al. (1995), "Preliminary results from the Sprites94 aircraft campaign: 2. Blue jets", Geophys. Res. Lett., vol 22, pp 1209-1212. The observations are a followup to an earlier report of aircraft observations of what subsequently became known as sprites published by Sentman and Wescott (1993), "Observations of upper atmospheric optical flashes recorded from an aircraft," Geophys. Res. Lett., vol 20, pp 2857-2860. (Note: several word misspellings have been retained in the video captions for reasons of historical accuracy.)

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• lightning
• sprites
• blue jets

[gayconusa]

I have a theory? What if this is how the ozone layer formed? Those jets and sprites, are injecting into the ozone layer helping to maintain it. How did the ozone form? Maybe this is how?

[Eastview605]

@gayconusa We've examined the detailed plasma chemistry of sprites and their kin with special attention given to the possibility of effects in ozone and nitric oxide. There are local effects within the body of the sprite, but globally they appear not to exert much of an effect. Besides, the ozone layer is at a lower altitude, in the stratosphere. Sprites are at higher altitudes, ~50-90 km, in the mesosphere..

[Kevinite]

By looking at the comments on here I'm beginning to think no one has read the book " Angels Don't Play This HAARP".

Heck, just go to Amazon and read the reviews of this book. Especially you lionsforlyons and cluelessDan.

[Eastview605]

@Kevinite What does HAARP have to do with anything here?

[Eastview605]

@thefirecrackerxD Yes, it is possible to see sprites with the naked eye from the ground. You have to be off to one side of a storm by, say, 100-200 miles or more, and have a clear view of the portion of the sky that's directly above the storm. The sprites are very brief, ~1/100 seconds, so it's easy to miss them if you're not looking carefully.

[phillipdogyface]

i think its the sun sending huge amounts of electricity at earth and causing the sprites to ground with the atmosphere, not the ground like normal lightning, and the red color is the nitrogen reacting in different ways and the reason why it is red on top and blue on bottom i believe is because the sprites are so huge they reach from one atmospheric level to another with different gases in it to create different colors :D

[aldenackerman]

What are the current explanations for the origin of red sprites and blue jets?

[MrMoorkey]

@Eastview605 Probably nothing. Another conspiracy weenie wanting to be heard.

[NKirkwall]

Love the 80's feel xD

[Marmalade000000]

The music is exceptionally beautiful in this video!!

[LookMaNoBrains]

Fucking sprites! How do they work?!?

[Tbolt1000TForLife]

love the 1990's music!!!

[laura20022004]

freakin awesome!

[callowaymotorcompany]

Diggin the 90's music