Rare 'red sprite' lightning spotted in Taitung

Taipei, Sept. 14 (CNA) A rare "red sprite" phenomenon -- in which red lightning flashes in the sky above a thunderstorm -- was captured on video late Sunday, illuminating the sky off the Taitung coast.

The upper-atmospheric lightning was recorded at around 10 p.m. by a real-time surveillance camera operated by the East Coast National Scenic Area Administration near Jinzun Fishing Harbor.

Yang Yi-ching (楊義清), director of the Center for Earth System Science Research at National Taitung University, told reporters on Monday that "red sprites" are a type of electrical discharge that occurs in Earth's middle and upper atmosphere.

When storm clouds form at high altitudes, they build up a significant electrical charge that can then be discharged toward areas of lower potential, such as the ground, other clouds or the upper atmosphere, he explained.

Yang said these discharges can include so-called blue jets above the tops of clouds and red sprites at higher altitudes, while Sunday's event may have been a distinct type known as a "gigantic jet."

Because of the strong atmospheric convection currents in Taiwan, such phenomena can be seen relatively "easily" during thunderstorms in the summer and fall, Yang said.