Most people see the lightning
Almost nobody sees the ring above it.
Captured high above a powerful thunderstorm, this is an extremely rare atmospheric phenomenon known as an ELVE — a giant ring of light triggered by an intense lightning strike.
The glowing halo can expand to more than 300 miles (500 km) across and appears near the edge of space, about 90 km above Earth.
It lasts for less than a thousandth of a second⚡️
One flash below.
A massive shockwave of light above.
For centuries, storms were only studied from the ground. Today, high-speed cameras reveal that some of the most extraordinary lightning events happen far above the clouds, completely invisible to the human eye.
Sierra Nevada Mountains, California, USA