The 'giant lightning' incident in China has been solved

After two years, China released the first report on the giant light phenomenon seen in the east of this country on August 12, 2010.

This giant lightning bolt was recorded during a storm in Carolina in 2009.

Similar rays of light were previously only seen from tropical or subtropical regions, but this time light occurred at about 35 degrees latitude, the same latitude as the southern region of Tennessee, USA.

"This is the first release that China has made," said lead researcher Jing Yang, an atmospheric scientist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in Beijing.

Scientists have observed the storm very well with the help of many machine tools, including data from Doppler radar and weather images in infrared radiation.

This giant light peaked at an altitude of 89km above the ground, much higher than the highest position of the cloud measured by the Doppler radar (17km).

Ms. Yang said her team may have also seen another giant lightning bolt in the same area, during another storm, but they need to check again.

These flashes usually have several shapes, such as yellow-red, or blue.

The first giant light was recorded in 2001, after American scientists saw a blue light spanning about 70km, above the clouds at the Arecibo observatory in Puerto Rico. This lightning bolt is twice as long as conventional lightning, about 42km previously recorded.

According to Our Amazing Planet, this phenomenon often appears on the troposphere, the lowest layer in the Earth's atmosphere.

Although it has not yet confirmed the cause of this phenomenon, scientists believe that this phenomenon is due to the difference in the accumulation of electricity between the ionosphere and the other layers of the atmosphere.

'Many people wonder if these giant lightning bolts threaten spacecraft, airplanes or passengers. And this is the reason why studies of giant rays and lightning-related phenomena in storms become so important, " said researcher Gaopeng Lu of Duke University.