The mystery of a giant lightning bolt 'shoots back' into the clouds

A rare shot captures a giant lightning bolt shooting up into the clouds instead of down. For years, this phenomenon has challenged scientists' understanding.

Lightning from thunderstorms doesn't just hit the ground. Sometimes, they travel in the opposite direction, forming a rare form of electrical discharge, known as "superatmospheric lightning". The reason for the name, is because these lightning bolts originate at the top of the clouds, and reach the lower edge of the atmosphere.

Cut from a short clip capturing the movement of lightning "Gigantic Jet".

It is still unclear why, as well as how these lightnings form, because it is extremely difficult to "see" them with your own eyes, or even capture the moment.

The starting point of the study was a short clip by Kevin Palivec - atmospheric scientist and photographer, recorded in Central Texas (USA).

In the clip, the "Gigantic Jet" lightning (a rare form of super-atmospheric lightning) can be seen coming from an area located at the top of the cloud, at an altitude of about 15-20 km. It then discharges electricity into the upper region, reaching the ionosphere - or the part of our planet's atmosphere that extends from about 48 kilometers from the surface, to the edge of space that lies 965 kilometers away.

Unlike a normal lightning, super-atmospheric lightning often connects together in a very thick beam, and also releases about 3 times as much charge in the area between the cloud and the ionosphere.

This particular lightning also occurs during a land storm, instead of the sea - where similar phenomena occur more commonly.

Gigantic Jet taken at the volcano Mauna Kea, Hawaii.

Besides the Gigantic Jet, there are also some other unusual cases, such as sprite lightning, which occurs due to electrical charges following the lightning discharge from the top region of the cloud or the ground; or Blue jet looks like a shooting star moving in the stratosphere.

Most of these exceptional lightning strikes happen for a short period of time, ranging from just a few milliseconds. They are sometimes thought to cause unexplained crashes of high-altitude vehicles, or when they move above clouds to avoid tropical storms.

Recording the special lightning has partly helped scientists better understand how similar transient luminous phenomena are formed.