Most Powerful Lightning Strikes & Red Sprites Experiment

Experiment capturing the most powerful lightning strikes simultaneously with the Red Sprites they trigger above the storm. SUPPORT THIS CHANNEL: www.patreon.com/pecoshank COPYRIGHT PECOS HANK LLC 2023 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED TO LICENCE FOOTAGE contact [email protected] OVER / UNDER EXPERIMENT: Some of the most powerful lightning events can propagate horizontally for 10s of kilometers and connect to the ground with a massive surge of electricity. We call these horizontally extensive ground flashes. Seeing these big daddies blossom underneath storm clouds is a jaw dropping sight but, underneath the storm, you’re still only seeing half the show. If a lightning strike is powerful enough, it can flip the charge at the top of thunderstorms initiating another spectacular light show high above the storm. Red sprites belong to a group of mysterious large scale electrical discharges called Transient Luminous Events, or TLEs. In order to see the spectacular parent lightning discharges in all their glory and the TLEs they initiate above the storm, we’re going to need to be in two places at one time. In this video, I team up with storm chaser Paul Smith to simultaneously document the most powerful lightning strikes and the magnificent TLEs they parent in what we call the Over / Under Experiment. Negative ground flashes are the most common manifestation of cloud-to-ground lightning. But these generally don’t transfer enough charge to spark a TLE. For this experiment to be successful, I’m going to have to locate a rain free vicinity of the storm were the horizontally extensive positive ground flashes are occurring while Paul Smith finds cloud free skies and clear views over the tops of the same distant thunderstorm complex. Check out Paul Smiths YouTube channel    / @paulmsmith   Piano music: Radiohead's "Like Spinning Plates" performed by Hank Schyma