Goddamn. The incredible complexity.... I could see how a high ambient electric field gradient at these altitudes could be set up by a powerful positive cloud to ground strike below, which then results in likely cosmic ray initiated avalanche breakdown and ionization - the basic explanation for sprite formation, but these discharges each appear to individually have MULTIPLE stages of up, down, up, and down again propagation that I couldn't even begin to intuit the causes of. There is so much left to reveal in the coyly veiled structures of nature.
I'm a fan of Pecos Hank, and he - after working with you - explained them as the earth/cloud system re-establishing the balance of its positive and negative charges, with sprites and ghosts and jet and other electroluminescent phenomena.
Solar Field also called 'wind' is a fluctuating electrical plasmasphere embracing a nested Earth. Always rebalancing but also always forming charge separations/differentials.
Great images. It looks like you have had as much fun as I did in 1994 when I first captured Sprites and Jets in Color. There was a mild argument at the AGU over whether Sprites were Red or Green in 1994. I will have to go back and look for the Sprites blue tendrils.
Very interesting that it moves towards the ground first. That makes a hell of a lot more sense. Getting this footage must have been a right pain in the ass. Kudos to you buddy.
hi paul, i just wanna say thank you for the pure excitement this video has brought me. i hope to go into meteorology as a profession and want to storm/sprite chase to help in capturing footage for research. seeing your work and this incredible payoff after so much effort is absolutely fantastic, and it makes me so, so excited to know in the coming years i'll be out in the field watching nature's fury in all her glory. thank you for your work, your passion and your dedication, i hope to see you on the road!!
My name might be Mist but I'm addicted to sprite, and cant get enough of your videos/ photographs of them. Slow-Mo was totally worth it, mesmerizing. revealing a phenomenon like this must be so exciting. Thank You!
Love all of the videos and shots you share, as well as all of the information you give!! Thank you so very much for continuing on this path! Your time, patience, knowledge, and hard work are extremely appreciated!! ⛈️
The upper part has no or little dielectric medium through which to branch and so is often like a Roman candle. Lower parts 'tree'. Plasma discharge of varying intensities behaves differently in different mediums.
Just absolutely incredible!!!! Your work is amazing!! Your work is the kind of stuff that should be on nature shows! Have you ever considered contacted them? I mean seriously you should!
That is incredible! I was only able to find a few clip of sprites in proper slow motion on youtube a few months ago, what a fantastic contribution! What framarate were these recorded at?
at 1:50 the sprite to the right, you can see it has one step leader going up and one down towards the cloud and then the discharge. This is the coolest video i have seen a sprite in slowmo
Bloody awesome work Sir. Your high-speed captures are absolutely amazing and incredibly instructive. Thank you for a window on their nature. You made me wonder if Sprites are the fleeting track of cosmic particles drawn to those massive lightning discharges. I know little of the actual physics but your HS Footage reminds me of snippets of what I have seen in real-time in the Cloud Chamber in the lobby of the Triumf particle accelerator center and seeing the tract of a bullet fired into the water. They look like similar interactions just on incredibly different time scales. I really hope you continue to collect these captures, there must be a high-speed light intensification camera development company out there that would love to put a cutting-edge camera into your patient hands.
I think the thunderstorms only "set up" the atmosphere for sprites to occur, and it's something from space (high-energy particles, gamma radiation, etc) that actually causes the excitation that leads to sprites. That's just my hunch.
The interaction is more complex than I expected.
VERY complex, and every one is different.
Wow! Awesome snags.
Goddamn. The incredible complexity.... I could see how a high ambient electric field gradient at these altitudes could be set up by a powerful positive cloud to ground strike below, which then results in likely cosmic ray initiated avalanche breakdown and ionization - the basic explanation for sprite formation, but these discharges each appear to individually have MULTIPLE stages of up, down, up, and down again propagation that I couldn't even begin to intuit the causes of. There is so much left to reveal in the coyly veiled structures of nature.
Very well said.
Couldn’t have said it better myself
HIgh-voltage jellyfish in the sky!
Fantastic
WOW-O-WOW This video is absolutely amazing. Thank you very much. 🎉🎉😊
Awesome!
This is world class material, please keep on releasing videos!
Beautiful
Your contributions to such a elusive phenomenon are much appreciated, thank you for all you do!
best
Thank you!
Awesome work! You & PecosHank get the best shots of these things… And the slow motion is incredible. Thx 🙏🏼
Appreciate this! Thanks
Wow! Nice work. Great video.
Incredible detail, very good video.
Wonderfull work . Congratulations.
Nice!
Thanks!
I'm a fan of Pecos Hank, and he - after working with you - explained them as the earth/cloud system re-establishing the balance of its positive and negative charges, with sprites and ghosts and jet and other electroluminescent phenomena.
Solar Field also called 'wind' is a fluctuating electrical plasmasphere embracing a nested Earth.
Always rebalancing but also always forming charge separations/differentials.
Fantastical !!
Many thanks!
Great images. It looks like you have had as much fun as I did in 1994 when I first captured Sprites and Jets in Color. There was a mild argument at the AGU over whether Sprites were Red or Green in 1994. I will have to go back and look for the Sprites blue tendrils.
Absolutely wild! The way those things form and grow is unreal. So cool to be able to see it in slow motion.
Right? I have more questions than answers now.
Very interesting that it moves towards the ground first. That makes a hell of a lot more sense. Getting this footage must have been a right pain in the ass. Kudos to you buddy.
hi paul, i just wanna say thank you for the pure excitement this video has brought me. i hope to go into meteorology as a profession and want to storm/sprite chase to help in capturing footage for research. seeing your work and this incredible payoff after so much effort is absolutely fantastic, and it makes me so, so excited to know in the coming years i'll be out in the field watching nature's fury in all her glory. thank you for your work, your passion and your dedication, i hope to see you on the road!!
You’re welcome. Thanks for the kind words. Safe travels and best of luck.
Thanks for the video. Best shots!
Absolutely spectacular!
My name might be Mist but I'm addicted to sprite, and cant get enough of your videos/ photographs of them. Slow-Mo was totally worth it, mesmerizing. revealing a phenomenon like this must be so exciting. Thank You!
Excellent captures ! Our Monsoon storms can't get here soon enough in AZ, NM, and Mexico ! This is one of my top must get for 2023 :)
Love all of the videos and shots you share, as well as all of the information you give!! Thank you so very much for continuing on this path! Your time, patience, knowledge, and hard work are extremely appreciated!! ⛈️
this is amazing. i never anticipated that they would move like this. absolutely insane
Incredible! One day!
The upper part has no or little dielectric medium through which to branch and so is often like a Roman candle. Lower parts 'tree'. Plasma discharge of varying intensities behaves differently in different mediums.
That was awesome!
Just absolutely incredible!!!! Your work is amazing!!
Your work is the kind of stuff that should be on nature shows! Have you ever considered contacted them? I mean seriously you should!
"Coral abide with Rubicon!"
That is incredible! I was only able to find a few clip of sprites in proper slow motion on youtube a few months ago, what a fantastic contribution! What framarate were these recorded at?
at 1:50 the sprite to the right, you can see it has one step leader going up and one down towards the cloud and then the discharge. This is the coolest video i have seen a sprite in slowmo
So much to look at. Glad you enjoyed it. Hoping for quicker and more detail going ahead
Bloody awesome work Sir. Your high-speed captures are absolutely amazing and incredibly instructive. Thank you for a window on their nature. You made me wonder if Sprites are the fleeting track of cosmic particles drawn to those massive lightning discharges. I know little of the actual physics but your HS Footage reminds me of snippets of what I have seen in real-time in the Cloud Chamber in the lobby of the Triumf particle accelerator center and seeing the tract of a bullet fired into the water. They look like similar interactions just on incredibly different time scales.
I really hope you continue to collect these captures, there must be a high-speed light intensification camera development company out there that would love to put a cutting-edge camera into your patient hands.
From the Firmament
I think the thunderstorms only "set up" the atmosphere for sprites to occur, and it's something from space (high-energy particles, gamma radiation, etc) that actually causes the excitation that leads to sprites. That's just my hunch.
So the grainy black & white is high frame rate video and the color are long exposure still images?
Coming from firmament
blows my mind, who knows whats actualy trully going on there...
These are amazing. Can you tell us what frame rate you used?
I have seen very few videos on this subject is by far one of the most amazing , they talk of these in the Bible.
Wow, thank you!
👍💪🍺👍💪🍺👍💪🍺