What is a Sprite? On July 6th, 1989 physics professor John R. Winckler from the University of Minnesota and his two graduate students, Robert Franz and Robert Nemzek, accidently caputed the first unexplained visual images of strange lights that were appearing above thunderstorms.  These lights would soon become know as Sprites.  The name Sprites originated from the fleeting mythical creatures that appear in greek mythology and Shakespears plays and was suggested by Professor David Sentman, its name has stuck ever since.  A sprite is produced from the results of a powerful lightning discharge that occurs sometimes durring thunder storms.  Sprites are very rare in nature and are extremely difficult to capture on film. Sprites are usually triggered when there is a powerful positive cloud to ground flash that lowers huge amounts of electrical charge on the earth.  This flash increases the electric field in the middle atmosphere beyond the point of "dielectric breakdown".  So in simpler words a gaint spark will be created, usually occuring 45 miles above ground where large eletrical streamers will shoot both upwards and downwards at the same time.  Sprites have been recorded to stretch anywhere from ten to 50 miles across the sky and are only visible no more than one tenth of a second.  A Sprite get its red color from free electrons in the atmosphere that are excelerated and slammed into molecules of nitrogen causing it to produce a red optical emission.  This process is very similar to how an aurora is created, when energized particles are supplied by a solar flair and collide with other molecules in the atmosphere such as oxygen that produces a green and white glow. Image from:   http://www.spritesandjets.com/origin-of-sprites.jpg Like a snowflake no two Sprites are alike, there are many different shapes this natural phenomenon has been recorded making shapes such as: carrot sprites, angle sprites, broccoli sprites.