Gigantic Jets of Lightning 50x Stronger Than Regular Bolts Shoot Upwards From Hurricane Franklin - Puerto Rico

Gigantic jets shooting upwards from Hurricane Franklin that erupted over Puerto Rico have the strength of 50 typical lightning strikes.

Gigantic Jets During Hurricane Franklin

In Puerto Rico, a tropical storm was being photographed by a photographer, who captured three gigantic jets of lightning shooting upwards and above the clouds.

The occurrence of upward-moving lightning bolts is highly uncommon and has just recently been verified by science. Only 1,000 times a year, gigantic jets are 50 times more powerful than a typical lightning bolt.

A black-and-white Watec 902HU camera that was made for light sensitivity was one of two cameras Frankie Lucena used to record the phenomena, along with a mirrorless Sony A7s astrophotography camera that also functions well in dim light.

Hurricane Franklin evolved from the tropical cyclone that Lucena was covering on August 20.

Because they made contact with the Earth's ionosphere, which is 50 to 400 miles above sea level, the gigantic jets that his cameras captured are red.

Most gigantic jets, according to scientists, are thought to form during thunderstorms over open water.

When the gigantic jets appeared early in the morning at around 3:00, Lucena was viewing southeast from Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico. She frequently captures strange weather events.

The gigantic jets had been observed by Lucena before. Gigantic jets were captured on camera by the Gemini Cloudcam at Hawaii's Mauna Kea Observatory on July 24, 2017, according to Lucena, who later altered the colors in the time-lapse video after it had been downloaded to better display the remarkable phenomena.

They resemble sprites but are more potent and straightforward to discern with the unaided eye.

The similarly unusual ripples in the sky that occasionally form high in the sky above storms were also visible in Lucena's video from July 2017.

Gigantic jets, according to Lucena, are similar to lightning sprites but are stronger and simpler to view with the unaided eye.

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Gigantic Jets: Lightning Bolts That Shoot Upwards

The reason why gigantic jets shoot upward rather than downward like regular lightning bolts is still a mystery to scientists.

Researchers are still unsure of the cause, which could be an obstruction that keeps the lightning from leaving the cloud's base.

Scientists were able to acquire a new viewpoint on the electrical activity that occurs on top of tropical thunderstorms as a result of a video of the phenomenon that was managed to be recorded in 2017 by an astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

Lightning typically begins within thunderstorms, traveling through clouds and sometimes reaching the ground.

Thunderstorms can also produce enigmatic electrical events known as Transient Luminous Events (TLEs), including red sprites, blue jets, and elves, occurring high in the atmosphere and rarely observed.

Red sprites appear above active thunderstorms, often alongside powerful positive CG lightning strokes. These red, jellyfish-like discharges extend up to 60 miles from the cloud top, visible mainly at night and captured with sensitive cameras.

Blue jets and gigantic jets, emerging from thundercloud tops, don't directly relate to cloud-to-ground lightning. They rise in narrow cones, vanishing at heights of 25-35 miles, with gigantic jets reaching the ionosphere.

Blue jets last briefly and have been seen by pilots.

Gigantic jets, rarer than sprites, were first recorded in 2001 to 2002 over the open ocean. They remain a limitedly documented phenomenon, with only a few dozen sightings.

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