"Discovery: Unraveling the Enigma of Mesospheric Ghosts"
Originally Published 2 years ago — by Big Think
In 2019, nature documentarian Hank Schyma captured a mysterious green afterglow, dubbed the "green ghost," following red sprite events during intense thunderstorms. This rare mesospheric emission, requiring specific atmospheric conditions and asteroid dust, was finally documented by astrophysicists in a study published in "Nature Communications" in 2023. The green ghost appears in the footprint of a red sprite and has been observed by amateur storm chasers more frequently than researchers, with the U.S. Great Plains being notorious for their large quantities of sprites.