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A gigantic jet captured above a storm in North Carolina in 2009.
By Elizabeth Howell
LiveScience
A rare glimpse of a "gigantic jet" — a huge and mysterious burst of lightning that connects a thunderstorm with the upper atmosphere — was made over China in 2010 and was recently described by scientists.
The gigantic jet took place in eastern China on Aug. 12, 2010 — the farthest a ground-based one has ever been observed from the equator, according to the research team.
Previous jets were mainly seen in tropical or subtropical regions, but this one took place around 35 degrees latitude, about the same as the southern part of Tennessee in the United States.
"This is the first report from mainland China," lead researcher Jing Yang, an atmospheric scientist with the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, told OurAmazingPlanet. The results were recently published in the Chinese Science Bulletin.
Researchers got a good look at the storm using a variety of tools, including Doppler radar data and weather pictures in the infrared band of radiation.
The gigantic jet peaked at about 55 miles (89 kilometers) above the ground, far above the cloudtops that were measured with Doppler radar at an altitude of 11 miles (17 km). [Infographic: Earth's Atmosphere Top to Bottom]
Yang added that her team had possibly seen another gigantic jet in the same area during a different thunderstorm, but said they needed to recheck the data to confirm.
"It's not as clear as this one if it is a gigantic jet or not," she said.
It wasn't until the last century that electrical activity above thunderclouds was scientifically proven, although rumors based on undocumented observations circulated long before that time.
These electrical discharges can take several forms, such as sprites (orange-red flashes) and blue jets, which appear as blue cones.
The first confirmed gigantic jet was reported in 2001, after American researchers saw a blue jet reaching 44 miles (70 km) above the clouds at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. This was nearly double the 26-mile (42 km) limit for jets that was previously observed.
Two years later, researchers described shapes such as "tree jets" and "carrot jets" that they spotted during a 2002 thunderstorm over the South China Sea near the Philippines.
While scientists are still trying to understand how these gigantic jets work, they believe the jets balance out the electrical charge during thunderstorms by discharging the ionosphere — a part of the upper atmosphere filled with charged particles.
Follow Elizabeth Howell @howellspace, or OurAmazingPlanet on Twitter @OAPlanet. We're also on Facebook and Google+.
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Leave a Comment:
It's not clear why China waited over 2 years to comment on the unusual lighting bolt. Must be a slow day for China.
According to high level sources in the Pentagon, the sighting of this usual jet of light is in fact a secret Chinese plasma weapon under development intended to destroy American naval carriers. To avoid a 'plasma jet' gap, the Pentagon is asking Congress for one trillion dollar for the R&D of an American prototype that will not only close the gap but attain superiority.
With millions of Americans unemployed, the proposed plasma weapon will provide a much needed 'stimulus' to the economy while ensuring national security. The plasma weapon is the weapon of choice against terrorists as the narrow beam provide a surgical strike with no collateral damage.
Plasma Jet weapon is America's arsenal for democracy, liberty, and the American way. Call your Congressmen today and voice your support for more military spending.
This sounds like a repackaging of a particle beam weapon. Yes, this technology does need to be pursued, but I would place a much higher priority on the development of X-ray (or even G-ray) lasers as the ideal anti-terrorist weapon producing few if any collateral casualties. - RC
Um, there IS no such technology, Rick. WallStFatCat was being facetious.
Just goes to show how strange real life can be, and how easy it is to fake people who have limited knowledge but are willing to criticize like experts.
"gigantic Jet" ? Must be Rex Ryan
Kimchee gas
chuckle!
she blinded me with Science, can't divulge my thinking......
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprite_(lightning)
The public may not be aware of that this may cause social, political or scientific amnesia.
Looks like just another explosion in the fireworks factory.
LOOKS FAKE, seriously, where do you find a camera that has lower than 1 mb pixels
The picture was taken from the equator.
These cameras are designed and made specifically for the job. News flash: just because you've never heard of something doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
You talk about your slow new day. Geez
The picture looks like a human hand. Perhaps this goes along with the story given by the Russian astronauts who reported having seen angels in space. How does that grab you, folks?
Why does the head line read, "Mysterious 'gigantic jet' lightning..."?
There was no mystery about it. Just a natural phenomenon being observed.
Because nobody would've clicked on "Known lightning phenomenon seen in China". And then MSN would have to get more honest with their advertisers about their page views.
Probably because they're mysterious, gigantic jets of lightning? As the article says, scientists don't know much about them or what causes them.
But it's more satisfying to criticize the "liberal" mainstream media, especially if there is no reason to do so.
As for the comment about Russian Astronauts, I read something about out in space our eyes are bombarded with particles causing a type of hallucination. I was really wondering if these lightning jets could bring down an airliner like the one over the Atlantic, even with their protections.
The particles being seen by astronauts have been shown to be gamma rays.
Shown to be gamma rays? Those must be remarkable astronauts.
that's a lightening strike of epic proportions
looks like the work of the empire-LOL
when are the darth,sith,cedi and jedi
different orders of the same creed
when do we get light sabres
my kids are excited
only joking or am i
They are known better as sprites. National Geographic did a special on them.
Not according to the article. It says that sprites are "orange-red flashes". The picture above (from a storm over North Carolina a few years ago) is in black&white, so I don't know what the color is, but since they go to the trouble of separately describing sprites and "blue cones", I assume the "gigantic jet" is different.
We have seen them for years in the military. Under night vision goggles we would watch thunderstorms in Colorado race across the Arizona Mountains th the South. Spectacular cones above the lighting bolts below the clouds. You sould see them under night vision on a Apache Helicopter as well, WOW!
These things are way cool. Lots of energy going on in thunderstorms and above them.
http://www.spritesandjets.com/TLE-introduction.htm
Who will post first? The conspiracy theorist that this is all some giant coverup, or the religious indoctrinator that claims this is the handiwork of god? I have my popcorn ready...
Huh, I still don't have a clue what the hell they are talking about even after reading that story twice! What's the big deal with these "jets"? Do they appear out of nowhere, or do they just appear ABOVE storm clouds? Do people see them from ground level or does one have to be on a mountain or in a airplane? The person who wrote this could have done a bit better job explaining why and what was so important about these "gigantic jets"...
As the article states, they appear above thunderstorms, between the tops of clouds and the upper atmosphere. In the case of the one spotted over China, it peaked at about 55 miles above the earth, *far* above the cloud tops.
It's thought that while normal lightning equalizes the charges between the earth and the clouds, these equalize the charges between the clouds and the ionosphere. When normal lightning is taking place below the clouds, these can occur above.
Nobody said they're particularly important, but we study all we can about nature. People over the years had reported seeing them, but it took some serious scientific study to confirm that they actually exist. And they're pretty cool, too!
Criticize first, read later...maybe
It's the aliens harvesting our souls.