A striking red halo, resembling a UFO, has reappeared over a small town in the Italian Alps for the second time in three years. The phenomenon, captured by nature photographer Valter Binotto in Possagno, Italy, on November 17th, mirrors a similar event photographed in March 2023.
What are these strange lights?
These aren’t extraterrestrial visitors, but a rare atmospheric event called an ELVE (Emission of Light and Very Low-Frequency Perturbations due to Electromagnetic Pulse Sources). ELVEs are a type of transient luminous event (TLE) – short-lived, upper-atmospheric optical phenomena linked to intense thunderstorms.
ELVEs form when powerful lightning strikes send electromagnetic pulses (EMPs) into space. These pulses collide with the ionosphere, exciting nitrogen molecules and causing a brief flash of red light, similar to auroras. However, ELVEs are much faster: they blink in and out in about one-thousandth of a second, making them almost invisible to the naked eye.
Why are they so hard to see?
The speed of these events makes them difficult to witness directly. Photographers like Binotto rely on skill, experience, and specialized camera equipment to capture them.
The latest ELVE stemmed from a thunderstorm near Vernazza, approximately 185 miles south of Possagno, while the 2023 ring originated from a storm near Ancona, roughly 174 miles southeast. The phenomenon itself spanned around 125 miles in diameter and occurred at an altitude of about 60 miles above the ground.
Beyond Red Rings: Other Atmospheric Wonders
ELVEs are just one piece of the puzzle. Other TLEs include:
- Sprites: Red, jellyfish-shaped discharges with zigzagging plasma tendrils.
- Gigantic Jets: Towering blue lights that shoot upwards from thunderstorms, visible even from space.
These events are often linked to extreme lightning with electrical currents 10 to 30 times stronger than average thunderstorms (around 303 kilo-amperes in the recent case).
The Science Behind the Light Show
ELVEs aren’t just visually stunning; they also generate X-rays, relativistic electrons, and terrestrial gamma ray flashes. While these secondary effects pose no threat to people on the ground, they provide valuable data for scientists studying high-energy cosmic rays.
The repeated occurrences in Possagno are a matter of coincidence rather than location. ELVEs are massive, spanning hundreds of miles, and can be photographed from anywhere within that range given the right conditions and equipment.
The phenomenon highlights the complex and often invisible electrical activity occurring in our upper atmosphere, reminding us that even familiar weather events can produce extraordinary, rarely-seen displays.
