Lightning sprites are large scale electrical discharges that occur high above the thunderstorm, about 50 miles (80 km) high in the sky.
These red sprites can range from 25-30 miles (40-50 km) with a lifetime of a couple of tenths of a second.
The first images of a lightning sprite or red sprite were accidentally taken in 1989 by some scientists from the University of Minnesota.
These reddish-orange luminous flashes are categorized into three types of sprites – Jellyfish sprite, Column sprite, and Carrot sprite due to their visual appearance which resembles Jellyfish, Column, and carrot.