Gigantic jet lightning, which is an extremely rare occurrence, was spotted over China in 2010, but it’s recently described by scientists after studying this rare phenomenon. The gigantic jet is a mysterious huge burst of lightning that connects a thunderstorm with the upper atmosphere, according to Yahoo News on Feb. 26, 2013.
The gigantic jet took place on Aug. 12, 2010 and what makes this occurrence so special is that it is the furthest a ground-based jet was ever observed from the equator. Previous gigantic jets were seen in subtropical and tropical areas, but this one took place at 35 degrees latitude, about the same latitude as Tennessee’s southern most part.
Lead researcher Jing Yang, an atmospheric scientist with the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, said “this is the first report from mainland China." Using a variety of tools, researchers got a good look at the storm that created the gigantic jet lightning. It accorded about 55 miles above the ground.
Yang and her research team are checking the data because they believe another gigantic jet materialized in the same area. The results of their research was published in the Chinese Science Bulletin recently.
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