An Australian photographer was able to capture “red sprites” high above a storm in Australia.
Ethan Takerei thought he would have to travel to the United States to capture red sprites.
The 28-year-old Christchurch man, who runs Ethan Haze Photography, jumped out of bed on Sunday night as he heard wild weather overhead, packed up all his photography gear and raced to a Halswell Quarry vantage point.
The result? He may have become just the third New Zealander to capture red sprites – a unique weather event that creates red lightning bolts 50 kilometres above a storm, the same height as more than 13 Aoraki/Mt Cooks stacked up on one another.
Sadly, no other Aussies were able to see them because the government has locked them in their homes.
The weather event is rarely seen from the ground due to its high altitude.
I stopped being a lightning fan in high school, while walking home from work and having one strike less than a half mile away. Now you tell me there is red lightning? Nope, nope, and more nope.
The O.K. Corral 
Lunder & thightning storms are wonderful to watch. Some day I’ll watch a good storm at the Grand Canyon.
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Not a fan, but watching a storm over the Grand Canyon must be pretty awesome. Loved it there when we went in 2016.
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That’s both cool and terrifying looking. We had 3 night off storms in a row hit at midnight this week. I’m so tired I can’t think. No red lightning though!
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When younger I would run out into storms with lightning with a metal tripod trying to get that 1 lightning shot….best one I got was a time exposure at the outer banks the bolt light up the sky & clouds, the sand dune with grass, and the water and could see where the bolt hit the water, which was just to the left (looking at the water) of a boat on the water a few miles out.
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Jenn – Yeah, it looks awesome, but I want absolutely no part of it.
Gary – I love the Outer Banks. It’s gorgeous, the beaches usually aren’t mobbed, and the people are really nice.
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