These are electrical discharges seen above large thunderstorms. They were first theorized in the 1920's and were observed by aircraft pilots but these reports were discounted until 1989. Now that we know what to look for, we are seeing them everywhere. This gorgeous creature was filmed by the Gemini Cloudcam on July 24, 2017. From the report at Spaceweather:
Gigantic Jet Lightning Near Hawaii
Taken by Frankie Lucena on July 24, 2017 @ Mauna Kea Observatory
These images were captured by the Gemini Cloudcam at the Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawaii on the night of July 24, 2017. This amazing lightning phenomena is known as Gigantic Jet Lightning. They are more powerful than sprites and are easier to see with the naked eye.
I downloaded these images from the Gemini cloudcam website and enhanced them by processing them in Adobe Premiere first and then in photoshop.
There were also ripples in the sky above the storm that is known as gravity waves. They are more noticeable in the right hand side of the video. These gravity waves could have been caused by the strong convection present in the thunderstorm. These gravity waves are very near the Ionosphere at about 85-90 Km. They can be seen in this video that I downloaded from the Gemini Cloudcam website and enhanced it to better show the color of the Gigantic Jets.
A special thanks to Steve Cullen for finding the gigantic jet at the beginning of the time-lapse.
Here is a snap from one of the frames:
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