Description

Sometimes called upper atmospheric lightning or ionospheric lightning, transient luminous events (TLEs) are short-lived electrical-breakdown phenomena/electrically induced forms of luminous plasma that occur well above the altitudes of normal lightning and Cumulonimbus (Cb) clouds. Although there had been reports of such phenomena by pilots and others for some years, it wasn’t until 1989 that TLEs were documented photographically with full scientific investigations to follow.