Giant energy 'jets' that shoot into space puzzle scientists

The largest gigantic jet ever recorded has left scientists puzzled - a kind of reverse lightning bolt shoots toward space instead of Earth.

Despite being a dazzling sight, the upward eruptions remain unexplained, with the jet, which was observed at 50 miles above Earth's surface, springing up from a cloud top in Oklahoma, USA. There is a typical average strength of five coulombs that defines the charge of a lightning bolt.

It was estimated that this gigantic jet is capable of transferring a sensational 300 coulombs to the ionosphere - the region where Earth's atmosphere meets space. A cloud-to-ground bolt with that strength matches the previous largest recorded charge for a gigantic jet.

An article in Science Advances published last week details the event that occurred on May 14, 2018. As part of the shock data collection, a citizen scientist in Hawley, Texas, used a low-light camera to capture the jet from the ground.

Other instruments on the ground and in space also provided data on the shocks. In an attempt to unravel what it all means, scientists at the Georgia Tech Research Institute are led by Levi Boggs.

Besides its surprisingly high charge, Boggs was puzzled by the jet because it emerged in a 'unique thundercloud' under 'unusual circumstances

Tropical environments are more likely to produce gigantic jets, which are usually located near parts of a storm with strong convection, but this one occurred in an area without much of it.

Lightning activity was inactive in the parent storm cell before the gigantic jet, which has never happened before,' Boggs said, before adding that large jets could disrupt spacecraft operations.

These events are connected to the lower edge of space, and transfer charge to that region, so they could potentially affect the space weather. This could affect communications between the ground and satellites in orbit, he explained.

Despite acknowledging the possibility that the jets might strike an aircraft, he reasoned that the likelihood of that would be extremely low since pilots avoid flying over thunderclouds. There are estimated to be 1,000 to 50,000 giant jets flying around the world every year.