Scientists call the pulses of electric light that occur over highly active thunderstorms "red sprites."
They can be seen in region D of the ionosphere, which sits just above the dense lower atmosphere and is about 37 to 56 miles from Earth.
They appear red at higher heights and blue at lower heights.
These atmospheric elves have been known for nearly a century, but their origins have remained a mystery. They only last a few milliseconds and are relatively dim compared to other lightning bolts.
In 1989, the late experimental physicist John Winckler accidentally discovered the "red genie" while helping test a new type of low-light camera. He pointed a low-brightness television camera at the sky, ready to film the rocket's launch. During the replay, John Winkler noticed bright light appearing above the storm clouds.
In the 20th century, pilots also reported bright red light above confusing thunderstorms, but their similar reports were not confirmed.
A new study has unveiled the abnormal discharge behavior of the "red genie."
This amazing form of lightning appears in the upper atmosphere, above the thunderstorm itself.
Now, scientists have observed the "matrix" lightning of dozens of red elves in a storm in China, revealing how these astonishing phenomena are produced.
These elves appeared over thunderstorms in the form of vertical stripes, about 24 to 55 miles (40 to 90 kilometers) high.
They belong to the so-called Transient Luminous Events (TLES). This is a type of rapid atmospheric discharge phenomenon that occurs in the stratosphere and mesosphere above an active thunderstorm.
In the new study, researchers at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences studied the red genie in a storm that occurred in China's Shandong province on July 30, 2015.
These were observed through a long baseline lightning positioning network consisting of ULTRAL/LMF magnetic field sensors.
Based on the Lightning Effect Research Platform (LERP), the team was able to identify the lines of more than 30 red elves with their parents in that particular storm.
Dr. Lu Gaopeng, the study's corresponding author, said it was probably the highest-yielding thunderstorm system ever reported in China that produced such elves.
The storm is known as a mesoscale convection system in which a set of thunderstorms resembles a whole.
The researchers found that the lightning-producing elves appeared primarily during the system's maturation phase and behaved similarly to those observed in North America and Europe.
In the continental United States, researchers analyzed more than 2,000 storms that produced such sprites and found similar results.
Transient luminous events, such as the red sprite, include several different types of astonishing phenomena such as blue jets and the so-called "mischievous sprites" (abbreviations for very low frequency disturbances caused by electromagnetic pulse sources and luminous phenomena).
However, given that they appear above thunderstorms, they are difficult to study.
When they are discovered, they are usually discovered by pilots or even astronauts of the International Space Station.
The European Space Agency explains: "Satellites have probed them, even from above, but their perspectives are not ideal for large-scale data collection."
"In contrast, the low orbit of the International Space Station covers most of the area near Earth's equator and is an ideal location for catching spirits and jets."
The latest research provides new clues to these elusive phenomena that occur in the upper atmosphere.