Oklahoma Skeleton Barn And Skeleton Red Sprite

 9/21/23 I was chasing sprite opportunities in northern Oklahoma

Avoiding the clouds, I ended up in the middle of a wind farm- not ideal for a night shoot as there are a lot of red flashing lights all around from the turbines. But I found this old skeleton barn in the darkness and figured I could avoid most of the wind turbine lights if I kept the camera low enough and angled it right. After several hours of waiting, an uptick in Kansas storm activity had me wading through knee-deep roadside grass to line this shot up. I was rewarded with a handful of sprites including a massive and unique jellyfish sprite below the strong airglow bands.

It looks very unusual up close as the airglow bands seem to warp the color and intensity of the sprite. These headless sprite elements are unusual and the sheer size and volume of the excitation suggest to me a very powerful lightning bolt caused it. Likely in the range of 4-5 times the strength of an average bolt.

 Limited editions of this print (15 of each size) will come with a signed certificate of authenticity and additional print describing the scene