Mysterious Red Halo Baffles Scientists Over Italian Town

Mysterious Red Halo Over Italian Town Stuns Scientists

A strange red halo has appeared over a small Italian town for the second time in three years, leaving scientists and locals alike baffled. The phenomenon, which resembles a UFO-like ring, was captured by photographer Valter Binotto, who witnessed the glowing structure floating above Possagno, a tiny town nestled in the foothills of the Italian Alps.

The photograph was taken at 10:45 local time on November 17. Interestingly, this red halo closely resembles another one that Mr. Binotto spotted in the same location in March 2023. This year's halo was estimated to be 150 miles (200 kilometers) across and hovered at an altitude of about 60 miles (100 kilometers).

Despite the eerie appearance, Mr. Binotto does not believe that extraterrestrial forces are responsible. Instead, he suggests that these rings are likely a rare lighting-related phenomenon known as ELVEs—short for "Emission of Light and very Low-frequency Electromagnetic pulse sources." These glowing rings are so rare that they were only discovered by NASA in the 1990s, making it extremely unlikely to spot two over the same tiny town.

Scientists believe that ELVEs are triggered when powerful lightning bolts send an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) through the upper atmosphere. These pulses then collide with the ionosphere, a layer of Earth's atmosphere that stretches between 50 and 400 miles (80–644 kilometers) above the ground. In the ionosphere, the electromagnetic radiation excites charged particles of nitrogen, causing them to emit a red glow. This process is similar to how sunlight causes the Northern Lights.

However, ELVEs are incredibly difficult to photograph because they last for just one thousandth of a second—100 times shorter than the blink of an eye. To capture such fleeting events, Mr. Binotto uses a specialized camera setup that records extremely high-frame-rate video. He starts recording as soon as the right conditions arise, and once the lightning has passed, he selects the few frames where the ELVE is visible.

Despite all his preparation and years of effort, Mr. Binotto has only managed to capture an ELVE on three occasions. He told the Daily Mail, "It is a very rare phenomenon. Only a few lightning strikes are capable of generating it, and sometimes they occur when conditions are not suitable for photographing them—because it is daytime, the sky is covered with clouds, or simply because I am asleep."

"With the first one, I couldn't believe my eyes. I had seen others in photos, but never so powerful and well-defined. Even with the others, the emotion was immense."

Given the rarity of these events, it might seem unusual that two have been seen over Possagno in just two years. However, this coincidence is more likely due to Mr. Binotto's skills as a photographer rather than any special characteristics of the town itself. ELVEs are extremely large and appear at very high altitudes, meaning they can be seen from hundreds of miles away.

For example, Mr. Binotto's 2023 ELVE was actually caused by a lightning strike near Vernazza, around 185 miles (300 kilometers) to the south. Likewise, this latest halo was the result of a storm above Ancona, roughly 174 miles (280 kilometers) to the southeast.

Since these halos only require a powerful lightning strike to occur, there is nothing preventing them from being seen over any town in the world. ELVEs are just one part of a class of strange phenomena known as transient luminous events (TLEs). These events are rarely seen, poorly understood, and extremely challenging to study.

Some of the most fascinating TLEs include "sprites," which appear like gigantic red jellyfish reaching their tendrils above the clouds. The largest sprites can extend up to 60 miles (96 kilometers) above the cloud tops of large storms, but they are so faint that they can only be seen at night or from space.

What makes these phenomena even more intriguing is their ability to dazzle the skies for over a minute. Are these spellbinding orbs undeniable proof of alien encounters, or just peculiar lens flares and out-of-focus anomalies? Could this baffling "glowing orb" phenomenon over New Jersey reveal groundbreaking secrets about airborne technology or something even more mysterious?

Could this bizarre column of light in Austria be a portal to another realm or merely a breathtaking natural spectacle? Could this breathtaking cosmic display from above the clouds unlock secrets of Earth's electrifying storms?