(MENAFN- Live Mint) A bright halo of red light has been spotted floating above a small Italian town located in the foothills of the Alps - a rare atmospheric phenomenon that flashes far too quickly for the human eye to see. This is the second time in three years that such a mysterious appearance has been spotted in the skies.

The glowing ring, photographed over Possagno by nature photographer Valter Binotto, looks almost identical to another mysterious red circle which he had captured in March 2023, as per reports. But despite their otherworldly appearance, these lights aren't UFOs - they're ELVEs –“emission of light and very low-frequency perturbations due to electromagnetic pulse sources” – a rare phenomenon triggered by lightning, mentioned a report by Spaceweather.

ELVEs are very elusive because they last just one-thousandth of a second - which is around 100 times faster than a blink. People rarely notice ELVEs because they are almost impossible to see with the naked eye. Spotting them requires either extraordinary luck or specialised camera equipment.

When did the ELVE appear?

The latest red halo appeared on 17 November around 10:45 pm (local time) and was slightly dimmer than the 2023 event, Spaceweather reported.

ELVEs form when an exceptionally powerful lightning bolt sends an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) hurtling upward into the ionosphere. There, the EMP excites nitrogen molecules, causing them to flash red - similar to how auroras glow, though those are caused by oxygen.

"I didn't capture any sprites, but fortunately, I managed to capture this Elve!" Binotto told another outlet, Space in an email. He used a Sony A7S with a 20 mm f/1.8 lens at ISO 51,200. The photo is a frame taken from a video recorded at 25 fps.

How did the photographer notice the ELVE?

"The ELVE was generated by a powerful negative lightning strike in a storm in Vernazza about 300 km south of me," Binotto told Spaceweather.

One bolt reached an extraordinary -303 kilo-ampères (the minus sign indicates the lightning's polarity), producing an intense electromagnetic pulse (EMP) that lit up the ionosphere. A usual streak of lightning typically carries just 10 to 30 kilo-ampères of current. This elve hovered about 100 miles (160 km) above Earth's surface and spanned roughly 200 miles (320 km) in diameter, according to Spaceweather.

Although Possagno has now become the backdrop for two of these rare events, the town itself has no unique conditions that cause the phenomenon. ELVEs appear high in the atmosphere and can be photographed from hundreds of miles away. Binotto's latest image was created by a thunderstorm near Vernazza, roughly 185 miles (300 km) south of Possagno. The 2023 ELVE came from a storm near Ancona, about 174 miles (280 km) away.

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