NAKED EYE SPRITE STORMS: Increasing levels of cosmic rays may be boosting upper atmospheric lightning. This week, experienced observers in the US Great Plains report seeing sprites with the naked eye. Normally too fleeting to catch without a camera, the exotic red forms are being spotted by some people looking over the top edges of towering thunderheads. Visit today's edition of Spaceweather.com for more information.
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Above: A cluster of naked-eye sprites photographed this week by Oklahoma storm chaser Paul M.Smith.
