Red Ring of Mystery Returns Over Possagno
An extraordinary red halo lit up the sky above Possagno, a tiny town in the foothills of the Italian Alps, marking the second time in three years that this UFO‑like ring has appeared over the same location. Photographer Valter Binotto captured the image at 10:45 local time on November 17, watching as the glowing structure flashed in the sky. The ring bears a striking resemblance to a red halo he photographed in March 2023 at the same place. The halo was estimated to be about 241 kilometres across and hovered at an altitude of around 97 kilometres. Binotto does not believe extraterrestrial forces are to blame. Instead, these rings are likely a rare lighting‑related phenomenon called an 'emission of light and very low‑frequency perturbations due to electromagnetic pulse sources', or ELVEs for short. These glowing rings are so rare that they were only discovered by NASA in the 1990s, making a second sighting over the same small town extremely unlikely.
ELVEs: The Red or Green Haloes Born from Lightning Electromagnetic Pulses
ELVEs are triggered when enormously powerful lightning bolts send an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) through the upper atmosphere. These pulses collide with a part of Earth's atmosphere called the ionosphere, which stretches between 80 and 644 kilometres above the ground. Here, the electromagnetic radiation excites charged particles of nitrogen, causing them to give off a red glow. This is a similar process to how electromagnetic radiation from the sun causes the glow of the Northern Lights. However, ELVEs are enormously difficult to photograph because they only last for one thousandth of a second. That is 0.001 seconds—100 times shorter than the blink of an eye. For this reason, Binotto says he has to use a specialised camera setup to record extremely high‑framerate video and start recording as soon as the right conditions arise. When the lightning has passed, he is then able to select the few frames when the ELVE is visible. This is the second time that a red ring has appeared over the town, with a similar structure appearing in March 2023. But, even with all this preparation and years of attempts, Binotto has only ever captured an ELVE on three occasions. 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.
Two Rings in Two Years Over Possagno and the Photographer Behind Them
ELVEs are enormous and appear at very high altitudes, meaning they can be seen from hundreds of miles away. For example, Binotto's 2023 ELVE was actually caused by a lightning strike near Vernazza, around 300 kilometres to the south. Likewise, this latest halo was the product of a storm above Ancona, which is roughly 280 kilometres to the southeast. This ring is likely a structure known as an 'emission of light and very low‑frequency perturbations due to electromagnetic pulse sources', or ELVEs for short. These are rings of red or green light created by electromagnetic pulses produced by powerful lightning strikes. ELVEs are just one part of a class of strange phenomena known by scientists as transient luminous events (TLEs), which include so‑called 'red sprites' that sometimes appear above storms. Pictured: Red Sprites seen from the International Space Station. Some of the strangest 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 kilometres) above the cloud tops of large storms, but are so faint they can only be seen at night or from space. Lightning occurs when strong upward drafts in the air generate static electricity in large and dense rainstorm clouds. Parts of the cloud become positively charged and others negatively charged. When this charge separation is large enough a violent discharge of electricity happens — also known as lightning. 'Lightning is a major hazard that claims many lives every year,' the UN's World Meteorological Organization says.
