A video circulating on social media purportedly captures an extremely uncommon phenomenon depicting a beam of light moving above the clouds.
According to the meteorological website Meteored, this phenomenon, known as a “crown flash,” occurs when altering electrical fields within a thunderstorm realign the ice crystals above the cloud. The crystals then appear to reflect sunlight as floodlight beams.
According to Guinness World Records, the corona flare was described for the first time in 1885 by the Monthly Weather Review.
🚨#INFO: A Crown flash is an extremely rare weather event, as it was first described in 1885. It appears as a bright spot in the sky above thunderstorms, similar to a parhelion, but with shifting beams and loops of light. Tho it is not clear to scientists what causes this…
— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) April 29, 2023
Despite the fact that nearly every smartphone has a camera, there are truly very few recordings of the event.
Friday, meteorologist James Spann uploaded a video of the phenomenon, noting that it had recently been “spotted over Miami Beach” in Florida.
Spotted over Miami Beach today… video from Leland Randleman. What do you think? pic.twitter.com/2BBiFCyC6g
— James Spann (@spann) April 28, 2023
The nearly one-minute-long video recording posted on Twitter appears to show a beam of light beaming above the clouds, as if someone were waving a flashlight.
The video was immediately shared on social media, and other experts confirmed that it was a corona flash. Nonetheless, the phenomenon baffled many.
“You’ve NOT seen a weather phenomenon like THIS! What a spectacular optical effect. I have never heard of it myself. Spooky…love it,” BBC meteorologist Tomasz Schafernaker wrote in retweeting Spann’s video.
More on this story via The Western Journal:
“Saw one myself about 9 years ago on some thunderstorms developing on the sea breeze. It was very bright and lasted for several minutes,” wrote Dan Satterfield, a Maryland meteorologist.
“I had never even heard of a crown flash, much less seen one,” another meteorologist in the Dallas-Fort Worth area wrote of the phenomenon. “Fascinating.” CONTINUE READING…