Explained: Fascinating ring of red-light flashes in Central Italy. What is the phenomenon called? | CPT PPP Coverage

A mysterious hollow disk of red light appeared in the sky in Central Italy last week for milliseconds, leaving many to wonder if it was a UFO. Because of the short duration of the phenomenon, many people missed the rare sight but nature photographer Valter Binotto managed to capture a shot of the luminous halo called ELVE in the sky above the town of Possagno in northern Italy on March 27, reported Live Science.

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The report added that the massive circle was around 360 kilometres in diameter and blinked above central Italy and part of the Adriatic Sea.

What is an ELVE?

According to Spaceweather.com, the ring flash is known as an “emission of light and very low-frequency perturbations due to electromagnetic pulse sources,” or ELVE. These are a rare types of stratospheric/mesospheric perturbations resulting from intense thunderstorm electrification. The red rings are created when electromagnetic pulses (EMPs) given off by lightning hit Earth’s ionosphere, the ionized part of the upper atmosphere that stretches between 50 and 400 miles (80 and 644 km) above the ground.

When were ELVEs discovered?

Due to their short-lived nature, ELVEs are normally visible only to satellites orbiting Earth and were discovered just in 1990, the report added. Binotto’s new image is likely “the best ever picture of one from the ground,” according to Spaceweather.com.

Photographer Binotto believes that the ELVE was produced by an EMP generated from a large thunderstorm near Ancona, a city around 174 miles (280 km) southeast of Possagno.