Ground-Based Observations of Unusual Atmospheric Light Emissions

Unusual atmospheric light emissions were observed from a station located in Shandong Province of East China. The main morphology of these events includes a bright glowing spot, which differs distinctly from any type of transient luminous events (TLEs) well recognized in literature, such as sprites, halos, elves, gigantic jets, blue jets, and blue starters. A comparison between the observations of four such light emission events and the data from lightning detection networks reveals no correlation between these events and the intense lightning activity in the adjacent area. The events reported in this paper may imply the existence of a new phenomenon with a mechanism that remains to be investigated with further observation and complementary lightning measurement.