Airplane Passengers Treated to a Stunning -- or Terrifying -- Electrical Storm in the Clouds

Lightning can be quite a sight from the ground looking up. But at eye level in a plane, it's a whole different perspective.

Passengers on a flight over Oklahoma and Missouri this past the weekend were treated to a massive lightning storm while in the air, and one passenger captured much of it on camera.

(Image: YouTube screenshot)

(Image: YouTube screenshot)

(Image: YouTube screenshot)

(Image: YouTube screenshot)

Check it out:

It is unclear what exactly is causing the bright red lightening in the footage. A rare and recently discovered form of lightning called a sprite is generally red and associated with thunderstorms, appearing in the upper atmosphere and captured using low-light television technology, according to the University of Alaska.

StormWise.com reported sprites being "blood-red" in color with a jellyfish-like shape. UA said from an aircraft, a sprite would "appear as dazzlingly complex structures that assume a variety of forms."

A similar bird's-eye-view electrical storm from a plane en route from Miami to Dallas/Fort Worth was posted on The Weather Channel's website.

"The captain remarked that in 27 years of flying, he had never seen anything even remotely as magnificent as what we saw," the iWitness wrote.

Take a look:

(H/T: Popular Science)