It appears from the measurements that the amount of electricity discharged by conventional lightning and gigantic jets is comparable, Cummer said.

But the gigantic jets travel farther and faster than conventional lightning because thinner air between the clouds and ionosphere provides less resistance.

Cummer caught the gigantic jet almost by accident. The equipment had been set to capture another phenomenon known as sprites, which were first photographed in 1989, said a DUNC release.

Sprites are electrical discharges that occur above storm clouds and are red or blue, with jellyfish-like tendrils hanging down.

These findings appeared online in Nature Geoscience.