Ice crystals above clouds dance and flash according to electric
![](https://compote.slate.com/images/238a24a7-d670-4694-a0ff-024ff8f5264a.jpg)
New research indicates crown flashes—twisting columns of light above storm clouds—are from ice crystals rapidly moving.
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/ISS-40_Thunderheads_near_Borneo.jpg)
Cloud - Wikipedia
![](https://d3mvlb3hz2g78.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/thumb_720_450_rain-clouds_shutterstock_55994950.jpg)
How Much Rain Can a Cloud Hold?
![](https://c8.alamy.com/comp/TWN4MH/teesdale-county-durham-uk-22nd-june-2019-uk-weather-beautiful-noctilucent-clouds-light-up-the-sky-above-teesdale-in-north-east-england-these-rare-luminous-clouds-form-due-to-ice-crystals-in-the-earths-upper-atmosphere-and-are-only-visible-during-astronomical-twilight-in-the-summer-months-credit-david-forsteralamy-live-news-TWN4MH.jpg)
Ice crystals in atmosphere hi-res stock photography and images - Alamy
![](https://1721181113.rsc.cdn77.org/data/images/full/43118/photo-of-the-mysterious-floating-light-above-jeju-city-south-korea-light-pillars-are-optical-atmospheric-phenomena-formed-by-tiny-crystals-of-ice.png?w=600?w=430)
Ghostly Floating Lights With Cylindrical Beams Seen in Jeju, South
Geotripper: Ice Crystals at Work in the Upper Atmosphere
![](https://c8.alamy.com/comp/2J3JP5N/ice-crystals-moonlight-it-forms-as-sunlight-or-moonlight-is-refracted-by-millions-of-hexagonal-ice-crystals-suspended-in-the-atmosphere-2J3JP5N.jpg)
Ice crystals in atmosphere hi-res stock photography and images - Alamy
![](https://www.syfy.com/sites/syfy/files/styles/media_gallery_next_gallery/public/2021/12/Ultrahot%20Rocky%20Exoplanet%20.jpg)
Bad Astronomy Ice Crystals Above Clouds Dance to the Tune of
Geotripper: Ice Crystals at Work in the Upper Atmosphere
![](https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=https%3A%2F%2Fd1i4t8bqe7zgj6.cloudfront.net%2Fthumbnails%2F558c1321e4b0368c236b6923%2F20150625_Weather.jpg&w=960)
This video is proof that aliens exist. (Just kidding, it's a crown flash