Sprites and Elves Are Seen but Seldom Quantified

I believe Earle R. Williams’s article “Sprites, Elves, and Glow Discharge Tubes” in the November 2001 issue of Physics Today 0031-9228 54 11 2001 41  https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1428435 (page 41) requires additional historical background. For decades, pilots have reported observations of auroralike flashes of light immediately above very large thunderstorm cells; such reports have come particularly from commercial and military pilots who have flown routes along the coast of Central America, home to some of the most severe electrical storms on the planet. Scientists have consistently dismissed these observations as everything from glare on the inside of cockpit windows to tricks played by the minds of sleep-deprived pilots on long-distance flights. Perhaps in the light of this article, some members of the scientific community will not be so quick to dismiss observations made by laypeople.