At http://spaceweather.com May 26th 2018 jeely fish sprites over Oklahoma ….
… photographed by Paul Smith – sprites rising above thunder clouds over Oklahoma City. Sprites are a form of upward directed lightning (towards the ionosphere). We have downward directed lightning – which we cannot fail to notice, and upward directed lightning – reaching the upper atmosphere (and fairly difficult to see). The latter was long denied by mainstream – but photography cannot be dismissed (eventually). Apparently, some researchers think sprites have a connection with cosmic rays – and with a less active Sun there is more cosmic rays penetrating the atmosphere.