Our happy hour fact to amaze your drinking buddies with.

A natural phenomenon known as a sprite might be responsible for many of the unexplained UFO sightings over the years.

According to geophysicist Colin Price, sprites occur when "lightning from a thunderstorm excites the electric field above it, producing a flash of light." While sprites have always existed, researchers only began studying them in 1989, after one was accidentally caught on camera.

A sprite can occur up to 80 miles above ground -- far higher than the initial lightning strike that triggers it. Since this reaction sometimes takes the form of a "fast paced ball of electricity," a sprite could be confused for a UFO.

These sprites do not, unfortunately, explain reports of human contact with aliens and the inevitable anal probing.

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