St. Elmo's Fire phenomenon caught on camera during flight over central Alberta

EDMONTON -

Unless you're a pilot, St. Elmo's Fire is probably just some old TV show.

But, it's also the term for a spectacular light show that one CTV News Edmonton viewer (and pilot) caught on camera during an Aug. 23 flight between Edmonton and Calgary.

Dermot O'Kane describes the 45-minute flight at about 16,000 feet as routine. But as the crew passed over central Alberta that night, they saw something anything but ordinary. 

"This flash just caught my eye," O'Kane recalled. "I was worried it was lightning and then it happened again and again... And we realized it wasn't far outside. It was straight outside the window." 

His captain with 20 years' experience recognized the web of currents for what it was: St. Elmo's Fire. 

(Credit: Dermot O'Kane)

(Credit: Dermot O'Kane)

With the plane in cruise flight in auto pilot and the captain in control, O'Kane pulled out his phone to record 30 seconds of the luminescent strands flashing along the plane's surface. 

St. Elmo's Fire isn't technically lightning, but it looks similar and both are plasmas. Discharges of atmospheric electricity like this can also occur with the masts of sailing ships.

It's quite rare. O'Kane had heard of it but not seen it in his nine years of flying. His captain had only witnessed the phenomenon once. 

The pilot and nature photographer had just one word for the experience: "Cool." 

The show lasted about 10 minutes and wasn't too distracting, O'Kane said, noting it may have been had they been trying to land. 

According to a Popular Mechanics article on the subject, the St. Elmo's Fire term is derived from the name of the patron saint sailors, St. Erasmus of Formia.