Video Captures Rare 'Crown Flash' in Skies Above Miami

Video purporting to show an ultra-rare 'crown flash' - a visual phenomenon that makes it look like a beam of light is moving through the clouds - has been posted on social media.

The footage was posted on Twitter on Friday by meteorologist James Spann, who claimed it had been taken over Miami Beach in Florida.

The 59-second clip is entirely focused on the sky, with what appears to be a beam of light poking out from behind a cloud and moving around in the manner of a searchlight.

Spamm wrote: "Spotted over Miami Beach today... video from Leland Randleman. What do you think?"

The video was later shared by a number of other prominent Twitter accounts, which identified it as a crown flash.

BBC metrologist Tomasz Schafernaker retweeted the video, with the hashtag #CrownFlash, adding: "You've NOT seen a weather phenomenon like THIS!

"What a spectacular optical effect. I have never heard of it myself. Spooky...love it."

This explanation was supported by Utah-based meteorologist Timothy E. Wright, who commented, "looks like a nice example of a crown flash," and Stephen Strader, an associate professor in Geography at Villanova University, who wrote: "100% crown flash."

In total, the video has been viewed more than 618,000 times on Twitter, receiving over 2,300 likes from other social media users.

A crown flash is an extremely rare meteorological phenomenon, which typically appears above thunderstorms and constantly realigns itself, creating beams of light.

There is still some debate as to exactly what causes them, but according to the meteorological website Meteored the "most likely" explanation is "that plate or needle-shaped ice crystals realign when there are changes in the electric field of a cumulonimbus cloud during a thunderstorm, and preferentially reflect sunlight."

Footage of a crown flash was previously recorded above Texas, and subsequently posted on social media in May 2022.

Another crown flash was filmed over Florida in August 2020 by local resident Daniel De Rose, who said it lasted 10 to 15 minutes.

Speaking to media company Newsflare he said: "The weather was beautiful, temperature low to mid-90s, humidity around 80%+/-, winds 10-15mph. The cloud took about 40min to become a dark thunderstorm cloud and about an hour or so before it produced thunder.

"There was a halo around the sun which was about 50% faded when the flash started. Along the top edge of the cloud, there was a whiter smoother border that through polarized sunglasses was purplish pink and green and almost translucent but didn't show any color in photos."

On April 23 streaks of light nicknamed "STEVE" appeared above the night sky in New Zealand.

Earlier this month a mysterious flash of light was recorded above Kyiv, Ukraine, sparking intense speculation online.

Strange streams of light were reported in the sky above Detroit on April 18.