A Portuguese photographer named Diogo Gualter has shared a video on his social media where he shows the sighting of a rare natural phenomenon - known as a 'sprite' - on the island of Madeira, during the early hours Monday.

In the post, Diogo explains that he filmed the video in question with the aim of capturing the lightning on the horizon and that he only realized the existence of the 'sprites' at the end when he checked the footage, noticing what appears to be three large red 'tears' in the sky.

Smithsonian Magazine explains that ‘sprites’ often form during major storms, when there is a large amount of electrical energy in the air. Relatively rare and difficult to observe, these ‘sprites’ are nothing more than “electrical discharges that appear as bursts of red light above the clouds during thunderstorms”.