"That was really bad," Wessler said gloomily. "We really thought we’d lost her that time." The elf pictures had shaken Wessler. Van had felt the very same way when he had seen them. It was truly bizarre to realize that the Earth’s upper atmosphere had some gigantic blistering explosions that no one but pilots and astronauts ever saw. Sprites and elves, "Transient Discharge Phenomena." Sprites and elves sounded almost crazier than UFOs, but they were very real. Every bit as real as the northern lights.