Scientists using NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope have detected beams of antimatter produced above thunderstorms on Earth, a phenomenon never seen before.

Scientists think the antimatter particles were formed in a terrestrial gamma-ray flash TGF, a brief burst produced inside thunderstorms and shown to be associated with lightning. It is estimated that about 500 TGFs occur daily worldwide, but most go undetected.

“These signals are the first direct evidence that thunderstorms make antimatter particle beams,” said Michael Briggs, a member of Fermi’s Gamma-ray Burst Monitor GBM team at the University of Alabama in Huntsville UAH. He presented the findings Monday, during a news briefing at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Seattle.

via NASA – NASA’s Fermi Catches Thunderstorms Hurling Antimatter into Space.