Sunita Williams Reveals Two Strangest Things She Saw In Space

Sunita Williams, the India-origin spacewoman who retired after a remarkable 27-year career, has revealed the two strangest things she had seen in space. Williams, who spent 608 days in space, including a nine-month stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS), highlighted the staggering density of satellites now orbiting Earth and the beauty of Transient Luminous Events (TLEs), a rare upper-atmospheric phenomenon captured in photographs by her colleagues.

"Two different things that were different or have been different. There's a lot of communication satellites up there now. And which is great because there's a lot of communication now on Earth because we have these constellations of satellites. But there is. It was an impression, like, there is a lot of stuff in orbits around the planet," Williams said in a podcast interview with Raj Shamani.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Raj Shamani (@rajshamani)

With nine spacewalks totalling 62 hours and six minutes, the most by any female astronaut, Williams noted she had the privilege of being in space when some incredible photographs were taken

"The other thing, which was really cool this time...it's hard to see with the naked eye, but we have some really great cameras and we were able to take pictures. Not me in particular, but Don Pettit and Matt Dominic of blue jets and red sprites coming out of a thundercloud. Like energy coming up. It's out there because Nicole Ayers took some after we left, too. And I think those are posted. Just amazing that we were able to take pictures of energy coming out of a thundercloud and out of lightning."

Just. Wow. As we went over Mexico and the U.S. this morning, I caught this sprite.

Sprites are TLEs or Transient Luminous Events, that happen above the clouds and are triggered by intense electrical activity in the thunderstorms below. We have a great view above the clouds, so… pic.twitter.com/dCqIrn3vrA

— Nichole “Vapor” Ayers (@Astro_Ayers) July 3, 2025

Sprites are a type of TLE which create brilliant flashes of light high above powerful thunderstorms and are difficult to observe from the ground. Ayers clicked the pic while the ISS was orbiting above Mexico and the United States.

"So those pictures are out there also from Don Pettit, if anybody gets a moment to take a look on the Internet. Incredible pictures. So I had the luxury of being up there with some amazing photographers that were able to do that," she added.