"Rick Harrison" wrote in message
...
I'm in Florida, looking at the stars at night. The sky is clear in my
area. For a brief moment, where there were stars a second ago, I see
the image of a cloud lit from within by lightning. Then it flickers out
and the stars are back. What is this phenomenon called and how does it
work?

I have witnessed this too. I have seen occasional flashes light up a
perfectly clear sky where you can't even tell which direction the lightning
is coming from. The light from an isolated storm at sea can travel hundreds
of miles. I have seen lightning out of an airplane window from storms 500
miles away! Only the top halves of the clouds were poking above the
horizon. I'm guessing the cloud you saw was a cirrus cloud thin enough not
to obscure the brighter stars but thick enough to appear solid when
reflecting distant lightning. It could also have been a peice of the anvil
which spread out very thin.