The majesty and mystery of lightning has captured the imaginations of people for centuries.  Scientific studies over the past 200 years have provided us with new information concerning how these phenomena are formed, and what leads to their occurrence.  Recently, beautiful lightning-driven optical events at higher altitudes, known as Transient Luminous Events (TLEs, or more commonly known as ‘sprites’) were serendipitously discovered over the Midwestern United States.  Since their chance discovery, these events have been measured from a number of sites around the world, but with the majority of observational campaigns coming from the U.S. Great Plains.  This presentation will provide a brief overview on lightning and TLEs, with new observational results from South America where new electromagnetic measurements have shown they may prevalent.