In the Electric Universe view, any object coming far from the earth will carry a different charge. As it encounters lower layers of the Earth's plasma sheath, the voltage between the object and the layer could abruptly increase and the object begin to visibly discharge.
At first it would be surrounded by a “glow discharge”, a diffuse luminescence similar to St. Elmo’s fire or to high-altitude “elves”. As the voltage rises, the discharge would jump to “arc” mode and the object would become an electrode at the focus of upper-atmospheric charge. At this point material would begin to ablate in a sputtering process as well as from velocity-caused air friction.
If the current flow becomes too extreme, capacitive discharges within the meteor will cause a violent outburst of electricity with sudden bright flashes. The meteor is now called a "bolide," or flaring meteor.