Recent time-resolved multi-color photometric data obtained on one class of lightning-related transient upper-atmospheric electromagnetic events called sprites have confirmed an impulsive ionization emission during the sprite initiation. Data have also been obtained on some sprites which do not exhibit observable tendrils and which exhibit ionization emission that, if present, is below our detection limit. This suggests that some sprite events exhibit strong ionization while others do not. These results indicate that conditions causing sprite optical emissions are highly variable. ¿ 2000 American Geophysical Union