Every year at the end of October, a phenomenon is observed on the Mekong River, flowing along the border of Vietnam and Laos, that has not yet received an unambiguous explanation: glowing balls appear right from the river, which rise vertically up to a height of thirty meters, and then disappear. This phenomenon has been repeatedly captured in photos and videos.
Locals call these unidentified objects "Naga Fireballs". According to legend, they are the result of the activities of the Naga (a snake-like creature described in Hindu mythology) living at the bottom of the river. There is a photograph of American soldiers catching a river snake over seven meters long. In Nong Khai City, this image is a popular souvenir. It is believed that the photograph was taken in 1973, but it is possible that this is a later time, not related to the Mekong.
A snapshot that has become one of the popular local souvenirs in Nong Khai
According to the local residents' beliefs, fireballs appear over the river from time to time throughout the year, but their greatest number can be seen on the full moon night of the eleventh lunar month. In honor of this phenomenon, a festival is held in the settlements near the Mekong, which attracts a large number of tourists. The size of the luminous balls, according to eyewitnesses, can reach the size of a chicken egg. When they appear, no unusual sounds, burning smell or smoke are noted.
"Fireballs"
In 1998, the first attempt was made to study the phenomenon from a scientific point of view. The research was carried out by a doctor from Nongkhai City Hospital named Kanoksilpa. He suggested that the luminous balls arise as a result of spontaneous combustion of combustible gases that accumulate under water at a depth of about 5-10 meters as a result of decomposition of organic matter.
Promotional video:
In 2002, one of the TV channels in Thailand showed a program dedicated to the "Naga fireballs", in which another rational explanation of this phenomenon was proposed: the glowing balls could be traces of tracer bullets fired by soldiers on the other side of the Mekong, which belongs to Laos. The hypothesis has been tested in practice: journalists filmed Lao soldiers shooting in the air during the festival. It was noticeable that the exclamations coming from the other side, marking the appearance of fireballs, coincided in time with the shots.
In addition, in 2002, Thai director Jira Maligool directed the film "Mekhong Full Moon Party", dedicated to the legend of the glowing balls and its meaning for local people and Thai society in general. Naga Fireballs, according to the director, are of man-made origin and are created by the locals to support the legend and attract tourists. Although this film is a work of fiction with only certain elements of documentary and does not provide a convincing explanation for the described phenomenon, it attracted the attention of many people in different countries to study this phenomenon.
Researcher and journalist Brian Dunning, who studied in detail the "balls of fire of the Nagas", came to the conclusion that the idea of the antiquity of this phenomenon is in itself a fiction. The earliest reliable evidence of the appearance of glowing balls over the river, which he managed to find, dates back to the middle of the twentieth century.
According to Dunning, most of the "fireballs" are of man-made origin. During the festival, locals create them, using tracer bullets being shot in the air or launching fireworks (in both cases, the sound will hardly be heard by an observer on the other side of the river), especially in the setting of a crowded festival.
Dunning considers untenable the hypothesis according to which fireballs appear as a result of methane accumulated under water coming out to the surface. In his opinion, for spontaneous combustion, the presence of methane, oxygen and phosphorus in a certain proportion is necessary, which is unlikely. In addition, during spontaneous combustion, such a mixture of gases gives a greenish light, completely unlike the "fireballs of the Nagas".
If the information that this phenomenon is observed not only in October, but also in other months is true, then Dunning's skeptical hypothesis will be insufficient: deliberate human activity can only explain the massive appearance of "fireballs" during the festival.
Ekaterina Koshkina
Sources of information: thaifolk.com / skeptoid.com / cseashawaii.org / webcitation.org /