Many unexplained phenomena are taking place on planet Earth. One of them is the unpredictable and sudden appearance of wandering lights, causing fear and dismay. Nowadays, this phenomenon has not become a rarity, and quite often information about it gets into the media.
Wandering lights are regularly seen in the city of Gourdon, Arkansas. They appear on a section of the railroad located about 3 km from the city. They have been seen for over 80 years. Some argue that the lights are the ghost of a man who was brutally murdered near the railroad back in 1931. Others are firmly convinced that it is the ghost of a railroad worker whose head was cut off by a train at the turn of the century. They believe that the lights come from his lantern, which he carries with him in search of his head.
The more pragmatic say that this is nothing more than quartz crystals emitting electricity, although they do not know how and why this happens. In any case, these lights can be seen on particularly dark and gloomy nights, when "ghosts" seem to most often roam the area.
Such lights are noticed in the city of Silver Cliff, Colorado. First spotted in 1882, these blue and white lights, the size of a silver dollar, often appear and dance around gravestones in a Catholic cemetery on the outskirts of town. The interesting thing about these wandering lights is that, unlike many other lights that usually appear one at a time, these appear in clusters of up to four or five at a time.
They are also significantly smaller than most other wandering lights that reach the size of a basketball. However, as is the case with the vast majority of wildfires, they are impossible to catch. they quickly fade and disappear.
These lights gained unusually high levels of popularity when they were written about in National Geographer in 1969. While a myriad of theories have been put forward to explain them, none of them have stood the test of strength. Today Silver Cliff's cemetery lights remain as unexplained as they were a century ago.
Another place of appearance of the mysterious luminous phenomenon is the Yakima Indian Reservation, Washington state. The glowing white and orange ball began to catch the eye of foresters and firefighters on duty in the forest near the Topenish Ridge mountain range in the late 60s.
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However, local authorities initially dismissed reports of this phenomenon, attributing it to a play of light. However, that all changed when Fire Chief Bill Vogel not only observed the ball, but was able to take numerous photos of it as it danced and darted through the trees.
The most interesting thing about this ball was that according to the report of Vogel, who observed this phenomenon through binoculars for almost 90 minutes before the ball disappeared, it looked like a mouse tail or antenna. Its length was equal to the diameter of the ball. In addition, it has been segmented into different colors: red, blue, green and white. The colors constantly changed brightness and shade, which gave reason to assume that the ball had a mechanical or even extraterrestrial origin.
As a result, he soon came under the scrutiny of the UFO community. This phenomenon was even investigated by none other than the famous ufologist J. Allen Hynek. Hynek's verdict: The phenomenon cannot be explained.
Today, the ball is much less common. This allows many to assume that the one or the one behind the mysterious ball is already tired of his little experiment …
Wandering lights were also encountered in Hornet, Missouri. They are amazing not only because they appear with a certain frequency, but also because they change color, are divided into several parts from one ball and even leave a phosphorescent trail behind them. They have been extensively studied and photographed since their first appearance in 1881.
All attempts to attribute them to swamp gas, glowing mold, positive glowing glow, fireballs, optical illusions caused by motorway headlights, and lights bouncing off a water tower in the distance have been unsuccessful. Therefore, these mysterious lights remain as inexplicable today as they were when they were first discovered.
One of the most common romantic and metaphysical explanations is that the wandering lights are the embodiment of the spirit of the brave Kuapou and his bride, who jumped from a nearby cliff and crashed to death to escape the punishment of their tribal leader for forbidding this marriage.
Wandering lights are also found in Norway. First seen in 1981, strange white lights began to appear periodically in a small valley near the town of Hessdalen. The fires scared the locals so much that they asked the government for help. Alas, none of the officials wanted to do anything about this.
This led several researchers to organize their own scientific research on the phenomenon. The study proved to be successful, as in many similar cases, and in just one month in 1984, scientists were able to observe mysterious lights at least 53 times, making this phenomenon one of the most well-documented phenomena of wandering fires.
The fires appear in the valley to this day, but the frequency of their occurrence has significantly decreased. However, the automatic measuring station installed in the valley in August 1998 still registers up to 20 stray lights annually.
Canada also has its own wandering "attraction". It is located in Shaler Bay, the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Rather than appearing as a ball or just a fire, this bright glow appears as an arch, with some people claiming that the glow takes the form of a burning three-masted 18th century schooner, making it a full-fledged ghost ship.
Based on the fact that these lights usually appear right before the onset of a storm, some have speculated that the phenomenon may be due to an increase in static electricity in the air, rather than paranormal activity. In addition, other theories have been put forward explaining the fires by rotting vegetation or underwater emissions of natural gas.
On the other hand, perhaps these lights are in some way connected with a little-known naval battle between French and British squadrons, which took place near the Gulf of Chaler around 1760. The battle not only ended in the defeat of France, but one of the small French warships could also process to become the basis for the emergence of supernatural projection.
Derbyshire, England is another cluster of lights. There the lights were named Longdendale. If a certain area has been known to the local population as "the valley of ghosts" for many centuries, then we can say with almost certainty that something is wrong there. As is the case with this quaint remote valley.
Eerie flickering lights, also known as the "Devil's Bonfire," have appeared in front of the locals for centuries. They tried to explain them with anything, from fairies and witches to the ghosts of Roman soldiers with torches in their hands.
These lights were reported so frequently that mountain rescue teams arrived on a number of calls when the lights and "sparks" were reported to the police. However, when they began to approach the lights, they dimmed and disappeared. Longdendale lights are also unique in that they are some of the oldest known oceans in the world and were first reported back in the Middle Ages.
in fact, they have been reported for so long that the police no longer send rescuers to the area unless they think the person actually saw a real flame that needs to be put out.
Another mysterious place in England is Peak District National Park, Derbyshire. Scientists have long considered the wandering lights of Pickland (as the locals call them) a textbook example of swamp fires - a byproduct of methane, formed as a result of decay of vegetation and animal remains, which rises in the form of bubbles and, when set on fire, produces small lights that move easily and silently.
In 1980, a professor at the University of Leicester conducted a series of experiments, but was unable to reproduce these wandering lights using methane, hydrogen phosphorus, or any other substance that scientists believe are contained in the chemical soup in the swamps where these lights meet. Moreover, he was never able to determine the source of the ignition.
These results led him to conclude that these lights were not the product of swamp gas, nor did they appear as a result of other natural electrical phenomena such as St. Elmo's lights, fireballs, and glowing insects. This finding has led some to speculate that wandering lights, which often move in a purposeful or even playful manner, are controlled by some kind of nascent mind or respond to subtle changes in the air, magnetic field, or environment.
Be that as it may, reports of these wandering lights continue to this day and these lights continue to resist any simple scientific explanation.
In Thailand, the mysterious Naga fireballs are also found. There, approximately 200 to 800 fireballs can be seen each year - along the 96 km stretch of the Mekong River, usually in late autumn and especially in October during the full moon. According to local belief, these balls are released by a snake from the Buddhist legend Nagom.
However, science naturally rejects such claims, preferring more pragmatic explanations such as natural phosgene and methane rising from the bottom of the river. In any case, fireballs usually appear shortly after sunset and are often watched by thousands of people each year, making them the most watched wandering fire phenomenon on the planet.
And the most famous wandering lights in the world are the lights of Brown Mountain, Burke County, North Carolina. First seen in the 18th century, these reddish balls of light have been encountered by thousands of people over the years. They were so famous that they were even investigated by the US Geological Survey back in 1922.
It was found that the lights were mistaken for automobile or railway lights, fires or ordinary stationary lights. Interestingly, however, soon after the report was completed, extensive flooding flooded the area and eroded a number of railways and road bridges, thus blocking the route to the area and destroying all light sources.
But even after that, the wandering lights continued to appear, causing many to question the reliability of the USGS estimate. These wandering lights can still be seen. Moreover, an observation platform was installed specifically for this purpose on Highway 181 near the town of Morgantown.
The best time to watch the wandering lights is September-October. This is in case you are planning to go on a trip to this area soon …
