Strange things are happening in some 70 - 100 kilometres downstream from the Vientiane - capital of Laos. In the nights from the muddy waters of Mekong river appear red glowing balls which quickly rise up in the air and disappear without noise (some, who manage to be close to the lights, report silent hiss). These mysterious sparkles are small, but sometimes they reach a size of a basketball.
Fireballs are observed in some 250 kilometres long sector of Mekong, Balls have also been reported rising from smaller rivers, lakes and ponds in this region.
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| Image courtesy: Tourism Authority of Thailand. |
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| Image courtesy: Tourism Authority of Thailand. |
Phenomenon of Naga fireballs is not too well documented in earlier times. Some say that Wat Luang temple contains centuries old written records mentioning them. There are mentioned also occasional written reports from British soldiers in 1960ies - although nothing concrete is cited. Numerous local people claim that they have seen the lights for all their life and their parents and grandparents did it as well.
Although the appearance of fireballs is celebrated at certain days in October, in fact this event is not predictable. There have been cases when the official festivity "ends without results" and fireballs come unexpected in another night. Many people have tried hard to see them for years without success, many are lucky and see them at first visit to this site. For example, in 2001 there were reported 3,000 fireballs, the festivity of 2004 was disappointing in this respect but in 2008 the illumination was excellent.
Scientific Explanation:
These are not some ghosts seen by occasional people and questioned by majority. Ghost fireballs of Mekong have been seen by thousands of people, photographed and captioned on movies and, after all, investigated by scientists looking for the explanation of this interesting phenomenon.
some scientific reports mention an upward movement of gas bubbles in Mekong water. According to them - as the gas bubbles reached the surface, the gas started to burn and raised up like a glowing orange bubble.
Earlier some scientists considered that the most likely reason for flames is phosphine or methane, but later on this theory was neglected due to following facts:
Some consider that these igneous gases are somehow pulled out of the river sediment by full moon and some researchers even build up highly complex theories involving specific composition of gases in sediments coupled with the action of moon, ultraviolet rays, Sun etc. All of this at the end looks too laborious and unlikely.
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| Image courtesy: Tourism Authority of Thailand. |
Earlier some scientists considered that the most likely reason for flames is phosphine or methane, but later on this theory was neglected due to following facts:
- Phosphine is not a light gas, it is heavier than air. Naga lights though rise up in the air very quickly.
- When phosphine burns, it produces dense, white and highly toxic cloud. None of these effects (luckily) have been observed on Mekong.
Till now day, scientists have no definite expiation of this unusual phenomenon in Mekong river.
Hoax Point Of View:
Often it is considered that fireballs are created artificially - just like some people find fun in making crop circles or other weird things. Now it is essential to keep the big festivities running - after all this event has been turned into highly profitable show (but spread among huge local communities - what isn't bad at all). One can easily see that there might be a commercial interest to "maintain" this phenomenon artificially.
In addition to this - some locals tell that in earlier times naga fireballs were much smaller and nearly white, they rised above the water just for a few metres. Now, with increased popularity they somehow have evolved, increased in size, fly high and fast and have orange color. A bit heretical thought - may be naga serpent has changed diet?
Locals deny a possibility of hoax - naga fireballs often are observed in very secluded places where the putative "organiser" of fireballs has nearly no chances to impress anyone. It is just weird to imagine countless Thai and Laotian people keeping themselves busy by making illuminations in remote lakes and rivers.
Appearance of fireballs has been reported in more than 45 kilometres long section of river in one night. River has been closely watched by numerous people for many days before. In such circumstances the possibility of fraud seems to be quite low - who would manage to organise such illumination without getting caught in the act?
Naga fireballs rised from the river during the hostilities between Thailand and Laos: the border was heavily guarded then and it is little likely that somebody would risk his life to organise the fraud.
[Source: www.wondermondo.com]
Hoax Point Of View:
Often it is considered that fireballs are created artificially - just like some people find fun in making crop circles or other weird things. Now it is essential to keep the big festivities running - after all this event has been turned into highly profitable show (but spread among huge local communities - what isn't bad at all). One can easily see that there might be a commercial interest to "maintain" this phenomenon artificially.
In addition to this - some locals tell that in earlier times naga fireballs were much smaller and nearly white, they rised above the water just for a few metres. Now, with increased popularity they somehow have evolved, increased in size, fly high and fast and have orange color. A bit heretical thought - may be naga serpent has changed diet?
Locals deny a possibility of hoax - naga fireballs often are observed in very secluded places where the putative "organiser" of fireballs has nearly no chances to impress anyone. It is just weird to imagine countless Thai and Laotian people keeping themselves busy by making illuminations in remote lakes and rivers.
Appearance of fireballs has been reported in more than 45 kilometres long section of river in one night. River has been closely watched by numerous people for many days before. In such circumstances the possibility of fraud seems to be quite low - who would manage to organise such illumination without getting caught in the act?
Naga fireballs rised from the river during the hostilities between Thailand and Laos: the border was heavily guarded then and it is little likely that somebody would risk his life to organise the fraud.
[Source: www.wondermondo.com]