Mysterious Min Min Lights Of Australia

Cynthia McKanzie – MessageToEagle.com –  The Min Min lights are one of Australia’s greatest mysteries. The lights have been seen by thousands of people ever since they were spotted for the first time in 1918. They are simply a fascinating natural mystery and the lights remain a popular local legend and attraction.

Some scientists think they have figured out what is causing the lights, but not everyone is convinced and there are those who say no satisfactory scientific explanation exists to explain them, at least not yet.
The lights are named after the Min Min hotel in Boulia that burnt down in 1918. Soon after the fire, a stockman was followed by a light on his journey to Boulia.

The Min Min Lights Follow People For Long Distances

Shortly after this first sighting, many more people reported seeing these mysterious lights that were shaped like watermelon shaped glowing balls of light and followed travelers for long distances.
The Min Min lights usually followed people on horseback, in cars and on foot sometimes for hundreds of kilometers. According to reports, the lights generally travel around three feet from the ground and are often mistaken for the headlights of another vehicle.

Min Min Lights Australia
Image credit: fc08.deviantart.net

Some people who have seen the lights became terrified. Australian neuroscientist Jack Pettigrew who has studied the lights stated the “old timers out there who had seen it and they were terrified by it…outback men can be brought to tears by this thing. It really is quite alarming.”

Min Min Lights Sign at Boulia, Queensland
Sign at Boulia, Queensland. Image credit: Wikipedia

What is very interesting is these light do not appear to be a new phenomenon. Aboriginal myths dating back to before Western settlement, tell intriguing stories about these mysterious lights. Apparently the sightings of these lights increased dramatically upon the arrival of the Europeans. Aboriginal people think that anyone who tries to chase the lights will never return to tell the tale.

How Does Science Explain The Min Min Lights?

But is there a scientific explanation that could unravel the mystery of the Min Min lights?
Professor Pettigrew, who is the Director of University of Queensland’s Vision, “the Min Min light occurs when light, from a natural or man-made source, is refracted to an observer who is tens, or even hundreds, of kilometers away, by an inverted mirage, or Fata Morgana.”

“Named after the Morgan fairy, who was reputed to be able to conjure cities on the surface of the sea ice, the Fata Morgana has a real physical phenomenon, being caused by a temperature inversion.

Min min lights
A cold, dense layer of air next to the ground (or sea, or sea ice) carries light far over the horizon to a distant observer without the usual dissipation and radiation, to produce a vivid mirage that baffles and enchants because of its unfamiliar optical properties. Wonderful during the day, such Fata Morgana can be terrifying at night when a single light source gives no hint that it is actually part of a mirage emanating from a great distance. Even hardened outback observers can break down when they are unable to interpret the unusual optical properties of the light in terms of their own, very different, past experiences,” Professor Pettigrew says.

See also:

Mystery Of The Naga Fireballs At Mekong River

Mysterious Disappearance Of The Eilean Mor Lighthouse Keepers Remains Unsolved

Was The Mysterious Gurning Man Of Glasgow A Visitor From Another Time Or Just A Madman?

Over the years several hypotheses have been put forward to explain the lights. According to another scientific theory, the Min Min lights are the result of known geophysical phenomena, such as piezoelectrics or marsh gas.
There are also scientists who suggest the lights may be the result of insects swarming that have taken on bioluminescent characteristics after being contaminated by naturally occurring agents found in local fungi or of species of owl with their own naturally occurring source of bioluminescence.

None of these scientific theories have been proven and the Min Min lights remain unexplained and one of Australia’s greatest mysteries, at least for now.

Written by Cynthia McKanzie – MessageToEagle.com Staff Writer

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