Min Min light

Min Min is a light phenomenon that has often been reported in outback Australia.[1][2]

"Min Min" redirects here. For the locality in Queensland, see Min Min, Queensland. For the character, see Arms (video game).
Sign at Boulia, Queensland

Stories about the lights can be found in Aboriginal myths predating European settlement and have since become part of wider Australian folklore.[1] Indigenous Australians hold that the number of sightings has increased in conjunction with the ingression of Europeans into the outback.[1] While it has been claimed that the first recorded sighting dates to 1838, in the book Six Months in South Australia,[3] it is likely that the event described is a different phenomenon.[4]

The name Min Min derives from a small settlement of the same name located between the outback towns of Boulia and Winton, where the light was observed by a stockman in 1918.[5]

According to folklore, the lights sometimes follow or approach people and disappear when fired upon, sometimes very rapidly, only to reappear later on,[1][2] and anyone who chases the lights and catches them will never return to tell the tale.[6]

Distribution

Reports of the phenomenon are widespread throughout Australia as well as in Saudi Arabia as people name this phenomenon "abu fanoos" "ابو فانوس" which means the man with the lamp in Arabic. The lights have been reported from as far south as Brewarrina in western New South Wales, to as far north as Boulia in northern Queensland and near Rub' al Khali desert in Saudi Arabia. The majority of sightings are reported to have occurred in Channel Country.[1] Another district where Min Min lights are often reported is Yunta, South Australia, which is centred within a low-lying basin known for recording extreme heat.

Appearance and behaviour

Accounts of the light appearances vary, though they are most commonly described as being fuzzy, disc-shaped lights that appear to hover just above the horizon.[1][2] They are often described as being white, though some accounts describe them as changing colour from white to red to green and back again. Some accounts describe them as being dim; others describe them as being bright enough to illuminate the ground under them and to cause nearby objects to throw clearly defined shadows.[1][2]

Some witnesses describe the light as appearing to approach them several times before retreating. Others report that the lights were able to keep pace with them when they were in a moving motor vehicle.[1][2]

Hypotheses

It is unknown whether the Min Min lights are a real phenomenon, and if so, what their source might be. Various hypotheses have been put forward to explain the lights, including:

Bioluminescence

It has been hypothesized that 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,[1] or of species of owl with their own naturally occurring source of bioluminescence.[7] To date, no one has captured or observed an animal with these characteristics. There is also no known bioluminescent source bright enough.[1]

Geophysical lights

A second hypothesis is that the lights are the result of known geophysical phenomena, such as piezoelectrics or marsh gas.[1] However, lights are often reported in areas without geological conditions conducive to these phenomena.[1]

Refraction

Neuroscientist Jack Pettigrew has suggested that the Min Min lights are a form of Fata Morgana mirage,[8] which causes remote lights or objects to appear above the horizon. This can result in an object which is normally below the horizon being visible.[1][9] Professor Pettigrew has proved that a layer of cold air, sitting just above the ground, between the distant light and the observer, can trap light. This layer bends the light and keeps it close to the ground, so it can be seen over great distances. This layer of cold air can also concentrate the distant light and stop it from spreading – so it doesn’t get weakened by extreme distance.

John Pettigrew used geometry to show a Min Min light was actually very bright truck headlights – 300km away! Another time, he drove 10km away and shone his headlights at the campsite. His companions reported via radio seeing a bobbing light just above the horizon, half the size of the full Moon, changing from vivid red, to orange, yellow then green. As Pettigrew switched his headlights on and off, the Min Min light disappeared and returned.

The Min Min lights appear in the first episode of the second season of the Australian web television series Wolf Creek.[10] The Min Min lights also appear in Episode 16 of Season 3 of the Australian television series McLeod's Daughters.[11]

See also

References
  1. Pettigrew, John D. (March 2003). "The Min Min light and the Fata Morgana. An optical account of a mysterious Australian phenomenon" (PDF). Clin Exp Optom. 86 (2): 109–20. doi:10.1111/j.1444-0938.2003.tb03069.x. PMID 12643807.
  2. Kozicka, M.G. "The Mystery of the Min Min Light. Cairns", Bolton Imprint
  3. Dunning, Brian (23 December 2008). "Skeptoid #133: Chasing the Min Min Light". Skeptoid.
  4. Dunning, Brian (28 March 2017). "Skeptoid #564: Into Thin Error". Skeptoid.
  5. Hayman, John (1 February 2004). "The Min Min Light". henrythornton.com. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
  6. Tim the Yowie Man (2001). "Spook of the Min Min Light". The adventures of Tim the Yowie Man cryptonaturalist. Sydney, Australia: Random House Australia. p. 256. ISBN 174051078X.
  7. Silcock, Fred F. (2004). The Min Min Light: The Visitor Who Never Arrives.
  8. Salleh, Anna (28 March 2003). "Mystery of the Min Min lights explained". News in Science. Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
  9. "UQ scientist unlocks secret of Min Min lights". University of Queensland. 27 March 2003.
  10. Newell, C.H. "Wolf Creek – Season 2, Episode 1: 'Journey'". Father Son Holy Gore. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  11. "McLeod's Daughters – Season 3, Episode 16: 'Seeing the Light'". IMDB. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
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