Unexplained Fireballs of the Mekong River

[Inspire]

Unexplained Fireballs of the Mekong River

This blog has been provided by Asia Backpackers BLOG for Inspire.

 

 

Naga Fireballs Festival.
When: 5th October 2017
Where: Nong Khai Province. Northeast Thailand.

 

 

Naga Fireballs

Each year around the end of Buddhist Lent, along a stretch of the Mekong River, close to a sand bar which looks vaguely similar to a scaly Naga, you can with luck and only after sunset witness the mysterious Naga Fireballs.

 

These glowing orbs naturally rise from the water and are said to be reddish in colour and to range in size from smaller sparkles up to the size of basketballs. These strange balls of light, reportedly quickly rise up from the river to a couple of hundred metres, hang there for a few seconds before mysteriously disappearing into the night’s sky. What is more surprising is that there is no sound, no smoke, and no fragments from the fireballs have ever been retrieved.

 

Naga fireballs (Thai: บั้งไฟพญานาค; rtgs: bang fai phaya nak), also known as Mekong lights, and “bung fai paya nak” by the locals. Thai folklore holds the Naga to be semi-divine, demi-creatures, looking like a Chinese Dragon, which possess supernatural powers as has been described in both Buddhist and Hindu cosmology.

 

Naga: Mythical Serpents of Thailand

 

Local Beliefs of Naga Fireballs

The number of fireballs reported over the many years varies between tens and thousands per night and have been explained as all many of conjecture; from plasma physics: A free-floating plasma orb to a result of flammable phosphine gas generated by the marshy environment, to Laotian soldiers firing tracer rounds into the air across the river.

 

Full story: http://www.inspirepattaya.com/lifestyle/unexplained-fireballs-mekong-river/

 

 

-- © Copyright Inspire Pattaya 2017-12-16

[retell]

and yet ,not a single one caught on video ?

Edited December 16, 2017 by retell

[canuckamuck]

Yes why hasn't anyone made a concerted effort to get video. If proven to be a real thing it would be quite a money maker.

[connda]

Here's a bang fai phaya nak.  Don't tell my wife though.  She'd be crushed.

 

 

Edited December 17, 2017 by connda

[Colabamumbai]

Just a diversion to allow more smuggling trips across the river.

[trigpoint]

I have a house up there, been down to the river with hordes of people, tv camera crews etc, never seen one, or never seen captured by the tv crews either, it's a mythical event, same as the naga dragons that live in the Mekong.

[12DrinkMore]

5 hours ago, retell said:

and yet ,not a single one caught on video ?

 

Try searching YouTube for Naga fireballs".

 

Laotian pyrotechnics. 

Edited December 17, 2017 by 12DrinkMore

[thundercatbob]

Don't tell them they're not real. It's like telling kids there is no Santa Claus ... 

Edited December 17, 2017 by thundercatbob

[Songlaw]

3 hours ago, connda said:

Here's a bang fai phaya nak.  Don't tell my wife though.  She'd be crushed.

 

 

I’ve seen them (the fireballs). They’re real. The only questions remaining are their nature and source. And one thing I know for certain is that they’re not bottle-rockets. 

[rosst]

27 minutes ago, Songlaw said:

I’ve seen them (the fireballs). They’re real. The only questions remaining are their nature and source. And one thing I know for certain is that they’re not bottle-rockets. 

I have a house in a village near there and went down twenty times before I saw one, and saw three that night. 

Very interesting 

[RickFarang]

It is a fantastic tourist draw! People come from all over the country to witness the phenomenon. The rent hotel rooms, space in family homes, and buy food and souvenirs. All it takes is a few people with flare guns on the Laos side of the river (and around some large ponds in the area) and there is an annual surge in the local economy.

[aboctok]

4 hours ago, rosst said:

I have a house in a village near there and went down twenty times before I saw one, and saw three that night. 

Very interesting 

Did they rise naturally from the river? Or were they released deliberately by a person?

[Bigfarang1948]

11 hours ago, thundercatbob said:

Don't tell them they're not real. It's like telling kids there is no Santa Claus ... 

Oh you non believers. Those of you who are married to Isan girls surely must know and believe those are fire balls coming from the nostrils of the resident Mekong River Dragon. You know, the one that eats hundreds of Thais every year, especially during the water festival....

[Lacessit]

Most probably ignition of bubbles of methane from rotting organic matter on the riverbed. Apologies for spoiling the conspiracy theories.

[KhaoNiaw]

6 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Most probably ignition of bubbles of methane from rotting organic matter on the riverbed. Apologies for spoiling the conspiracy theories.

That's really the only serious theory but the arguments for it don't pass scientific analysis or explain why they occur at a specific and predictable time each year. 

There's a Thai film called ๑๕ ค่ำ เดือน ๑๑ which puts it down to a monks at a local temple, setting the fireballs in the river. A good film actually and worth watching whether you're interested in the fireballs or not. 

[Lacessit]

5 hours ago, KhaoNiaw said:

That's really the only serious theory but the arguments for it don't pass scientific analysis or explain why they occur at a specific and predictable time each year. 

There's a Thai film called ๑๕ ค่ำ เดือน ๑๑ which puts it down to a monks at a local temple, setting the fireballs in the river. A good film actually and worth watching whether you're interested in the fireballs or not. 

The arguments for it don't pass scientific analysis? What scientific analysis has been done?

The ecology/biology of the river where they occur could well explain why events take place at a predictable time. Just as mass migrations of birds and animals can be explained. It's just a matter of finding the right data.

[canuckamuck]

On 18/12/2017 at 4:10 PM, Lacessit said:

The arguments for it don't pass scientific analysis? What scientific analysis has been done?

The ecology/biology of the river where they occur could well explain why events take place at a predictable time. Just as mass migrations of birds and animals can be explained. It's just a matter of finding the right data.

Not so easy for methane to spontaneously combust. Where's the ignition point?

[Lacessit]

1 hour ago, canuckamuck said:

Not so easy for methane to spontaneously combust. Where's the ignition point?

Static electricity is not unknown in nature, and produces nice sparks.

[canuckamuck]

2 hours ago, Lacessit said:

Static electricity is not unknown in nature, and produces nice sparks.

On a calm night over the water?

[thaibeachlovers]

On ‎12‎/‎17‎/‎2017 at 2:22 PM, RickFarang said:

It is a fantastic tourist draw! People come from all over the country to witness the phenomenon. The rent hotel rooms, space in family homes, and buy food and souvenirs. All it takes is a few people with flare guns on the Laos side of the river (and around some large ponds in the area) and there is an annual surge in the local economy.

Exactly. I'm sure there is a simple explanation, but it's the mystery that brings the people and their money.