Fire Balls Shooting Skyward

[bannork]

So what we need is a 'thaivisa.com' expedition to the river Mekhong, sponsored by the man himself, George. No need for these 'piss-ups in Bangkok' nonsense, attended by wasters and drunkards, to put 'thaivisa.com' on the map you need a scientific survey conducted by the finest members available, with free booze available for all Issan members.

Just think,great moderators, if we crack this mystery, the 'Da Vinci code' will pale into insignificance. What equipment do we need?

Please forward all suggestions below:

[WhiteShiva]

What equipment do we need?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Lots of Mekhong - and I am not talking about the river.

[sriracha john]

The "rent-a-hotel-room-in-Nong Khai-and-rent-a-motorbike-to-ride-to-the-site" route that I took went very well I thought.

Car traffic is EXTREMELY heavy where I went with a reported 20,000 people attending. Still took some time to get back, but at least 10 times faster than the line of cars I passed.

The number of fireballs I witnessed was around 20, although the "official" count (conducted by local volunteers and walkie-talkie radioed every few minutes when they are occuring to a central command post), was around 80. Granted also, though, that I admit to missing some as many are very quick and illuminated only briefly, and if you are looking in an opposite direction downriver at the time, you'll miss it.

Fireballs were witnessed simultaneously all along a 45 km stretch of the river.... which dispels the theories like The Skipper...

As for Head Snake's question on sound: The were silent except if it was close, there was a faint, but detectable "whoosh".

What's the answer? I don't know. I expected some logical explanation when I went there and ended up leaving with nothing plausible that I could believe in... leaving Naga as the only theory unable to dissprove.

Easily, it was one of the most amazing Thai experiences I've ever had.

[The Skipper]

Either natural or manmade, it is a boom for the local economy and a good enough reason to throw a party.

[chownah]

The "rent-a-hotel-room-in-Nong Khai-and-rent-a-motorbike-to-ride-to-the-site" route that I took went very well I thought.

Car traffic is EXTREMELY heavy where I went with a reported 20,000 people attending. Still took some time to get back, but at least 10 times faster than the line of cars I passed.

The number of fireballs I witnessed was around 20, although the "official" count (conducted by local volunteers and walkie-talkie radioed every few minutes when they are occuring to a central command post), was around 80. Granted also, though, that I admit to missing some as many are very quick and illuminated only briefly, and if you are looking in an opposite direction downriver at the time, you'll miss it.

Fireballs were witnessed simultaneously all along a 45 km stretch of the river.... which dispels the theories like The Skipper...

As for Head Snake's question on sound: The were silent except if it was close, there was a faint, but detectable "whoosh".

What's the answer? I don't know. I expected some logical explanation when I went there and ended up leaving with nothing plausible that I could believe in... leaving Naga as the only theory unable to dissprove.

Easily, it was one of the most amazing Thai experiences I've ever had.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The ones that were close enough to hear...how close were they?..approximately...could you tell how big they were...1 meter in diameter...10 meters in diamter...or whatever....how high do you think they went?....did they get smaller as they ascended?...what color were they?....did several come up in a row or just one at a time?...if several came up in a row then did they come up for one second, ten seconds?..or what...if many came up in a row then how many?

[sriracha john]

The "rent-a-hotel-room-in-Nong Khai-and-rent-a-motorbike-to-ride-to-the-site" route that I took went very well I thought.

Car traffic is EXTREMELY heavy where I went with a reported 20,000 people attending. Still took some time to get back, but at least 10 times faster than the line of cars I passed.

The number of fireballs I witnessed was around 20, although the "official" count (conducted by local volunteers and walkie-talkie radioed every few minutes when they are occuring to a central command post), was around 80. Granted also, though, that I admit to missing some as many are very quick and illuminated only briefly, and if you are looking in an opposite direction downriver at the time, you'll miss it.

Fireballs were witnessed simultaneously all along a 45 km stretch of the river.... which dispels the theories like The Skipper...

As for Head Snake's question on sound: The were silent except if it was close, there was a faint, but detectable "whoosh".

What's the answer? I don't know. I expected some logical explanation when I went there and ended up leaving with nothing plausible that I could believe in... leaving Naga as the only theory unable to dissprove.

Easily, it was one of the most amazing Thai experiences I've ever had.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The ones that were close enough to hear...how close were they?..approximately...could you tell how big they were...1 meter in diameter...10 meters in diamter...or whatever....how high do you think they went?....did they get smaller as they ascended?...what color were they?....did several come up in a row or just one at a time?...if several came up in a row then did they come up for one second, ten seconds?..or what...if many came up in a row then how many?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Phew... ok, here goes.. I'll try my best.

Closest ones were maybe 100 meters. All of them seemed to emerge from the middle portion of the river, but along a rather long stretch of the river, maybe a kilometer.

The glowing core looked to be about the size of a basketball with an illuminated, thinner tail trailing behind in lengths of 2-5 meters. The ones further away were difficult to judge their size.

They went very high... several hundred meters before darkening or disappearing. They appeared to be about the same size as they rose. Didn't look as though they got smaller. They just disappeared when they got high.

Some were first visible only a few meters off the surface of the river, others I first saw them glowing at maybe 50-100 meters off the surface of the river.

I'd say they were orangish red to orangish yellow in color.

They seemed to come up a few (2 or 3) in a batch with sometimes long stretches of time where none rose. Other times, only one was visible at a time.

They rose very fast. Usually they went straight up, but several seemed to have more of an arc to their path. Most were visible for only a few seconds... less than 5. There was one that came closest to me and it seemed to last longer, visible maybe 7 seconds. That was the one I got the best look at... I likened it to a flaming basketball... kinda scary in a way.

Hope this helps...

[WhiteShiva]

They rose very fast. Usually they went straight up, but several seemed to have more of an arc to their path . Most were visible for only a few seconds... less than 5. There was one that came closest to me and it seemed to last longer,  visible maybe 7 seconds. That was the one I got the best look at... I likened it to a flaming basketball... kinda scary in a way.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Remotely triggered rockets? The "arching" is not really what you would see with a cloud of gas, or anything else lighter than air.

I am very sceptical of the whole thing, but hope to make the trip one day to see for myself. Would love to hire a boat in order to get a closer look.....

[sriracha john]

They rose very fast. Usually they went straight up, but several seemed to have more of an arc to their path . Most were visible for only a few seconds... less than 5. There was one that came closest to me and it seemed to last longer,  visible maybe 7 seconds. That was the one I got the best look at... I likened it to a flaming basketball... kinda scary in a way.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Remotely triggered rockets? The "arching" is not really what you would see with a cloud of gas, or anything else lighter than air.

I am very sceptical of the whole thing, but hope to make the trip one day to see for myself. Would love to hire a boat in order to get a closer look.....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I doubt the "remotely triggered rockets" for several reasons.

The length of time these balls have occurred pre-date the technology necessary.

The would have to be fired from the river and would require some sort of platform. Also, none of them illuminated on the surface of the water, most were several meters at least above the water.

I, too, was skeptical when I went there, but left just rather perplexed by it all. It's definitely "something", but what, I still can't decide on.

As for a boat on the river, I don't think you're allowed as I didn't see any on the river when the balls were rising and surely someone would have wanted to, given that there was a huge crowd of people there.

Go and make your own decision... seeing is believing.

[WhiteShiva]

I doubt the "remotely triggered rockets" for several reasons.

The length of time these balls have occurred pre-date the technology necessary.

The would have to be fired from the river and would require some sort of platform. Also, none of them illuminated on the surface of the water, most were several meters at least above the water.

fairenuff...

As for a boat on the river, I don't think you're allowed as I didn't see any on the river when the balls were rising and surely someone would have wanted to, given that there was a huge crowd of people there.

Which makes me a bit sceptical - there is a lot of money involved here, and IF it is a hoax, a ban on people having a closer look would be very understandable.

Go and make your own decision... seeing is believing. 

Absolutely - I really hope I can make the trip up there to have a look one day.

Has anyone managed to find any pictures or video on the net of these fireballs? I did a google search, but couldn't find anything.

[sriracha john]

I'm not sure it's an outright ban on boats or not, though. I'll ask around when I go again. It IS a dangerous place to be on the Mekhong in the darkness of night. It's a tricky river to navigate around even in broad daylight and I've not noticed many boats doing night trips on other dates in other places along the Mekhong. You are right though that if it is an outright ban for that area on those nights, it gives rise to more skepticism.

Really need to run video, the odds of catching one with a photo are remote given their quickness and sporadic location and I'm not aware of any video online. I did watch TV-5 news that night as they had a team filming and they managed to catch several.

I have read other written descriptions of them and the reports seem rather varied, which is why I posted my own.

Enjoy it in October/November...