The presence of strange balls of light hovering over a valley in central Norway has puzzled scientists for years. The Hessdalen lights are unexplained nocturnal lights observed in a 12 km-long Hessdalen valley in rural central Norway.
It is well-known as the Hessdalen Phenomenon; the mysterious flashing orbs can be as large as cars and have even attracted attention from ufologists. Now, these days scientists think the uncommon lights could be shaped by a natural “battery” buried deep underground, formed by metallic minerals reacting with a sulphurous river running through it.
Well, The Hessdalen lights appear at night and seem to float through and above the valley. They’re generally bright white, yellow, or red and can appear above and below the horizon. The phenomenon duration may be from a few seconds to longer than an hour. Although, many times the lights move with massive speed, and at other times, seem to slowly sway back and forth. On yet other occasions they hovered mid‑air. Some hypothesise that the light is ionized iron dust.
The first time this strange light was reported was in the 1930s and was frequently seen between 1981 till mid-1984, being observed 15 to 20 times per week. Such, a phenomenon highly attracted overnight tourists. Since 1983, several projects have been initiated to investigate the Hessdalen lights, but yet to conclude any confirmed results.
A recent report says that some of the lights drift gently through the sky for up to two hours, while others flash white or blue and streak through the valley, disappearing in seconds. Jader Monari of the Institute of Radio Astronomy in Medicina, Italy, has studied the Hessdalen site since 1996 and found that rocks in the valley are rich in zinc and iron on one side of the river running through it, and rich in copper on the other side. If there’s sulphur in the water in the middle, it makes a perfect battery.
Many experts believe the lights are a type of ball lightning because the similar types of balls of light spotted and analyzed in China showed they were formed of silicon, iron and calcium which are present in the Hessdalen lights, along with the addition of an element called scandium. However, the Hessdalen lights do not appear when there is lightning. Perhaps the valley’s shape, climate and geology create a massive electric charge and that static electricity on the mountains was whipped up by strong winds.
Therefore, some experts think some sort of plasma causes the light as when a gas ionizes it forms a cloud of ions and electrons plasma that creates light. Thus, Plasmas can be cool to the touch and can also kill microbes, but they require extremely high temperatures and an enormous supply of energy to be produced. So far there are several other competing theories as to how light may be created, though the battery theory seems to be the most likely based on current evidence.
