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Giant Turkeys With Blue Balls (Of Light)
- Thread starter dragoncharmer
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rynner said:
You are correct that it is really not a swampy area up there... lots of quartz rock and red clay. The trees are planted in considerable numbers on a hill (they get to grow-up and one day have a successful career as paper). Shipman is in the Blue Ridge Mountains (part of the Appalachians which is why I found other reports of glowing balls of light in Appalachia so very interesting). It is humid in the summer but not swampy.
The area of Virginia that I am from is a submerging coastline and we have lots of wetlands and the Great Dismal Swamp but I have never seen any glowing balls of light here. Of course, I haven't headed-out to the Dismal Swamp at night in the summer either... mosquitoes (also, I don't think you are allowed to stay in the park after dark).
If it was swampgas, I don't understand why it would have been such a short-lived phenomenon and why in the coldest months of the year? If it was because of the geology, wouldn't it have been a long-term phenomenon? The farmer who lived across the way from the hill had been on that farm for his whole life and he hadn't seen it before and my grandparents had been on their farm for over a decade and they hadn't seen it either. It didn't continue for years afterwards. It was just a few weeks one winter.
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Minor Drag said:
Thank you!
Minor Drag said:
I am just fascinated by this as I had no idea that it was a fairly "widespread" a phenomenon in the Appalachians (from Kentucky to Virginia to North Carolina). I wonder why the ones we saw at my grandparents' were just blue? I feel vaguely cheated. :lol: Was it a long-term thing or did they stop appearing after a short-time?
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Amarok2 said:
No, the local dogs all ran around without fences and none was ever hurt or sent cowering into the barn or under a bed. A few were threatened when chickens were assaulted but those threats originated from regular, run-of-the-mill human-types.
Amarok2 said:
Yes. Perhaps if they have appeared elsewhere, the people who saw them had better sense than to admit to them as they seem patently ridiculous even to me and I saw the photos and heard the story from a fairly humorless man I knew wasn't lying. I suppose that they aren't inherently sillier than hoofprints on roofs? Actually, maybe they are more absurd.
I saw the lights myself. No one went back over to that hill while the light shows continued to see if there were more prints or if the things that made them were still hanging around. I do not recall them finding the prints again in the following years when they went hunting up in those woods. I also do not recall any mention of traditional bigfoot sightings up there although they do happen in Virginia.
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Anonymous
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My bf comes from that area and still has family there. One thing I've noticed while visiting is the immense amount of quartz deposit - huge veins or lodes, right under the dirt, or often exposed and crumbling away. It seems to go on forever, leading me to believe there is literally tons of it, continuing who knows how far into the mountains, and how deep.
I do know that there is an effect which can occur with quartz crystal deposits where stress can cause a glowing plasma to form above ground - it doesn't seem implausible to me that this may be the cause of the glowing balls of light. It may be a piezo-electric effect.
He himself has seen some weird phenomena in the mountains of VA - including strange lights coming down the side of a mountain. He's also heard of the "glowing blue balls" of light before but has never seen this particular phenomenon.
(And yes, I'm urging him to join the Boards so he can relate his more spooky adventures in the mountains of VA, 'cos he's got lots of stories!)
I do know that there is an effect which can occur with quartz crystal deposits where stress can cause a glowing plasma to form above ground - it doesn't seem implausible to me that this may be the cause of the glowing balls of light. It may be a piezo-electric effect.
He himself has seen some weird phenomena in the mountains of VA - including strange lights coming down the side of a mountain. He's also heard of the "glowing blue balls" of light before but has never seen this particular phenomenon.
(And yes, I'm urging him to join the Boards so he can relate his more spooky adventures in the mountains of VA, 'cos he's got lots of stories!)
Actually, these lights kind of remind me of the Paulding lights here in Michigan.
Dragoncharmer, how frequently are the blue lights seen? Are they still seen today?
Dragoncharmer, how frequently are the blue lights seen? Are they still seen today?
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Thanks for the links, but they don't really tell me much more than I know already - that swamps produce methane (and other stuff).Redhead said:
But methane doesn't glow (be fun if it did - think of all the farts produced by people and animals every day!)
So what does glow, and how common is this swamp gas light phenomenon?
In Britain it was not uncommon for smugglers to put about ghost stories to either 'explain' what people may have seen in the dark, or to frighten them away from investigating more closely! I suspect some marshlight stories might fall into the same category. A secret path through a marsh might well be used by smugglers.
EDIT: Something similar was depicted in The Hound of the Baskervilles, BTW, but obviously well spiced up!
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Anonymous
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I did a little more digging and found this:
"Now what is a swamp? It is a place of rotting vegetation and of decomposition. Swamps are not the normal province of the astronomer; he usually has his eyes trained toward loftier places--yet the Dutch astronomer, Minnaert, in his book, "Light and Color, in the Open Air," has this to say about swamps. He describes lights that have been seen in swamps by the astronomer Bessel and other excellent observers. The lights, he says, resemble tiny flames, sometimes seen right on the ground, sometimes floating above it. The flames go out in one place and suddenly appear in another, giving the illusion of motion. The colors, he says, are sometimes yellow, sometimes red and blue-green. No heat is felt, and the lights do no burn or char the ground. They can appear for hours at a time and sometimes for a whole night. Generally there is no smell, and usually no sound, except the popping sound of little explosions, such as when a gas burner ignites. Where does the gas come from, and what lights it? The rotting vegetation produces marsh gas which can be trapped by ice and winter conditions. When a spring thaw occurs, the gas may be released in some quantity.
The flame, Minnaert says, is a form of chemical luminescence and its low temperature is one of its peculiar features. Exactly how it occurs is not known and this in itself might be made a subject of an interesting study. "
This was taken from this website:
http://www.michiganufos.com/1966.html
It still might not answer your question as to HOW the light "lights".
I will be back if I find anything else.
"Now what is a swamp? It is a place of rotting vegetation and of decomposition. Swamps are not the normal province of the astronomer; he usually has his eyes trained toward loftier places--yet the Dutch astronomer, Minnaert, in his book, "Light and Color, in the Open Air," has this to say about swamps. He describes lights that have been seen in swamps by the astronomer Bessel and other excellent observers. The lights, he says, resemble tiny flames, sometimes seen right on the ground, sometimes floating above it. The flames go out in one place and suddenly appear in another, giving the illusion of motion. The colors, he says, are sometimes yellow, sometimes red and blue-green. No heat is felt, and the lights do no burn or char the ground. They can appear for hours at a time and sometimes for a whole night. Generally there is no smell, and usually no sound, except the popping sound of little explosions, such as when a gas burner ignites. Where does the gas come from, and what lights it? The rotting vegetation produces marsh gas which can be trapped by ice and winter conditions. When a spring thaw occurs, the gas may be released in some quantity.
The flame, Minnaert says, is a form of chemical luminescence and its low temperature is one of its peculiar features. Exactly how it occurs is not known and this in itself might be made a subject of an interesting study. "
This was taken from this website:
http://www.michiganufos.com/1966.html
It still might not answer your question as to HOW the light "lights".
I will be back if I find anything else.
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Mutant, lab created, radioactive turkeys? Any crazy scientists around?
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It is, however, flammable. It's not inconcievable that small pockets of methane might briefly burst into flame.rynner said:
Alternately, the lights could be a localized phenomenon, like ball lightning, resulting from aberrations in the Earth's electromagnetic field.
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Anonymous
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I discovered these forums recently, and enjoy the posts and material, but it was only when I saw the "Blue balls of light" post that I thought I would join in and share.
When I was about 10 I lived in southern West Virginia, and a friend and I were "camping out" in a tent at the edge of his family's property.
There was a nearby hill which was called "Potato Mountain", a medium sized hill. Anyway, that night, I noticed a blue glow all around the top of the hill. I pointed it out to Phillip, and we began wondering what was going on up there. The glow lasted for quite a while, and eventually faded out. Needless to say we soon worked ourselves into a state, and retreated to the safety of his house.
We of course told our families and got the "yeah right" response. We went up to Potato Mountain the next day, and looked around but saw nothing out of the ordinary.
I hadn't thought about that night in years, but when I read the original post, I could still see the eerie blue glow around the hill.
Phillip and I watched for the event again, but never saw it, and my family moved the next year.
When I was about 10 I lived in southern West Virginia, and a friend and I were "camping out" in a tent at the edge of his family's property.
There was a nearby hill which was called "Potato Mountain", a medium sized hill. Anyway, that night, I noticed a blue glow all around the top of the hill. I pointed it out to Phillip, and we began wondering what was going on up there. The glow lasted for quite a while, and eventually faded out. Needless to say we soon worked ourselves into a state, and retreated to the safety of his house.
We of course told our families and got the "yeah right" response. We went up to Potato Mountain the next day, and looked around but saw nothing out of the ordinary.
I hadn't thought about that night in years, but when I read the original post, I could still see the eerie blue glow around the hill.
Phillip and I watched for the event again, but never saw it, and my family moved the next year.
Human_84
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I never understand any "balls of light" stories. Lightning can produce balls of light I know. But lots of these stories (not neccesarilly this one) make me think that the balls o flight have some sort of intelligence. They move about and seemingly avoid walls or trees or other obstructions. Can anyone explain this? Maybe thats a question for a different thread.
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Min Bannister said:
Skinwalker Ranch? What's that, sounds like Lucas produced porno movie?!
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Ummagumma wrote
LOL !!!!
It's a notorious 'UFO/Paranormal' window area. If I recall correctly, it's in Utah USA, and the bizarre range of events that have occurred there are mind-boggling.
(Definitely worth a search on the Internet.)
Still LOL !!!!
LOL !!!!
It's a notorious 'UFO/Paranormal' window area. If I recall correctly, it's in Utah USA, and the bizarre range of events that have occurred there are mind-boggling.
(Definitely worth a search on the Internet.)
Still LOL !!!!
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Dragoncharmer, I understand the fear you felt as a child seeing the giant turkey footprints.. I unfortunantly have experienced the wrath of an angry tom when I was a kid lol and am with you in hoping i NEVER see a turkey that big! :shock:
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kathl33n35 said:
Absolutely! Crazy, mean birds... of course, if I were the main dish on a national holiday, I'm sure I would have a bad attitude too...
Actually, I grew up close to Shipman. No emus, but I remember something of a come-here starting an ostrich ranch in the late 70s/early 80s -- my vegan mom was upset 'cause they were to be used to make cowboy boots.
She lives in Greenwood (Albemarle Co.) now, site of the latest US sniper shootings. I'll ask her if she remembers the ostriches (maybe one or more snuck off).
Oh, that whole Shenandoah Valley is spooked! I gew up in more than one haunted house, to be sure! :shock:
She lives in Greenwood (Albemarle Co.) now, site of the latest US sniper shootings. I'll ask her if she remembers the ostriches (maybe one or more snuck off).
Oh, that whole Shenandoah Valley is spooked! I gew up in more than one haunted house, to be sure! :shock:
Sharon Hill
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Thread resurrection!
A colleague from my personal invisible college informed me that Jim Brandon is no longer secret, hasn't been for a while. He is William (Bill) Grimstad, a known Nazi propagandist.
https://www.revisionisthistory.org/persona3.html (Don't visit unless you have to.)
Fortean philosopher and revisionist historian William N. Grimstad has been a seminal influence on Hoffman since they first began corresponding in the 1970s.
Mr. Grimstad is the author, under the pen name Jim Brandon, of Weird America (E.P. Dutton, 1978) and the magisterial Fortean classic, Rebirth of Pan (Firebird Press, 1983).
Grimstad's landmark revisionist works include AntiZion (The Nontide Press, 1976), The Six Million Reconsidered (Media Research Associates, 1977) and Talk About Hate (1999).
So, there's the Pan connection. And, eww.
amarok2005
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But are the Ubermensch on the Space Turkey or Dog-Man side?