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Another short academic paper on will-o-the-wisps, this time from Brazil;

https://www.scielo.br/j/qn/a/tTNjphQgpHw8TPHx5XPt6DB/

In this case the researcher, Antonio Pavao, focuses on the blue colour often reported, suggesting that this is down to the emission of excited formaldehyde as part of the slow, cool combustion of methane. However, in opposition to the spontaneous combustion claimed by Prof Zychowski, Pavao uses chemistry to argue that an extra source of energy is needed to ignite in the first place - accordingly the reason that will-o-the-wisps are nearly extinct is that people no longer use burning torches, candle lanterns and the like to light their way.

I'm not 100% convinced by this (thanks to Zychowski's paper and evidence of older accounts, as well as the fact that will-o-the-wisps aren't uniformly blue as Pavao claims) but it's interesting to have another perspective.
 
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