Proof That Ghost Lights Exist

ScientistHave paranormal lovers had their prayers answered? Has science proven that “ghost lights” and strange light orbs exist around the world? Scientists undertook this monster task and came up some very interesting results!  Read on …

Finally! I found an article by scientists that link the strange orbs of lights, streaks of lights and all the rest … to earthquake activity! The impact this information will have on ghost and UFO research is significant. Let’s see how:

In the Jan/Feb issue of Seismological Research Letters, scientists revealed that in areas where sub-vertical faults occur, “stress-induced” electrical currents can flow to the surface, and do so quickly. These currents produce the lights that we see around earthquake and volcanic areas.

It’s worthy of note that more earthquake lights (EQLs) appear before an earthquake rather than after because prior to an earthquake, the enormous pressures are building underneath the surface.  That said, there are some rare times when these lights appear after an earthquake, at least briefly.

Examples of EQLs

The article in Science Daily, Earthquake Lights Linked to Rift Environments, Sub-vertical Faults, shared a few examples of how EQLs appeared in the past:

L’Aquila, Italy 2009: citizens saw 4 inch (10 cm) tall “stalks of light” floating over the city’s historical center which was paved with stones.

Quebec, Canada 1988: Eleven days before a strong earthquake hit the area, people saw a “bright purple-pink globe of light” moving in the sky, following the St. Lawrence River.

San Francisco, CA 1906: For two nights before the great earthquake hit San Francisco, a couple people saw “streams of light” coursing above the ground about 62 miles (100 km) northwest of the city.

GhostLights01According to the caption in the Science Daily article, in the photo right, “Earthquake lights from Tagish Lake, Yukon-Alaska border region, around the 1st of July, probably 1972 or 1973 (exact date unknown). Estimated size: 1m diameter. Closest orbs slowly drifted up the mountain to join the more distant ones. Credit: Jim Conacher”

What Scientists Discovered

The scientists involved in this research, led by geologist Robert Theriault of the Ministere des Ressources Naturelles of Quebec combed through vast amounts of literature from the past to find correlations between these “ghost lights” and earthquake activity. From that pile, they selected 65 events in the Americas and Europe that were well documented. These cases dated back as far as 1600 AD.

From that selection of 65 occurrences, they were able to determine some earthquake statistics as quoted below:

  • “85% appeared spatially on or near rifts
  • 97% appeared adjacent to subvertical faults
  • Intraplate faults are associated with just 5% of the Earth’s seismic activity, but account for 97% of the documented cases of earthquake lights.”

GhostLights03SichuanChina2008Theriault said, “The numbers are striking and unexpected. We don’t know quite yet why more earthquake light events are related to rift environments than other types of faults, but unlike other faults that may dip at a 30-35 degree angle, such as in subduction zones, subvertical faults characterize the rift environments in these cases.”

Right now it’s hard for science to be able to “see” everything below the surface, so we don’t have the whole clear picture … yet. Theriault adds, “We may not know the fault distribution beneath the ground. We have some idea of the surface structures, but sedimentary layers or water may obscure the underlying fault structure.” (Photo above left from Sichuan, China. These lights were seen before the great earthquake in 2008.)

The lights generally appeared as luminous globes, sometimes stationary, other times in motion.  They were either seen up in the air above the ground or like torches of flames being thrown from below ground up into the air.

The earthquakes associated in these 65 cases ranged in magnitude from 3.l6 to 9.2. Of them, 80% were greater than 5.0. The location of the lights associated with the events varied considerably.

GhostLights04PiscoPeruBest Documented Case

The scientists discovered a wonderful case from Pisco, Peru in 2007 where they experienced a magnitude 8.0 earthquake. It was a very well documented case because they had eyewitnesses, but also security camera footage of lights (photo right) appearing in the lead-up to the earthquake. The cameras allowed researchers to time the appearance of the lights as well as their location and the result was the EQLs accurately coincided with seismic waves as they passed by.

Warning System

Theriault noted, “Earthquake lights as a pre-earthquake phenomenon, in combination with other types of parameters that vary prior to seismic activity, may one day help forecast the approach of a major quake.”  That’s good news for everyone.

About Volcanoes

This article didn’t mention volcanic activity and the “ghost lights” often associated with them.  But these lights seem to come from huge amounts of internal Earth activity, and I feel confidant saying a volcano qualifies as a huge amount of internal activity within our planet. I feel sure there must be another Earth-dynamic that we haven’t quite figured out yet that causes these lights to also appear around volcanic regions, including some mountain ranges that appear dormant.

GhostLight05MexCityMexThe best example of this that I can offer is the area around Mexico City, Mexico. The city sits in the caldera of an old volcano. The surrounding mountains are always dishing up orbs of lights. (See photo left taken in February 2013 near the volcano outside Mexico City.)

The city is almost UFO-mad and most of their sightings seem to be of these light orbs that act a bit weird, floating up and around the mountain areas. There has to be some connection to Earth science. We’ve just seen how they are related to earthquake activity on our planet. I am sure science has some more wonderful discoveries to make with volcanoes as well.

UFO and Ghost Hunters

For those who hunt for UFOs and ghosts, the cautionary tale is this: be aware of your environment. Learn about the geography in the area where you’re conducting research. If you’re in a seismically active place you need to be very skeptical about orbs of light, flashes and flames of light shooting out of things.  Earth-science can up-end any “evidence” you think you’ve caught, if it isn’t properly interpreted.

Am I looking down on your efforts to find UFOs and proof that ghosts exist? No. I’m just saying that in order to conduct a smart and thorough investigation, you need to consider all the facts at your disposal. Because if you can find proof that is separate from anything else (including EQLs and those I believe area associated with volcanoes), then you will have found some genuinely compelling evidence that we’ll all be excited to see.

UFOHunters

Have you ever seen any “ghost lights” in seismically active areas?

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