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What is behind Norway's Hessdalen lights ?


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The valley is home to mysterious hovering orbs of light that have been sighted for more than a century.

Particularly puzzling is the wide variety of different lights that seem to appear, including some that are the size of a car, some that flash blue and white and some that seem to zip around at high speed before fading. Some of the lights have the appearance of metallic objects, leading to speculation that they could even be extraterrestrial in nature.

Read More: http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/news/266391/what-is-behind-norways-hessdalen-lights

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There is also a strong correlation between the lights and the increase in air traffic to the Trondheim Airport over the past couple of decades:

Trondheim Airport (TRD) is due north of Oslo, Norway. This route passes almost directly over Hessdalen. When the Hessdalen lights first started receiving attention in 1981, charter passenger service between Oslo and Trondheim was in its infancy, having begun with only a few flights in 1976. By 1982, Trondheim had opened its third terminal; and by the time Scandinavian Airlines acquired the local carriers in 2002, the Oslo-Trondheim route was the single busiest in all of Norway. Trondheim is about 40 nautical miles north of Hessdalen, and at that range the use of aircraft landing lights is discretionary. Some pilots will have them on, some won't; and weather often affects their choice. Note the automated station's finding that the lights usually appear between 9pm and 1am, when it's dark and the air traffic is active; and more often in the winter, when more pilots like to use the landing lights during flight amid clouds. Whether the Hessdalen Lights are mysterious balls of unexplained plasma or not, extremely bright lights matching the photographs would have been visible in the sky on many nights. If you've ever stood near the approach to a major airport and looked downrange at night, you've seen the sky dotted with strange, stationary glowing orbs.

http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4270

As Mr. Dunning points out, however, aircraft lights can in no way account for all of the sightings. This is especially true when one considers that a number of sightings are at ground level. But given the proven origin behind other such "earth lights" - the Marfa Lights of TX being the best example - one has to also consider that simple automobile lights account for another percentage of sightings.

Add to this the new research in the OP of a natural cause and other recent research proving the existence of "earthquake lights" then I think one can be fairly confident in saying that what we have in Hessdalen is 100% and completely Earthly in origin.

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Probably like most unexplained UFO sightings.

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I believe that the lights such as those at Hessdalen or Marfa are interesting at times, but the issue gets muddied by reports that are not unusual in nature. The lights at Marfa might include some interesting natural phenomena, but the ones seen on a regular basis are car lights. I know I've been there. The Hessdalen lights might include some interesting events as well, but reports due to planes and vehicles make it difficult to separate the interesting from the mundane.

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A mystery that make one think is a treasure in it's self . :yes:

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There is also a strong correlation between the lights and the increase in air traffic to the Trondheim Airport over the past couple of decades:

Trondheim Airport (TRD) is due north of Oslo, Norway. This route passes almost directly over Hessdalen. When the Hessdalen lights first started receiving attention in 1981, charter passenger service between Oslo and Trondheim was in its infancy, having begun with only a few flights in 1976. By 1982, Trondheim had opened its third terminal; and by the time Scandinavian Airlines acquired the local carriers in 2002, the Oslo-Trondheim route was the single busiest in all of Norway. Trondheim is about 40 nautical miles north of Hessdalen, and at that range the use of aircraft landing lights is discretionary. Some pilots will have them on, some won't; and weather often affects their choice. Note the automated station's finding that the lights usually appear between 9pm and 1am, when it's dark and the air traffic is active; and more often in the winter, when more pilots like to use the landing lights during flight amid clouds. Whether the Hessdalen Lights are mysterious balls of unexplained plasma or not, extremely bright lights matching the photographs would have been visible in the sky on many nights. If you've ever stood near the approach to a major airport and looked downrange at night, you've seen the sky dotted with strange, stationary glowing orbs.

http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4270

As Mr. Dunning points out, however, aircraft lights can in no way account for all of the sightings. This is especially true when one considers that a number of sightings are at ground level. But given the proven origin behind other such "earth lights" - the Marfa Lights of TX being the best example - one has to also consider that simple automobile lights account for another percentage of sightings.

Add to this the new research in the OP of a natural cause and other recent research proving the existence of "earthquake lights" then I think one can be fairly confident in saying that what we have in Hessdalen is 100% and completely Earthly in origin.

Hessdalen hasnt been debunked, at all, ever. Skeptoid isnt a bad site, I use it myself often...but, they do try, as per the name of their site...to be debunkers! Scroll down to the bottom of the skeptoid report and read the comments from the locals!!

Ive been 'into' Hessdalen for years, and 'really' looked into it/read up about it. Ive even watched their live cams and seen a light myself! And for those who claim airplane lights or car lights etc, you need to remember this isnt a recent phenomena, its been going on for over a hundred years

quote:

The Hessdalen phenomenon has been around for at least a century, but it reached a peak in the 1980s when the lights suddenly started appearing 1o or 20 times a week. UFO enthusiasts took this as a sign that the valley was a portal to other worlds. Google Hessdalen today, and you'll still find plenty of UFO conspiracy sites.

But that strange bursts of light in the 1980s attracted physicists, too, interest piqued by the idea of some unexplained natural phenomenon. In the decades since, they have determined the glow likely comes from air turned into plasma.

http://gizmodo.com/why-mysterious-ufo-like-lights-glow-in-this-norwegian-v-1575731405

So the scientists/physicists that invested time in the phenomena would surely be smart enough to rule out planes and cars wouldn't you think?

and

In spite of ongoing research there is no convincing explanation of the origin of these lights. However, there are numerous working hypotheses.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hessdalen_light#Possible_explanations

On their website, you can see many pics and vids for yourself...clearly not cars/planes. BUT I also dont believe in the ufo angle, plasma balls seem most likely, as they increase when the northern lights are strong

http://www.hessdalen.org/pictures/

Heres a vid

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at 9ms 20 on this vid, you hear scientists from 8 countries dismiss the idea of the lights being from planes or cars, (scientists from Russia, USA, Japan etc)

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Mother nature is wonderous and mysterious at the same time. I'm sure this mystery will be unveiled one day. In the meantime...

tumblr_m6z5fi4WI91r5m6ua.jpg

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I believe that the lights such as those at Hessdalen or Marfa are interesting at times, but the issue gets muddied by reports that are not unusual in nature. The lights at Marfa might include some interesting natural phenomena, but the ones seen on a regular basis are car lights. I know I've been there. The Hessdalen lights might include some interesting events as well, but reports due to planes and vehicles make it difficult to separate the interesting from the mundane.

We have the Min Min Lights downunder, which seem to be a very similar, if not same phenomena as the Marfa lights, but the wide ranges of colours reported make me think Hessdalen is something different again. Some have multiple colours.

With regards to the Min MIn phenomena, a local scientist - Professor Jack Pettigrew - has come up with an interesting refraction hypothesis that he has submitted - LINK UQ scientist unlocks secret of Min Min lights

From the link:

He used his skills in the vision sciences combined with extensive first-hand experience of the Diamantina region of Western Queensland at night. Professor Pettigrew was studying an elusive nocturnal bird, the letter-winged kite in the region, where he encountered the phenomenon.

“The Min Min light occurs when light, from a natural or man-made source, is refracted to an observer who is tens, or even hundreds, of kilometres away, by an inverted mirage, or Fata Morgana,” he said.

“Named after the Morgan fairy, who was reputed to be able to conjure cities on the surface of the sea ice, the Fata Morgana has a real physical phenomenon, being caused by a temperature inversion.

“A cold, dense layer of air next to the ground (or sea, or sea ice) carries light far over the horizon to a distant observer without the usual dissipation and radiation, to produce a vivid mirage that baffles and enchants because of its unfamiliar optical properties.

“In a celebrated and authenticated example, the Irish sea cliffs were seen floating in vivid greens and browns above the calm Atlantic by observers on a ship more than a thousand kilometres away.

If he is even partly right, it seems to indicate that Marfa and Min MIn lights are the product of light refraction, but from what I read rom Hessdalen, they sound like arial plasmas.

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The New Scientist article presents several hypotheses for the phenomenon and deserves a read as the Gizmodo article is more of an abstract. Of mention is the number of mines that are in the area and the potential impact, e.g. radon gas, these may have on the occurrences.

Edited by highdesert50
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The valley is home to mysterious hovering orbs of light that have been sighted for more than a century.

Read More: http://www.unexplain...essdalen-lights

It's been far from satisfactorily explained in my opinion. One of the more bizarre events in the area was the unexplained and surgical upheaval of a massive volume of earth.

Other strange phenomenon have been observed by locals in Hessdalen. One such phenomenon seems to be a cross between cattle mutilations and crop circles, except performed on the top layers of peat bogs. This very strange phenomenon was first discovered during the initial study. Hunters were on the trail of Deer in a inaccessible part of the valley when they came across a large section that had been sliced and removed from the bog. The top layer of the bog, approximately half a meter deep 5 meters x 1.5 meters across had been precision cut and shifted 10 meters away, perfectly intact. Seemingly with laser precision had the bog been cut. The slab that had been removed weighed an estimated 2 tons but there was no evidence of human trails or machinery of any kind. The ability to extract and move a single section of bog weighing 2 tons without using machine might suggest advanced technology. It was later discovered that this phenomenon had happened before further north in Norway. Exactly the same sized block of earth had been extracted and deposited meters away with great precision and zero trace of human activity. Not even foot prints were found.

http://www.highpants-paranoid-android.com/norways-hessdalen-lights-project-hessdalen-the-scientific-ufo-study/

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It's been far from satisfactorily explained in my opinion. One of the more bizarre events in the area was the unexplained and surgical upheaval of a massive volume of earth.

Other strange phenomenon have been observed by locals in Hessdalen. One such phenomenon seems to be a cross between cattle mutilations and crop circles, except performed on the top layers of peat bogs. This very strange phenomenon was first discovered during the initial study. Hunters were on the trail of Deer in a inaccessible part of the valley when they came across a large section that had been sliced and removed from the bog. The top layer of the bog, approximately half a meter deep 5 meters x 1.5 meters across had been precision cut and shifted 10 meters away, perfectly intact. Seemingly with laser precision had the bog been cut. The slab that had been removed weighed an estimated 2 tons but there was no evidence of human trails or machinery of any kind. The ability to extract and move a single section of bog weighing 2 tons without using machine might suggest advanced technology. It was later discovered that this phenomenon had happened before further north in Norway. Exactly the same sized block of earth had been extracted and deposited meters away with great precision and zero trace of human activity. Not even foot prints were found.

http://www.highpants...ific-ufo-study/

Unfortunately, there is zero corroborating evidence for this phenomenon - no photos, no links, nothing. This is a shame because the data that has been compiled with respect to the Lights IS extensive.

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Unfortunately, there is zero corroborating evidence for this phenomenon - no photos, no links, nothing. This is a shame because the data that has been compiled with respect to the Lights IS extensive.

Someone lied about a lump of earth being surgically removed?

Sure.

Whether you like it or not it's part of the mystery. This is the point I made on UM last week; some like to look at a selected 10% of a phenomena and some look at every bit of evidence they can.

The choice is yours.

Edited by zoser
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Someone lied about a lump of earth being surgically removed?

Sure.

Whether you like it or not it's part of the mystery. This is the point I made on UM last week; some like to look at a selected 10% of a phenomena and some look at every bit of evidence they can.

The choice is yours.

The problem with places like Hessdalen is that there are many more reports which are false than reports of anything really mysterious.

I've personally witnessed that at Marfa and in places where people are pointing to satellites and calling them UFOs. At Marfa people were pointing to lights in the desert and claiming they were mysterious lights. A quick check with binoculars revealed that they were cars. A quick check with binoculars showed there was a mountain which on which the "lights going mysteriously into the sky" were traveling. People denied the existence of the mountain. I offered my binoculars, but the believers refused. They so desperately wanted to believe that they were seeing mysterious events. Why do believers think that mysterious events can happen every night and at a nearly constant pace without being identified? Why don't believers want to check for evidence or explore what they are witnessing to see if they are seeing something normal or possibly unknown?

All of these bogus reports simply makes it difficult to determine what is of interest. From the conspiracy frame of mind we'd have to label all of these so-called believers as ebil gummint shills that were there to hide the truth by confusing the gullible. Were they to separate the obviously mundane events from the interesting and unknown they'd trim the baloney out of the record and focus attention on something worth investigating.

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Hessdalen hasnt been debunked, at all, ever. Skeptoid isnt a bad site, I use it myself often...but, they do try, as per the name of their site...to be debunkers! Scroll down to the bottom of the skeptoid report and read the comments from the locals!!

Ive been 'into' Hessdalen for years, and 'really' looked into it/read up about it. Ive even watched their live cams and seen a light myself! And for those who claim airplane lights or car lights etc, you need to remember this isnt a recent phenomena, its been going on for over a hundred years

quote:

The Hessdalen phenomenon has been around for at least a century, but it reached a peak in the 1980s when the lights suddenly started appearing 1o or 20 times a week. UFO enthusiasts took this as a sign that the valley was a portal to other worlds. Google Hessdalen today, and you'll still find plenty of UFO conspiracy sites.

But that strange bursts of light in the 1980s attracted physicists, too, interest piqued by the idea of some unexplained natural phenomenon. In the decades since, they have determined the glow likely comes from air turned into plasma.

http://gizmodo.com/w...an-v-1575731405

So the scientists/physicists that invested time in the phenomena would surely be smart enough to rule out planes and cars wouldn't you think?

and

In spite of ongoing research there is no convincing explanation of the origin of these lights. However, there are numerous working hypotheses.

http://en.wikipedia....le_explanations

On their website, you can see many pics and vids for yourself...clearly not cars/planes. BUT I also dont believe in the ufo angle, plasma balls seem most likely, as they increase when the northern lights are strong

http://www.hessdalen.org/pictures/

Heres a vid

[media=]

[/media]

I don't think anyone ever claimed that they were debunked - not even the folks at Skeptoid. In fact they even state that in the podcast.

What we do have is a situation where cars and aircraft seem to account for a good deal of the sightings, but there was a percentage of sightings that had been until recently unexplained. But as we've studied the phenomenon and gained a greater understanding of the natural forces at play, what was once unknown has begun to be understood - no need for anyone to cling to supernatural explanations.

So basically what we have is science at work.

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I wonder if anyone has ever tried to intercept the lights by flying a plane towards them for closer inspection?

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  • 2 weeks later...

I am always open minded to the UFO question. But this one looks like a natural phenomena. Of course we don't know exactly what they are but it seems to be gases, maybe some natural reaction to the topographical features of the region. I am of course not qualified, nor experienced with the region to offer anything beyond an 'arm chair' opinion, but looking at it I can't really see much evidence for anything else.

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I wonder if anyone has ever tried to intercept the lights by flying a plane towards them for closer inspection?

They are not all up high, and the team have had a range of instruments focused on what appears there for more than a decade now.

No two ways about it - natural phenomena, any who suggest these are spaceships are way of the mark.

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any who suggest these are spaceships are way of the mark.

I never mentioned it but you did. If you stop to think, Remember to start again. :w00t:

Edited by Hawkin
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Well of course it's put down to yet another natural phenomenon, gases, winds, blah! blah!.....lets not forget the man made stuff either.... weather balloons, blimps,drones etc.

The real thing could land on their heads......and they'd call it grandma's fry pan :sleepy:

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Well of course it's put down to yet another natural phenomenon, gases, winds, blah! blah!.....lets not forget the man made stuff either.... weather balloons, blimps,drones etc.

The real thing could land on their heads......and they'd call it grandma's fry pan :sleepy:

The problem with all of these things is that people add all sorts of baloney into the observations that make it hard to study what is really happening. There are all sorts of unsubstantiated stories that often turn out to be bad observations. I've personally witnessed this at Marfa where people point to cars and claim they are the mystery lights. There might be interesting mystery lights at Marfa, but those are hard to pick out of the thousands more stories that are based on the ignorance of the observer. I could see that every, 100% of the indicated lights, was in fact a car. I could tell that with my binoculars. Every white light was paired and followed by a pair of red lights. So bright headlights were followed by tail lights. Just goes to show you that people living in Marfa have vehicles in proper working order and the loonies that visit there can't understand that cars are used in the area.

So don't confuse the interesting lights of Hessdalen with all of the loony stories that do nothing but muddy the waters. There is nothing to indicate that this is something other than a natural phenomena.

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The problem with all of these things is that people add all sorts of baloney into the observations that make it hard to study what is really happening. There are all sorts of unsubstantiated stories that often turn out to be bad observations. I've personally witnessed this at Marfa where people point to cars and claim they are the mystery lights. There might be interesting mystery lights at Marfa, but those are hard to pick out of the thousands more stories that are based on the ignorance of the observer. I could see that every, 100% of the indicated lights, was in fact a car. I could tell that with my binoculars. Every white light was paired and followed by a pair of red lights. So bright headlights were followed by tail lights. Just goes to show you that people living in Marfa have vehicles in proper working order and the loonies that visit there can't understand that cars are used in the area.

So don't confuse the interesting lights of Hessdalen with all of the loony stories that do nothing but muddy the waters. There is nothing to indicate that this is something other than a natural phenomena.

I understand exactly what your saying....believe me though,I don't call everything flying around in the air a UFO. We have what you call Min Min lights in this country. I have witnessed the phenomenon a few times whilst driving out West at night.

The point that I was making before in general...was that the 1% of what cannot be identified....IS usually identified as something else...when they really can't identify it. I hope you get my drift :)

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I never mentioned it but you did. If you stop to think, Remember to start again. :w00t:

LOL - Touche` !!

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It's been far from satisfactorily explained in my opinion. One of the more bizarre events in the area was the unexplained and surgical upheaval of a massive volume of earth.

Other strange phenomenon have been observed by locals in Hessdalen. One such phenomenon seems to be a cross between cattle mutilations and crop circles, except performed on the top layers of peat bogs. This very strange phenomenon was first discovered during the initial study. Hunters were on the trail of Deer in a inaccessible part of the valley when they came across a large section that had been sliced and removed from the bog. The top layer of the bog, approximately half a meter deep 5 meters x 1.5 meters across had been precision cut and shifted 10 meters away, perfectly intact. Seemingly with laser precision had the bog been cut. The slab that had been removed weighed an estimated 2 tons but there was no evidence of human trails or machinery of any kind. The ability to extract and move a single section of bog weighing 2 tons without using machine might suggest advanced technology. It was later discovered that this phenomenon had happened before further north in Norway. Exactly the same sized block of earth had been extracted and deposited meters away with great precision and zero trace of human activity. Not even foot prints were found.

http://www.highpants...ific-ufo-study/

And here I was going to speculate that it might have been paeloluminescence.....

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I'll happily confess I haven't spent hours poring over it all... but what I have seen to date regarding the quality of observations of the Hessdalen phenomena, especially by those claiming to be professionally / scientifically / carefully investigating the supposedly common occurrence, are woeful. Is there very limited funding or a shortage of decent photographers around this area, or are the sightings much more rare than is usually touted?

Does anyone have any links/examples of decently recorded examples? If the examples shown so far on this thread are the best... then I'd have to question the seriousness of the investigations..

As an example - that video Seeder posted shows a video camera on a cheap 'sticky' tripod (hence the jerky movements) and set to Autofocus. Seriously??? As if the jerky tripod and use of AF isn't enough, it is also obviously not a low-light capable (large sensor) camera as the imagery is very grainy, and there seems to be no attempt to adjust exposures or use any other techniques to help with analysis. Geez, if I was in the area I'd loan them my camera (although I think it would tip their dinky lil tripod over, so I'd have to loan that too :D)...

I'll be delighted if someone can provide a link to better imagery and a research team that is using decent equipment and techniques to gather better imagery.. most of the stuff I've found is also quite dated, eg the rather dire Project Hessdalen website, where this year has seen just 2 anecdotal reports only, and frankly, the 'best' pictures and complete lack of decent analysis is very depressing. Most of them are ridiculously motion blurred and highly questionable, and there are even some that look exactly like lens flares..

I thought this was the Holy Grail of examples of earthly plasmas or similar effects, but I'm feeling a bit let down... Time to schedule a trip to Biloela, I think... Any sponsors out there?

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