Mysterious Glowing Orbs of Hessdalen in Norway: Facts

Story:

The Hessdalen light is an unexplained light usually seen in the Hessdalen valley in the municipality of Holtålen in Sør-Trøndelag County, Norway.

Other Versions

The glowing orbs of Hessdalen in Norway have been a mysterious phenomenon.

Analysis:

The story talks about the mysterious glowing orbs seen sometimes in the skies of the Hessdalen valley in central Norway. The strange, hovering flashing orbs (balls of light) have been appearing in the Hessdalen valley for at least a century now, and baffled scientists have been studying them for decades, but the mystery of this Hessdalen phenomenon is not solved yet.

Hessdalen Light

The Hessdalen phenomenon is now observed some 10–20 times per year, but during December 1981 until the summer of 1984 these lights were observed 15–20 times per week. This was the time when scientists became keen to solve the mystery behind these glowing orbs. They have also attracted attention from ufologists, and some attribute them to alien origins. These orbs can be as small as light bulbs and as large as cars. Science writer Caroline Williams described wonderfully about the Hessdalen phenomenon for NewScientist.com. On a cold, dark Norwegian night about a dozen times a year, you might see this:

Sometimes the lights are as big as cars and can float around for up to 2 hours. Other times they zip down the valley before suddenly fading away. Then there are the blue and white flashes that come and go in the blink of an eye, and daytime sightings that look like metallic objects in the sky.

Shown in the video below is one such instance of Hessdalen phenomenon showing glowing orbs in the sky.

Explanations

Many studies done over the years have suggested that the mysterious glow in Hessdalen most likely comes from air turned into plasma. To describe this Hessdalen phenomenon there came up many possible explanations, including incompletely understood combustion process in the air and influence of extraterrestrial spacecrafts. As of this writing, based upon current evidence, the most probable explanation for Hessdalen phenomenon is ‘Battery’ theory described below.

‘Battery’ Theory

A computer engineer Erling Strand from Ostfold University in Norway set up the Project Hessdalen to unite experts trying to solve the mystery behind the natural phenomenon. The researchers noticed a small change in the areas’ magnetic field before the glowing orbs formed in the Hessdalen valley. Experts then measured the size, shape and speed of the glowing orbs using radar and spectral analysis and revealed that the lights that appear to be cool make no sound, do not leave any scorch marks on the ground, but interestingly, they do sterilize an area upon contact, killing the soil microbes.

Scientists now think that the unusual lights in Hessdalen valley could be formed by a natural ‘battery’ buried deep underground, which is created by metallic minerals reacting with a sulphurous river running through it. One expert Jader Monari of the Institute of Radio Astronomy in Medicina, Italy, who studied the Hessdalen site since 1996, has found that the 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. He suggests that the sulphurous water from the abandoned sulfur mine at the bottom of the valley creates a giant battery. To test this, the scientists took rock samples, created a miniature valley and dunked them in river sediment. As expected, they found electricity flowed between the two rocks and that it could light a lamp.

According to Dr Monari, when sulphurous fumes from the River Hesja react with the humid air of the valley, bubbles of ionized gas are created. He says the unusual geology of Hessdalen also forms electromagnetic field lines in the valley, which may explain why the glowing orbs move around.

An electrical engineer at Ostfold University, Bjorn Gitle Hauge thinks that Hessdalen valley’s shape, climate and unique geology generate a massive electric charge and that the static electricity on the mountains can be whipped up by strong winds. Other experts believe that the glowing Hessdalen lights are powered by radioactivity and the decay of radon in the atmosphere, that they are made from ‘dusty plasma’ of ionized dust particles.

With more research going on in the Hessdalen valley, let us hope scientists will soon come up with a clear explanation for the mysterious glowing orbs in Norway.