The Australian phenomenon of the appearance of the lights of the min Min is a Mirage

The author is John Pettigrew (John D Pettigrew BSc(Med) MBBS MSc FRS). It was published in March 2003 in the journal of the journal Clinical and Experimental Optometry.

In the nature of the known phenomenon of inverted Mirage, when the image floats high in the air and closer to the horizon. Such mirages are caused by a temperature inversion, where cold dense air is trapped next to the ground under a layer of warmer air. Therefore, the light near the ground refracts in such a way that it travels in a curved path around the earth.

Pettigrew himself has reproduced this phenomenon. First he chose a night that had the right weather conditions: cool evening after a hot day with little wind. He then drove off in his car for 10 kilometers along the intended direction of flow “air fiber” down on the terrain so that its height position was significantly lower than the outermost point, from which at a distance of 10 km could be seen in direct light. At the time of demonstration of the phenomenon, six observers witnessed the light of car headlights from cars Pettigrew floating above the horizon.

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An Australian neuroscientist claims he can conjure up the mysterious visual phenomenon, often observed in uninhabited areas of the Australian min-Min. He was also able to explain the nature of its origin. Likely this same phenomenon occurred from time immemorial, when witnesses saw the battle, while hundreds and even thousands of kilometers away from the battle.

Professor Jack Pettigrew from the University of Queensland in Brisbane claims that these lights are nothing but a mirror phenomenon of the Mirage from the small light sources which, in some cases, removed hundreds of kilometers.

The results of studies published in the current issue of the journal Clinical and Experimental Optometry.

Pettigrew studied the phenomenon in Western Queensland, where it was disturbing the locals for many years.

This phenomenon is really frightening, if you do not know its essence. It is similar to the following.

Imagine that You are sitting late in the evening in your room without light or Wake in the night and through the window to You comes a beam of light that floats in the middle of the room and as soon as You move your eyes or turn your head to see the cause of the light source, the light moves together with Your eyes. That is, it follows You like glue. In principle, it really looks terribly scary.

To study the nature of this mysterious phenomenon, Pettigrew and two of his companion departed from the trajectory path of the light rays of this phenomenon is 5 km to side.

Then the ray of light became visible at the point of refraction. By calculation they determined that the true source of light was somewhere at a distance of 300 km and went beyond the horizon into the desert.

They later found out that at the same time, when they observed the phenomenon there was driving a car that was moving and shining lights in their direction. So most likely it headlights they watched.

But how is this going?

In the nature of the known phenomenon of inverted Mirage, when the image floats high in the air and closer to the horizon. Such mirages are caused by a temperature inversion, where cold dense air is trapped next to the ground under a layer of warmer air. Therefore, the light near the ground refracts in such a way that it travels in a curved path around the earth. In science this phenomenon is generally known as refraction (see diagram on the right).

“It's like the way light travels in the optical fiber, no matter which way You bend the fibre,” said Pettigrew. “Light carry for hundreds of kilometers the layers of air that trap him a certain “air fiber”, whose shell consists of a layer of warm air, and the tunnel – out of the cold. It does not allow the light to dissipate.”

When the light penetrates your window, You see no reflected light from objects, and are thicker in the beam of light, that is, how would get into the fiber. So wherever You took your view, the spot light will chase You.

To test this theory that the lights min-Min was actually the night phenomenon caused by the same factors that cause Mirage, Pettigrew himself has reproduced this phenomenon.

First he chose a night that had the right weather conditions: cool evening after a hot day with little wind. He then drove off in his car for 10 kilometers along the intended direction of flow “air fiber” down on the terrain so that its height position was significantly lower than the outermost point, from which at a distance of 10 km could be seen in direct light. At the time of demonstration of the phenomenon, six observers witnessed the light of car headlights from cars Pettigrew floating above the horizon.

But this phenomenon may be the day. For example, in the morning after the demonstration the night of the Mirage, Pettigrew said that all watched the spectacular Mirage of a distant mountain chain, which confirmed his theory that the phenomenon of the min Min is due to certain atmospheric conditions at the time.

“The mountain chain, which was usually not visible (because it is significantly below the horizon) was clearly visible on the horizon, and was gradually dispersed, when rising higher scorching sun soon warmed the air,” said Pettigrew.

Likely this same phenomenon occurred from time immemorial, when witnesses saw the battle, while hundreds and even thousands of kilometers away from the battle. In the heat of battle, where they mingled near the ground the clubs of fire and smoke, the same cold air fall into the trap of warm masses, who rose and carried the picture of the event at the sky. And there already the light was traveling the usual route is refracted in the atmosphere. So the history there were cases when witnesses watched the battle, the painting which suddenly appeared in the sky and sometimes was even reversed.

Translated by «Yandex.Translator»