Unexplained lights caught by a wildlife camera in Patagonia confounded researchers in January.(Image credit: Courtesy of Rodrigo Bravo Garrido)Subscribe to our newsletter
On Jan. 21, at 12:22 a.m. local time, amid the stillness and gloom of Chile’s Patagonia region, a camera trap employed to track wildlife for a University of Magallanes (UMAG) project documented, within a 2-second span, three images depicting intense lights descending.
Everyone was perplexed.
“On a camera situated at the edge of a clearing, quite distant from any public road and focused on a level horizon, some lights emerged that we cannot account for,” biologist Alejandro Kusch stated in a UMAG podcast in August. “Evidently, these lights, initially far off, draw nearer and position themselves before the camera, blinding it, in a movement that seems to be downwards.”
Kusch is among the principal investigators of the Public Baseline project, which utilizes 65 camera traps spread across continental Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, at the southernmost point of Chile, to record terrestrial fauna, especially felines. Since the initiative commenced in November 2023, a minimum of 365,000 images and videos have been gathered; however, only these three photographs illustrate this occurrence.
UMAG disseminated the images to various entities, ranging from Chile’s General Directorate of Civil Aeronautics (SEFAA) to the La Serena UFO Museum, and to several individuals who examine anomalous aerial phenomena.
Potential explanations varied from an arachnid approaching very near the camera lens to a “plasmoid,” a fleeting state of plasma seldom observed in nature, which could be responsible for phenomena such as ball lightning. Nevertheless, all experts concurred: for the moment, no definitive explanation exists.
This sighting is distinctive because it was documented within the scope of a scientific endeavor, according to Rodrigo Bravo, a researcher with the Environmental Studies Group (GEA) at UMAG and a participant in the Public Baseline project. This implies there is no possibility of deception or alteration, as the camera traps operate under stringent protocols and are equipped with an infrared system, motion sensor, and other features that would prevent unauthorized interference, he contended.
“This isn’t the first instance these phenomena have been described in the vicinity, but it is the initial occasion they have been recorded in this manner,” Bravo informed Live Science.
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(Image credit: Courtesy of Rodrigo Bravo Garrido)
A collection of images captured by UMAG’s camera trap. The entire sequence spanned 2 seconds to record.
(Image credit: Courtesy of Rodrigo Bravo Garrido)
The sequence of the recording captured by UMAG’s camera trap.
(Image credit: Courtesy of Rodrigo Bravo Garrido)
The sequence of the recording captured by UMAG’s camera trap.
Bad lights
The local Mapuche indigenous group traditionally speaks of “bad lights,” which they believe are spirits manifesting in the fields. This introduces the possibility that the camera traps are finally documenting a phenomenon long acknowledged in the region.
However, even if these peculiar flashes are the “bad lights” referenced by the Mapuche, what exactly are they?
One hypothesis is that the lights represent unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), potentially originating from an enigmatic flying object. Certain declassified Pentagon documents concerning UAP exhibit comparable characteristics, Bravo added. Generally, subpar data quality prevents most UAP sightings from being confirmed or explained, with frequent explanations including foreign espionage drones and “airborne clutter” such as birds and weather balloons.
To investigate this potential, UMAG forwarded photographs and video footage to Freddy Alexis, who hosts television programs on UFOs and other unexplained phenomena on UCVTV, the channel of the Catholic University of Valparaíso.
Alexis produced two reports on his findings, which involved trajectory, spectrographic, and relief analyses of the photographs and video clips. In his second report, he concluded that only a single “luminous stimulus” is discernible, not multiple, and that the other “lights” are internal lens flares.
According to Alexis, the primary light might be a plasmoid, or a bubble of incandescent ionized gas contained by Earth’s local magnetic field, which can maintain stability for a brief duration. The most commonly recognized atmospheric instance is ball lightning, typically associated with thunderstorms. Yet, this is where his explanation encounters a challenge. “It was summer, with 48 degrees Fahrenheit (8 degrees Celsius), and there were no electrical storms,” Alexis informed Live Science. “There were no meteorological conditions conducive to a storm, making it highly improbable for ball lightning to have formed.”
A photograph capturing the rare phenomenon of ball lightning. Ball lightning typically occurs during storms, but the weather was clear on the day the lights were recorded. (Image credit: “ball of fire.” by Storm Wolf, CC BY-ND 2.0)
However, more unconventional plasmoids have been theorized under specific circumstances, such as transient, localized alterations in Earth’s magnetic field.
Nevertheless, Alexis pointed out that other, poorly comprehended atmospheric plasmoids might exist, analogous to the “mysterious lights” observed in Hessdalen, Norway. Similar to the Magallanes phenomenon, these lights resist conventional explanations and could involve plasma formations that are still not well understood.
In one of his reports, Alexis also computed that, assuming it was a distant, airborne object, it would have been traveling at a velocity of 590 mph (947 km/h), or approximately 0.7 times the speed of sound. Alexis proposed that the lights might not be a flying object, but he added that certain plasmoids are capable of high-speed movement.
A strange creature
In a separate assessment, specialists from the La Serena UFO Museum suggested that a spider or moth might have inadvertently activated the camera’s sensor. This is because in the initial photograph, an insect or arachnid appears to be visible along one edge of the frame. However, the insect is absent from the subsequent images.
While it’s a possibility that the insect triggered the camera, this would only account for why the photo was taken, not for the appearance of a bright, blob-like light, stated
Cristian Riffo, director of the La Serena UFO Museum, who was also consulted for the UMAG report.
Riffo indicated that the camera traps are engineered to minimize false triggers from insects, lasers, or other stimuli. He finds the rapid succession of photographs, in which the light seems to advance towards the camera, perplexing and difficult to rationalize.
“It could potentially be two distinct phenomena: one natural, which activated the camera, and the other, a luminous event, which remains unexplained,” Riffo told Live Science.
A shot from the same wildlife camera where the lights appeared, but during the day. Except for a fence, there are no human-made structures nearby. (Image credit: Courtesy of Rodrigo Bravo Garrido)
Museum researchers examined images captured before and after the event, both during the day and at night, in the presence of wildlife, and under varying atmospheric conditions. They also reviewed the manufacturer’s manuals to rule out technical malfunctions. To date, “they have not found a resolution,” Riffo stated.
Consequently, researchers from the La Serena UFO Museum intend to conduct their own on-site investigations in the area to gather further data and assess other local variables, such as the topography, ambient lighting, and environmental elements.
Bravo added that the monitoring initiative in the region is projected to continue for an additional 10 years, with plans for more camera traps, raising optimism that this unusual phenomenon might be documented once more.
“The scientists involved are keen to understand the nature of this event. This, too, is science: it involves uncovering the workings of nature,” Bravo remarked.
In the interim, the enigma persists, prompting scientists and enthusiasts of anomalous aerial phenomena to collaborate in seeking its explanation.
Sourse: www.livescience.com