Subject: Fwd = In the coils of the Naga
From: Frits Westra <fwestra@...>
Date: 13 Mar 2003 02:22
Forwarded by: fwestra@... (Frits Westra)
URL: http://www.forteantimes.com/articles/166_naga.shtml
Original Date: Thu, 13 Mar 2003 01:47:15 +0100 (CET)
========================== Forwarded message begins ======================
IN THE COILS OF THE NAGA
From: Fortean Times
FT 166
JANUARY 2003
Richard Freeman
--[snipped for brevity -- FULL article at above URL]----
The next day was an important one. The naga mystery, with its complex
folklore, has become entangled with many mysteries over the years; one
of these is the naga fireballs.
On 13 October each year, balls of red light are seen shooting out of
the Mekong river. Locals believe these to be the breath of the naga,
heralding the end of the rainy season. Huge crowds assemble to
celebrate and view the phenomenon from the banks of the Mekong. The
fortean in me recalled the balls of blue light associated with giant
snakes in the Amazon (believed to be their bioluminescent eyes) and I
thought, too, of the earth lights often reported over water. Perhaps
two fortean phenomena were occurring here side by side.
During daylight, before the appearance of the nocturnal lights, a huge
parade took place, with hundreds of people in traditional dress, bands
playing, and floats carrying images of the naga. It ended with a
temple made entirely from bamboo leaves being floated upon the river.
By nightfall, I found myself surrounded by 100,000 screaming Thais
shining spotlights and laser pointers on the water and letting off
fireworks. Traditional long boats illuminated with candles and lamps
passed by as we waited for the phenomenon to begin. Suddenly a shout
went up: a fireball had been spotted. Shortly after I saw a red light
spring upwards from the opposite bank, then fade away. Soon, more
followed - first in ones, then in twos, threes and fours. Swiftly,
something dawned upon me; if this were a natural phenomenon, it would
surely be occurring across the entire width of the river. The lights
were springing up from the far bank - the Laotian side - in what
appeared to be an extremely orchestrated fashion. They also seemed to
be coming from areas where lamps were visible and people, presumably,
were present. The fabled naga fireballs seemed to be nothing more
mysterious than fireworks of the relatively noiseless kind that fade
away rather than exploding, much like maritime distress flares.
So, the fireball mystery bit the dust. I was satisfied that the
Laotians were having a good chuckle at their friends across the river.
But other riddles awited me.
--[snipped for brevity -- FULL article at above URL]----
AUTHOR
Richard Freeman is a cryptozoologist based at the Centre for Fortean
Zoology in Exeter. He has worked in animal sanctuaries and as a
zookeeper at Twycross zoo, where he became head curator of reptiles.
He is currently working on a book about dragons.
THE NAGA FIREBALLS
The annual appearance of the mysterious naga fireballs - on the full
moon of the 11th lunar month each year and coinciding with the
Buddhist equivalent of Lent - has become an important part of
Thailand's tourist industry. Celebrated in the Bang Fai Phaya Nark
festival, the phenomenon is a huge boon to the local economy of the
north-eastern border province of Nong Khai. 2002's event saw in excess
of 400,000 visitors, both Thais and foreign tourists, joining the
celebrations along the Mekong river, mostly in the districts of Phon
Phisai, Sri Chiang Mai, Pak Khad, Rattana Wapi and Bung Kan. The
mysterious balls of red, pink and orange light were supplemented by a
special light and sound show over the festival's four-day run,
bringing in more tourists than ever before.
At the height of festivities, a total of 829 fireballs was reported -
noticeably less than in some previous years, when thousands were seen.
The largest concentration was in the Rattana Wapi district, where 483
of the mystery lights were seen rising from the river. 188 fireballs
were reported from Phon Pisai, 86 from Bung Kan, 62 from Pak Khad,
seven from Sangkhom and a rather disappointing three from Bung Khong
Long. One newspaper report blamed the "unusually poor show" in some
areas on the weather; a heavy downpour and strong winds also dampened
the spirits of visitors, many of whom had made the trip after seeing
the recent hit Thai movie Mekong Full Moon Party, a comedy centred
around the fireball festival.
The Thai government has apparently commissioned an investigation into
the mystery orbs, whose cause remains unknown. While they are
traditionally believed to emanate from the naga - some legends say
they are the serpent's eggs - scientists have suggested that the
fireballs are produced by flammable natural gas deposits in the river
bed drawn to the surface by the moon's gravitational pull; although
this hardly explains why it should happen only in the month of October
or early November.
A recently-aired TV documentary has further muddied the waters,
suggesting that the entire fireball phenomenon is a hoax perpetrated
by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) to bring money to the
region and that the `fireballs' were created with tracer bullets from
AK-47 rifles on the Laotian side of the Mekong. Prasit Chanthathong, a
Nong Khai MP, responded that since the fireballs had been seen for
hundreds of years, this wasn't a very convincing debunking:"How did
anyone have a gun back then to create this show?" he asked, apparently
forgetting the earlier Chinese use of gunpowder and rockets.
Bangkok Post 22+23 Oct; The Nation, 22 Oct; Ananova, 22 Oct; Bangkok
Post, 3 Nov 2002; FT105:22.
© Copyright Fortean Times. All rights reserved.
========================== Forwarded message ends ========================