12 Aug
2020
12 Aug
'20
10:40 a.m.
Last evening around 11 pm, my indoor Cat , Buster, who patrols his indoor
property constantly became very excited and called for back up by knocking
once a chair and shoving things off the desk downstairs as he tried to get
closer to what I describe as a "Glow." It was about 4' from the window,
tucked into the grass (well weeds here) and not very large. maybe 2-3"
irregularly. I looked about to see what it could be. It did not appear to be
a bit of light coming from next door. I could find no explanation for it
with light from my windows.
It was very still but radiated out with a softer and softer light toward the
outer edge.
I did not go out to check. I went to get the camera but it was gone when I
returned.
This am I went to check. I think I found the approximate area. It is a bit
of almost bald dirt with a Queen Anne's Lace stem coming, a hole and a
spider web with a tunnel. I know we have Fireflies but this would have had
to be a huge one.
Before you ask I was and am not taking anything that could bend my mind in
any way. So that in mind, any idea what was happening there? It does happen
to be in an area with a lot of Ant traffic. We live in an ant hill.
"Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tunes without the words
And never stops–at all." (Emily Dickinson)
12 Aug
12 Aug
1:13 p.m.
Hi Marg & All,
   At about this time of year ants take flight (one small flight in
North Alton Aug 8). A good ant flight from 30 " away can resemble smoke
from a fire.The first time I saw an ant plume in woods I ran over to put
the 'fire' out.
   It is possible perhaps that a strong flight of ants from a hill
could lead to localized burial of organic litter under soil loosened by
ant departure activity such that some of this became anaerobic and
produced methane.
   In dead calm air methane can spontaneously ignite as it leaves an
anaerobic environment and encounters oxygen, seen typically as brief
usually flickering glows in bogs.
   Alternatively, ant wings are shiny and held horizontally. Perhaps
some ants, primed for flight, remained behind when it became too cold
for flight. Any trace of light, stars, clouds, sky light... might
reflect from a gathering of ants.
YT, DW, Kentville
On 8/12/2020 10:40 AM, Marg Millard wrote:
Last evening around 11 pm, my indoor Cat , Buster, who
patrols his
indoor property constantly became very excited and called for back up
by knocking once a chair and shoving things off the desk downstairs
as he tried to get closer to what I describe as a "Glow." It was about
4' from the window, tucked into the grass (well weeds here) and not
very large. maybe 2-3" irregularly. I looked about to see what it
could be. It did not appear to be a bit of light coming from next
door. I could find no explanation for it with light from my windows.
It was very still but radiated out with a softer and softer light
toward the outer edge.
I did not go out to check. I went to get the camera but it was gone
when I returned.
This am I went to check. I think I found the approximate area. It is a
bit of almost bald dirt with a Queen Anne's Lace stem coming, a hole
and a spider web with a tunnel. I know we have Fireflies but this
would have had to be a huge one.
Before you ask I was and am not taking anything that could bend my
mind in any way. So that in mind, any idea what was happening there?
It does happen to be in an area with a lot of Ant traffic. We live in
an ant hill.
"Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tunes without the words
And never stops–at all." (Emily Dickinson)
_______________________________________________
Naturens mailing list -- naturens(a)chebucto.ns.ca
To unsubscribe send an email to naturens-leave(a)chebucto.ns.ca
13 Aug
13 Aug
12:53 a.m.
Intriguing. It was dark so obviously there had to have been a local, transient source of
light. The only plausible candidate would seem to have been a grounded firefly, though MM
does not describe the glow as greenish. A point source like that only 4 feet away might
become a larger apparent glow if the emitted light was seen reflected off the surfaces of
multiple grass or weed stems that blocked the direct light path, but it is surprising it
appeared noticeably bright. Perhaps MM was fully dark-adapted (takes 20-30 minutes)?
This was 11 PM in the country (no light) and transparent insect/ant wings reflect hardly
any light, transmit nearly all of it, and reflected starlight at this level would be
negligible. Bog methane is real, but methane explosions in this case sound similarly
fanciful. About equally plausible is the recent arrival of a miniaturized alien invasion
force whose batteries had then conked out — little wonder that smart Buster would have
been alarmed at the aliens’ landing.
Steve
On Aug 12, 2020, at 12:13 PM, David Webster
<dwebster@glinx.com<mailto:dwebster@glinx.com>> wrote:
Hi Marg & All,
At about this time of year ants take flight (one small flight in North Alton Aug 8). A
good ant flight from 30 " away can resemble smoke from a fire. The first time I saw
an ant plume in woods I ran over to put the 'fire' out.
It is possible perhaps that a strong flight of ants from a hill could lead to
localized burial of organic litter under soil loosened by ant departure activity such that
some of this became anaerobic and produced methane.
In dead calm air methane can spontaneously ignite as it leaves an anaerobic
environment and encounters oxygen, seen typically as brief usually flickering glows in
bogs.
Alternatively, ant wings are shiny and held horizontally. Perhaps some ants, primed
for flight, remained behind when it became too cold for flight. Any trace of light, stars,
clouds, sky light... might reflect from a gathering of ants.
YT, DW, Kentville
On 8/12/2020 10:40 AM, Marg Millard wrote:
Last evening around 11 pm, my indoor Cat , Buster, who patrols his indoor property
constantly became very excited and called for back up by knocking once a chair and shoving
things off the desk downstairs as he tried to get closer to what I describe as a
"Glow." It was about 4' from the window, tucked into the grass (well weeds
here) and not very large. maybe 2-3" irregularly. I looked about to see what it could
be. It did not appear to be a bit of light coming from next door. I could find no
explanation for it with light from my windows.
It was very still but radiated out with a softer and softer light toward the outer edge.
I did not go out to check. I went to get the camera but it was gone when I returned.
This am I went to check. I think I found the approximate area. It is a bit of almost
bald dirt with a Queen Anne's Lace stem coming, a hole and a spider web with a tunnel.
I know we have Fireflies but this would have had to be a huge one.
Before you ask I was and am not taking anything that could bend my mind in any way. So
that in mind, any idea what was happening there? It does happen to be in an area with a
lot of Ant traffic. We live in an ant hill.
"Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tunes without the words
And never stops–at all." (Emily Dickinson)
_______________________________________________
Naturens mailing list -- naturens@chebucto.ns.ca<mailto:naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>
To unsubscribe send an email to
naturens-leave@chebucto.ns.ca<mailto:naturens-leave@chebucto.ns.ca>
_______________________________________________
Naturens mailing list -- naturens@chebucto.ns.ca<mailto:naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>
To unsubscribe send an email to
naturens-leave@chebucto.ns.ca<mailto:naturens-leave@chebucto.ns.ca>
9:03 a.m.
Hi all,
We just went through the Perseids shower..
If it were me, I'd do a bit of digging in that bare spot/"tunnel" area; one
might find a very small meteorite!
A. Woolaver
________________________________
From: Stephen Shaw <srshaw(a)Dal.Ca>
Sent: August 13, 2020 12:53 AM
To: Naturens <naturens(a)chebucto.ns.ca>
Cc: David Webster <dwebster(a)glinx.com>
Subject: [Naturens] Re: strange light in the night
Intriguing. It was dark so obviously there had to have been a local, transient source of
light. The only plausible candidate would seem to have been a grounded firefly, though MM
does not describe the glow as greenish. A point source like that only 4 feet away might
become a larger apparent glow if the emitted light was seen reflected off the surfaces of
multiple grass or weed stems that blocked the direct light path, but it is surprising it
appeared noticeably bright. Perhaps MM was fully dark-adapted (takes 20-30 minutes)?
This was 11 PM in the country (no light) and transparent insect/ant wings reflect hardly
any light, transmit nearly all of it, and reflected starlight at this level would be
negligible. Bog methane is real, but methane explosions in this case sound similarly
fanciful. About equally plausible is the recent arrival of a miniaturized alien invasion
force whose batteries had then conked out — little wonder that smart Buster would have
been alarmed at the aliens’ landing.
Steve
On Aug 12, 2020, at 12:13 PM, David Webster
<dwebster@glinx.com<mailto:dwebster@glinx.com>> wrote:
Hi Marg & All,
At about this time of year ants take flight (one small flight in North Alton Aug 8). A
good ant flight from 30 " away can resemble smoke from a fire. The first time I saw
an ant plume in woods I ran over to put the 'fire' out.
It is possible perhaps that a strong flight of ants from a hill could lead to
localized burial of organic litter under soil loosened by ant departure activity such that
some of this became anaerobic and produced methane.
In dead calm air methane can spontaneously ignite as it leaves an anaerobic
environment and encounters oxygen, seen typically as brief usually flickering glows in
bogs.
Alternatively, ant wings are shiny and held horizontally. Perhaps some ants, primed
for flight, remained behind when it became too cold for flight. Any trace of light, stars,
clouds, sky light... might reflect from a gathering of ants.
YT, DW, Kentville
On 8/12/2020 10:40 AM, Marg Millard wrote:
Last evening around 11 pm, my indoor Cat , Buster, who patrols his indoor property
constantly became very excited and called for back up by knocking once a chair and shoving
things off the desk downstairs as he tried to get closer to what I describe as a
"Glow." It was about 4' from the window, tucked into the grass (well weeds
here) and not very large. maybe 2-3" irregularly. I looked about to see what it could
be. It did not appear to be a bit of light coming from next door. I could find no
explanation for it with light from my windows.
It was very still but radiated out with a softer and softer light toward the outer edge.
I did not go out to check. I went to get the camera but it was gone when I returned.
This am I went to check. I think I found the approximate area. It is a bit of almost
bald dirt with a Queen Anne's Lace stem coming, a hole and a spider web with a tunnel.
I know we have Fireflies but this would have had to be a huge one.
Before you ask I was and am not taking anything that could bend my mind in any way. So
that in mind, any idea what was happening there? It does happen to be in an area with a
lot of Ant traffic. We live in an ant hill.
"Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tunes without the words
And never stops–at all." (Emily Dickinson)
_______________________________________________
Naturens mailing list -- naturens@chebucto.ns.ca<mailto:naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>
To unsubscribe send an email to
naturens-leave@chebucto.ns.ca<mailto:naturens-leave@chebucto.ns.ca>
_______________________________________________
Naturens mailing list -- naturens@chebucto.ns.ca<mailto:naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>
To unsubscribe send an email to
naturens-leave@chebucto.ns.ca<mailto:naturens-leave@chebucto.ns.ca>
1373
days inactive
1374
days old
3 comments
4 participants
participants (4)
-
Anne Woolaver -
David Webster -
Marg Millard -
Stephen Shaw