Editing Min Min light (section)

==Hypotheses==
It is unknown whether the Min Min lights are a real phenomenon, and if so, what their source might be. Various hypotheses have been put forward to explain the lights, including:

===Bioluminescence===
Scientist [[Jack Pettigrew]] has hypothesized that the lights may be the result of insects swarming that have taken on [[bioluminescence|bioluminescent]] characteristics after being contaminated by naturally occurring agents found in local fungi,<ref name=pettigrew1/> or of species of owl with their own naturally occurring source of bioluminescence.<ref name=silcock1>{{cite book |author=Silcock, Fred F. |title=The Min Min Light: The Visitor Who Never Arrives |year=2004 |url=http://www.owlpages.com/articles.php?section=Product+Reviews&title=Min+Min |access-date=12 December 2005 |archive-date=18 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230118031758/https://www.owlpages.com/owls/articles.php?a=107 |url-status=live }}</ref> To date, no one has captured or observed an animal with these characteristics. There is also no known bioluminescent source bright enough.<ref name=pettigrew1/>

===Geophysical lights===
A second hypothesis by Pettigrew is that the lights are the result of known geophysical phenomena, such as [[piezoelectricity|piezoelectrics]] or [[marsh gas]].<ref name=pettigrew1/> However, the lights are often reported in areas without geological conditions conducive to these phenomena.<ref name=pettigrew1/>

===Refraction===
Pettigrew also suggests that the Min Min lights could be a form of [[Fata Morgana (mirage)|Fata Morgana mirage]].<ref name=selleh1>{{cite news |last=Salleh |first=Anna |date=28 March 2003 |title=Mystery of the Min Min lights explained |series=ABC News in Science |publisher=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] |url=http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s818193.htm |access-date=30 August 2006 |archive-date=25 May 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060525024944/http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s818193.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> A Fata Morgana is a specific form of mirage caused by a stark temperature difference between air layers, which causes remote lights or objects actually beyond the horizon to appear visible above the horizon, often with considerable distortion.<ref name=pettigrew1/><ref name=uq>{{cite press release |title=U.Q. scientist unlocks secret of Min Min lights |date=27 March 2003 |publisher=[[University of Queensland]] |url=http://www.uq.edu.au/news/?article=4265 |access-date=2 December 2011 |archive-date=4 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204054405/http://www.uq.edu.au/news/?article=4265 |url-status=live }}</ref> This explanation would also explain how reports of the sightings have changed over the years: The first reports and Aboriginal legends were of stationary lights, which would have been refractions over the horizon of campfires.  Later reports are of lights that actively move.  With a Fata Morgana mirage, this would be a refraction of car headlights over the horizon being reflected and being seen to move.  The area of the Min Min lights are in a desert with known temperature inversions in the atmosphere.{{Cn|date=November 2024}}