Editing Min Min light

{{Short description|Light phenomenon in outback Australia}}
{{Use Australian English|date=July 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}}
{{redirects|Min Min|the locality in Queensland|Min Min, Queensland|the fictional character|Min Min (character)}}
[[File:Min-min-light-sign-boulia-outback-queensland-australia.jpg|thumb|right|Sign at [[Boulia, Queensland]]]]

The '''Min Min light''' is a light phenomenon that has often been reported in [[outback]] [[Australia]].<ref name="pettigrew1">{{cite journal |author=Pettigrew |first=John D. |date=March 2003 |title=The Min Min light and the Fata Morgana. An optical account of a mysterious Australian phenomenon |url=http://www.uq.edu.au/nuq/jack/MinMinCEO.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=Clin Exp Optom |volume=86 |issue=2 |pages=109–20 |doi=10.1111/j.1444-0938.2003.tb03069.x |pmid=12643807 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220714065225/http://www.uq.edu.au/nuq/jack/MinMinCEO.pdf |archive-date=14 July 2022 |access-date=27 November 2010 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=kozicka1/>

== History ==
Stories about the lights can be found in several [[Aboriginal Australians|Aboriginal Australian]] cultures predating the [[History of Australia (1788–1850)|European colonisation of Australia]], and have since become part of wider [[Australian folklore]].<ref name=pettigrew1/> Some [[Indigenous Australians]] hold that the number of sightings has increased in conjunction with the ingression of Europeans into the [[outback]].<ref name=pettigrew1/> While it has been claimed that the first recorded sighting dates to 1838, in the book ''Six Months in South Australia'',<ref>{{Skeptoid|id=4133|number=133|title=Chasing the Min Min Light|date=13 December 2008}}</ref> it is possible that the event described is a different phenomenon.<ref>{{Skeptoid|id=4564|number=564|title=Into Thin Error|date=28 March 2017 }}</ref> 
[[File:Site of the Min Min Hotel, famous for its connection with the Min Min lights, Min Min, 2019.jpg|thumb|Site of the Min Min Hotel, famous for its connection with the Min Min lights, 2019]]
The origin of the name ''Min Min'' is uncertain. It could be connected to an Australian Aboriginal language from the [[Shire of Cloncurry|Cloncurry area]], or it could be connected to the Min Min Hotel, located in a [[Min Min, Queensland|small settlement of the same name]], where the light was observed by a [[stockman (Australia)|stockman]] in 1918.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.henrythornton.com/article.asp?article_id=2447 | title = The Min Min Light | publisher = henrythornton.com | last = Hayman | first = John | date = 1 February 2004 | accessdate = 20 December 2013 | archive-date = 21 December 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131221115442/http://www.henrythornton.com/article.asp?article_id=2447 | url-status = live }}</ref> Neither connection has been substantiated.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Oxford English Dictionary Online|publisher=Oxford University Press|date=September 2021|access-date=17 September 2021|location=Oxford|url=https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/245714|archive-date=14 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220714065225/https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/245714|url-status=live}}</ref> Non-Indigenous folklore and tales of the Min Min lights tend to characterize them as a mysterious phenomenon and fit into understandings of the land which are characterised by the Australian Gothic;<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Rosser|first=Elise|date=2013|title=A Place for Monsters: Wolf Creek and the Australian Outback|url=https://www.academia.edu/14417832|journal=Journal of Monsters and the Monstrous|volume=3|pages=73–82|access-date=22 November 2021|archive-date=14 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220714065225/https://www.academia.edu/14417832/A_Place_for_Monsters_Wolf_Creek_and_the_Australian_Outback|url-status=live}}</ref> Min Min lights are often portrayed as benign, yet frightening and unknowable to those who experience them.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Moravec|first=Mark|date=2003|title=Strange Illuminations: 'Min Min Lights'--Australian 'Ghost Light' Stories|journal=Fabula|volume=44|pages=2–24 |doi=10.1515/fabl.2003.009 |via=ProQuest Central}}</ref>

==Distribution==

Reports of the phenomenon are widespread throughout Australia from as far south as [[Brewarrina]] in western [[New South Wales]], to as far north as [[Boulia]] in northern [[Queensland]]. The majority of sightings are reported to have occurred in [[Channel Country]].<ref name=pettigrew1/> Another district where Min Min lights are often reported is [[Yunta]], South Australia, which is centred within a low-lying basin known for recording extreme heat.{{Cn|date=January 2023}} The Ngarluma people report Min Min lights in the [[Pilbara]] region of [[Western Australia]], particularly in an area known as Pyramid Station.{{Cn|date=January 2023}}

==Appearance and behaviour==
Accounts of the light appearances vary, though they are most commonly described as being fuzzy, disc-shaped lights that appear to hover just above the [[horizon]].<ref name=pettigrew1/><ref name=kozicka1>Kozicka, M.G. "The Mystery of the Min Min Light. Cairns", Bolton Imprint</ref> They are often described as being white, though some accounts describe them as changing colour from white to red to green and back again. Some accounts describe them as being dim; others describe them as being bright enough to illuminate the ground under them and to cause nearby objects to throw clearly defined shadows.<ref name=pettigrew1/><ref name=kozicka1/> According to [[folklore]], the lights sometimes follow or approach people and disappear when fired upon, sometimes very rapidly, only to reappear later on,<ref name="pettigrew1" /><ref name="kozicka1" /> and anyone who chases the lights and catches them will never return to tell the tale.<ref name="TYM2001">{{cite book|author=Tim the Yowie Man|title=The adventures of Tim the Yowie Man cryptonaturalist|publisher=Random House Australia|year=2001|isbn=174051078X|location=Sydney, Australia|page=256|chapter=Spook of the Min Min Light}}</ref> Some witnesses describe the light as appearing to approach them several times before retreating. Others report that the lights were able to keep pace with them when they were in a moving motor vehicle.<ref name="pettigrew1" /><ref name="kozicka1" />

==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}}

==In popular culture==
The Min Min lights appear in the first episode of the second season of the Australian [[web television]] series [[Wolf Creek (TV series)|''Wolf Creek'']].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Newell|first1=C.H.|title=Wolf Creek – Season 2, Episode 1: 'Journey'|url=https://fathersonholygore.com/2017/12/16/wolf-creek-season-2-episode-1-journey/|website=Father Son Holy Gore|date=16 December 2017 |accessdate=3 April 2018|archive-date=26 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171226234605/https://fathersonholygore.com/2017/12/16/wolf-creek-season-2-episode-1-journey/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Min Min lights also appear in Episode 16 of Season 3 of the Australian television series ''[[McLeod's Daughters]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=McLeod's Daughters – Season 3, Episode 16: 'Seeing the Light'|url=https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0645068/|website=IMDB|accessdate=6 January 2018|archive-date=14 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220714065227/https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0645068/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2020, Australian band [[Custard (band)|''Custard'']] released a single titled  "The Min Min Lights"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://music.apple.com/au/album/the-min-min-lights-single/1510687221|title="The Min Min Lights" (single)|website=Apple Music|date=5 May 2020|accessdate=8 May 2020|archive-date=14 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220714065226/https://music.apple.com/au/album/the-min-min-lights-single/1510687221|url-status=live}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Australia}}
* [[Aleya (Ghost light)]]
* [[Atmospheric ghost lights]]
* [[Aurora]]
* [[Ball lightning]]
* [[Chir Batti]]
* [[Hessdalen lights]]
* [[Longdendale lights]]
* [[Marfa lights]]
* [[The Spooklight]]
* [[Unidentified flying object]]
* [[Will-o'-the-wisp]]

== References ==
{{Commons category|Min Min light}}
{{reflist|30em}}
* W. Fearn-Wannan, "Lights of the Outback", in A Dictionary of Australian Folklore, 1981 ({{ISBN|0-7018-1599-X}})

{{DEFAULTSORT:Min Min light}}
[[Category:Atmospheric ghost lights]]
[[Category:Weather lore]]
[[Category:Australian ghosts]]
[[Category:UFO-related phenomena]]
[[Category:Australian Aboriginal words and phrases]]
[[Category:Australian outback]]