The Mekong Lights mystery is one of those fantastic manifestations of nature that science has yet to adequately explained. Apparently, in the
Mekong River, near
Nong Khai,
Thailand, lights will appear under the river within a length of a few hundred meters. These lights slowly float to the surface and then shoot out like missles into the sky and out of sight. They are the size of beach balls. The local name for them is the
Nekha lights. The
Nekha is a large fish which lives in the river. Locals also claim the lights are actually the eggs layed by a giant
serpent. Many people travel to see them and they appear during certain parts of the year. The lights have been filmed and broadcast on Thai television, and appear to be a valid phenomenon.
One explanation is that this may be a similar phenomenon to
will-o-wisps, or
marsh gas.
Hydride diphosphane, a reduced form of
phosphorous, has a low
vapor pressure and will
spontaneously combust on contact with
oxygen. It is unclear how hydride diphophane could contact oxygen underwater, but the rising lights may just be phosphorous luminescence. Another possibility is that this is the activity of
bioluminscent bacteria. Bacteria also build up reduced phosphorous compounds in decaying phosphorous rich organic matter. This is the source of a phenomenon known as '
corpse-candles' seen in church
cemeteries.
Another possible explanation is that the lights are an
optical illusion of the moon's reflection. Reports of these lights correlate with the appearance of a
full moon and regular waves across the water surface may create the illusion of many lights moving simultaneously.