Fireballs mystify scientists

2003-04-14 11:04

Bangkok - Thai scientists are to launch a probe into a famous fireball phenomenon occurring in the Mekong River once a year in the country's north, local media reported Monday.

Every year on the first full moon of the 11th lunar month, which coincides with the end of Buddhist Lent, hundreds of red, pink and orange fireballs soar up into the sky from the Mekong, drawing crowds of spectators.

The event known as Naga's Fireballs, which has been reported by locals for generations, has long mystified scientists.

Now nine experts are to start collecting soil and water samples from the areas where the fireballs appear to originate, deputy permanent secretary of the Ministry of Science and Technology, Saksit Tridech, told the Bangkok Post.

"We are quite sure the fireballs are a natural phenomena," he reportedly said, adding that the team's initial assumption was that the fireballs were caused by methane and nitrogen.

Decomposition of accumulated plant and animal remains on the bottom of the Mekong could lead to the release of the gases, which rise to the surface of the water when the sun heats the water to a certain temperature, Saksit said.

Legend, however, says the flames come from a mythical Naga, or serpent, living in the Mekong river.

"Society needs an explanation for this phenomenon," Saksit was quoted as saying.

Claims by a television programme last year that the fireballs were actually caused by tracer bullets fired by Laotian soldiers across the border caused uproar among locals, who labelled the suggestion insulting.

- AFX