To the Inuit Indians, aurora borealis was the highest level of heaven, where the dead danced. I was reading an article in Discover magazine today about auroras and I noticed similarities between auroras and some of the paranormal phenomena we encounter.

The first thing that caught my attention was the photographs. Auroras look a lot like some of the anomalies we get on film in ghost photography. The colors involved are the same, a pale green, a red glow, a deep violet, etceteras. We have many examples of "orbs", "vortexes", and strange, cloud-shaped "ectoplasm" that are these same colors. The shapes of the auroras, while on a much larger scale , are also very similar to the things we get.

Scientifically, auroras are charged particles reacting with the magnetic field of the Earth, in other words, they are electromagnetic phenomena. It is widely accepted that most ghosts are electromagnetic and will show up as disturbances on electromagnetic meters. We find this to be the case quite frequently and our electromagnetic field detectors are one of our most important tools.

Auroras are still somewhat of an enigma. Scientists are still trying to explain the variations in appearance of the northern lights. They are seen as rays, arcs, folds and filaments, patches, spirals, and diffuse pulsating veils. If you could take a photograph of an aurora and scale it down in relation to its surroundings it would look exactly like a ghost. Some auroras even appear to have faces and appendages.

Auroras have an uncanny knack for playing havoc with radio communications, radar systems, power transmission lines, telephone cables and even satellites. Auroras have disabled satellites by damaging solar-cell panels and altering digital signals. One of the most stunning auroral displays has been blamed for a nine-hour-long power outage that darkened all of Quebec. Ghost hunters the world over can attest to the electrical problems ghosts can and do cause. I personally carry three cameras because invariably when things get interesting one of them will malfunction. I have seen light bulbs explode several times in haunted locales, lights and radios that go on and off and video recorders seem to be particularly susceptible to ghostly hijinxs. For about three months during this past winter my sons television set in his room would turn on each night between two and three in the morning and flip through all the channels, land on channel five and stay there. Occasionally this would happen during the day and every now and then it still does.

In the Discover magazine article, Hans Nielson, a expert on auroras, is quoted as saying "It's so interesting that, even though we've been at it a very long time, we still don't understand why auroras look the way they do." Then, in the wistful tone of a man often outwitted by electromagnetic mischief, he says "Well, tomorrow is another night."

For us here, all I can say is "ditto."

Kriss

Discover - July 2000 issue - "Seeing The Light" by Karen Wright - published by Buena Vista Magazines

Aurora photograph was taken by Juha Kinnunen in Northern Finnish Lapland. 

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