MessageToEagle.com – You might have seen a beautiful green glow from the woods in the night. It is an awesome and rare sight and it is nothing to be afraid of.
The phenomenon is known as foxfire and it is a soft glow or light coming from the leaf-covered ground or dead wood.
It is often called “will-o’-the-wisp” or “faerie fire.”
Foxfire is not a new phenomenon. These unusual and eerie green lights have been observed by ancient people for a very long time.
“Historical information about foxfire goes back a number of millennia. The Greek philosopher Aristotle noted the “cold fire” light. The Roman naturalist Pliny mentions luminous wood in olive groves.
In the 1780’s a proposal was made that when wood became rotten, microscopic animals appeared in the wood and they glowed until drying killed them. By 1800 descriptions from rotting mine timbers were showing a relationship between luminescent wood and fungi, “Ecology Professor Kim D. Coder at the University of Georgia explains.
She points out that “foxfire can be seen most easily along the ground, in chunks of rotting wood, and on old stumps in moist areas of woodlands.
Foxfire is a curiosity, an educational toy for children, and part of folk tales and cultural myths concerning elves, ghosts, and supernatural “cold” fires.
Unfortunately for all the romance and myth surrounding foxfire, its source are fungi rotting wood.
The most common luminous fungi in our woods is a tree root rot and wood decayer.
The glow of foxfire comes from rapidly growing and healthy fungal cells consuming wood. Kick-back leaf piles and expose pieces of decaying logs to reveal the luminous wood.
Bioluminescence is the production and emission of light by a living organism. Its name is a hybrid word, originating from the Greek bios for “living” and the Latin lumen “light”.
Bioluminescence is a naturally occurring form of chemiluminescence where energy is released by a chemical reaction in the form of light emission.
See also:
- Unraveling The Mystery Of The Ancient Giant Columns Along Crowley Lake
- Bohol’s Mysterious Cone-Shaped Chocolate Hills
- Strange Hoodoos – Living Growing Stones – An Incredible Geological Phenomenon
“Setting out to see foxfire can be difficult, especially where there is plenty of light pollution. Remember that foxfire is a very low intensity — low energy light. Pick overcast or moonless nights without surrounding artificial lights.
Your eyes will need to be fully dark-adjusted for 20-30 minutes. Leave flashlights off and get away from any other types of light reflectance other than star-light. Forget flashlights, fires, candles, watch lights, or other light sources.
Passive photo-multiplier binoculars (night scopes) can be helpful. Beware the other denizens of the nighttime forest,” Professor Coder says.
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