afryka-i-oceania: Will-o'-the-wisp

Evidence: 100 • authority: 72

In folklore, a will-o'-the-wisp, or will-o'-wisp (Latin: ignis fatuus, "foolish flame"), is an atmospheric ghost light seen by travellers at night, especially over bogs, swamps, or marshes. In folklore, will-o'-the-wisps are typically attributed as ghosts, fairies or elemental spirits meant to reveal (or conceal) a path or direction. These wisps are portrayed as dancing or flowing in a static form, until noticed or followed, in which case they visually fade or disappear. Modern science explains the light aspect as natural phenomena such as bioluminescence or chemiluminescence, caused by the oxidation of phosphine (PH3), diphosphane (P2H4) and methane (CH4), produced by organic decay.

Evidence: 45 • authority: 72

A jack-o'-lantern (or jack o'lantern) is a carved lantern, most commonly made from a pumpkin, or formerly a root vegetable such as a mangelwurzel, rutabaga or turnip. Jack-o'-lanterns are associated with the Halloween holiday. Its name comes from the phenomenon of strange lights flickering over peat bogs, called jack-o'-lanterns (also known as will-o'-the-wisps). It is suggested that the name also has ties to the Irish legend of Stingy Jack, a drunkard who, after deceiving people throughout his life and even Satan, is doomed to roam the Earth with only a hollowed turnip to light his way. Jack-o'-lanterns carved from pumpkins are a yearly Halloween tradition that developed in the United Stat…

Evidence: 45 • authority: 72

A lantern man is an atmospheric ghost light described in the folklore of The Fens of East Anglia, with sightings around Wicken Fen and other areas. According to the stories, first collected by folklorist L.F. Newman, the lights are believed to be evil spirits who attempt to draw victims to their death in the reed beds. Newman writes that the spirits are attracted by the sound of whistling, and that a way to evade them is to lie face down on the ground with your mouth in the mud. The phenomenon, which seems to be a variation of will-o'-the-wisp folklore, is now dismissed as sightings of combustible marsh gas.

Evidence: 34 • authority: 72

Boitatá (from Tupi language), in Brazilian native folklore, refers to either a will-o'-the-wisp, a mythical fire snake which guards against humans setting fire to the fields or forests, or a bull-like creature. Snake-like will-o'-the-wisps also appear as "firedrake" in European folklore.