and catches them will never return to tell the tale. Some witnesses describe the light as appearing to approach them several times before retreating. Others report that the lights were able to keep pace with them when they were in a moving motor vehicle. Hypotheses It is unknown whether the Min Min lights are a real phenomenon, and if so, what their source might be. Various hypotheses have been put forward to explain the lights, including: Bioluminescence Scientist Jack Pettigrew has hypothesized that the lights may be the result of insects swarming that have taken on bioluminescent characteristics after being contaminated by naturally occurring agents found in local fungi, or of species of owl with their own naturally occurring source of bioluminescence. To date, no one has captured or observed an animal with these characteristics. There is also no known bioluminescent source bright enough. Geophysical lights A second hypothesis the author offers is that the lights are the result of known geophysical phenomena, such as piezoelectrics or marsh gas. However, the lights are often reported in areas without geological conditions conducive to these phenomena. Refraction He also suggests that the Min Min lights could be a form of Fata Morgana mirage. A Fata Morgana is a specific form of mirage caused by a stark temperature difference between air layers, which causes remote lights or objects actually beyond the horizon to appear visible above the horizon, often with considerable distortion. This explanation would also explain how reports of the sightings have changed over the years: The first reports and Aboriginal legends were of stationary lights, which would have been refractions over the horizon of campfires. Later reports are of lights that actively move. With a Fata Morgana mirage, this would be a refraction of car headlights over the horizon being reflected and being seen to move. The area of the Min Min lights are in a desert with known temperature inversions in the atmosphere. In popular culture The Min Min lights appear in the first episode of the second season of the Australian web television series Wolf Creek. The Min Min lights also appear in Episode 16 of Season 3 of the Australian television series McLeod's Daughters. In 2020, Australian band Custard released a single titled "The Min Min Lights" See also Unidentified flying object Aleya (Ghost light) Chir Batti Aurora Atmospheric ghost lights Fata Morgana (mirage) Hessdalen lights Marfa lights