Sunday, January 3, 2016

Witness the mind-boggling and unexplained phenomenon of the Ghost Lights or Chir Batti's in Gujarat

Welcome to the mysterious land of the Banni grasslands in Gujarat where the Chir Batti (ghost lights) continue to enthral and baffle visitors visiting these desolate, marshy wetlands. Prior to the 1816 earthquake, the Indus river used to meander through this region, leaving behind its thick sediments on the floor of this grassland. However, with diversion of the water-flow after the earthquake, the area can now no longer sustain rich vegetation. In spite of this, the Banni grasslands are quite rich in animal and bird life, attracting wildlife biologists, naturalists and ecotourists to this spot. Another interesting tourist destination near this region is Dholavira, an ancient metropolis of the Indus Valley Civilization where human life once thrived thousands of years ago.





















Coming to the most interesting point regarding this fascinating region, the Chir Batti's have been reported to be visualized by both locals and tourists. The sightings usually start after 8 PM near the extinct Kiro volcano west of the Charri Dand lagoon. One of the reasons of the high frequency of Chir Batti reporting from this area could be due to the influx of ornithologists, archaeologists, geologists and palaeontologists into this area. The region is famous for being rich in birdlife, dinosaur fossils and mineral deposits. 

The Kiro Volcano 

The Chir Batti’s are represented by coloured or white balls of light, pear shaped or spherical, which mysteriously float high above the ground (up to 3 metres in height) moving sometimes at a slow pace and at other times as fast as a bullet. The sighting lasts for several minutes and may involve a single ball of light or several of them. Another mind-boggling feature of the Chir Batti’s are that these balls of light tend to follow those who walk away from them. Till now, there has been no reports of this strange phenomenon exerting any harm to anyone. Still it is advisable not to try and follow these balls of lights since it usually leads one astray into the desolate salt flats and the thorny wilderness.

Limosa limosa in the Great Rann of Kutch

The Chir Batti phenomenon was earlier known only to the locals in the area who regarded it as a ghastly happening. With recognition of Banni grasslands as an excellent habitat for rare animals and birds, visitors started pouring into the region and the reports of the strange incident of Chir Batti sighting also became more frequent. Even soldiers of the Indian Border Security Force posted in this area have admitted to being eye-witnesses of this unnatural phenomena. 
Ancient Ruins of Dholavira

 Attempted explanation:
The most obvious scientific explanation provided for the Chir Batti phenomenon is based on the theory of igneous gases. With the Indus having deposited its organic sediments in the region since ages, there is a possibility that the leakage of some of these chemicals like phosphine, methane and diphosphane into the air could result in their ignition in the presence of oxygen to produce the strange balls of light. Even if this is true, there is yet no theory to explain why these lights follow people where they go or why they appear only after 8 pm in the night.

With very little exploration and scientific experiments conducted to explain this astonishing phenomenon, there is very little that can be said about the real cause of the Chir Batti’s. 

For those interested, here is the link where you can read about how science has attempted, yet failed to give a conclusive proof about these strange lights:

Thus, a question remains………Are the Chir Batti’s produced by chemistry in play or do they have a cause that science can never explain?


Read real life experiences of the famous Indian ecologist Jugal Tiwari as he  speaks about his sightings of the strange Chir Batti’s in the Banni Grasslands of Gujarat here:



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