What are will o the wisps?
A5.2 Will o’ the wisps are a natural phenomenon that never the less appear ghostly in nature. The wisps, which are actually ignited pockets of swamp gas, hover over swamps and swampy areas and glow blue. They can move (carried by breezes and air currents), and many observers have noted that the wisps seem to mimic a person’s movements… when the observer moves forward, so does the wisp. Will o’ the wisps can appear as one glowing ball or as many tiny flickers. Will o’ the wisps have also been called such fanciful names as “corpse candles”, “fox fire”, and “elf light”. The phenomenon is also knows as “ignis fatuus”, which means “foolish fire”. Some believe the mysterious floating lights to be portents of bad luck or even death. Researchers believe that many people have mistaken will o’ the wisps for the ghostly lanterns of trains and/or their long-dead conductors.
