Naga fireballs debate begins again
As is the case every year around the end of Buddhist Lent, there were hundreds of reported sightings of the so-called Naga fireballs (bang fai phaya nak บั้งไฟพญานาค) rising above the Mekhong River.
And, as is often the case, there is a renewed controversy about whether these fireballs are natural, as the locals claim, or man-made.
The latest to appear to support the man-made case is well-known Chulalongkorn University scientist Jessada Denduangboripant who is discussing the phenomenon on his Facebook page. Taking very recent video shot in Phon Phisai district of Nong Khai province, he came up with pictures clearly showing the fireballs rose from land on the opposite riverbank, not the river itself.
Disputing the authenticity of the Naga fireballs usually generates a fierce reaction from those who believe the fireballs are produced by the magical snake Naga, or Phaya Naga, which, they say, lives in the river. Archarn Jessada's Facebook followers are warning him to be ready.
Indeed, according to Post Today, the pushback has already started. Post Today quotes Songkran Sritabutr, the head of a local tambon organisation in Phon Phisai as saying the the fireball analysed by Acharn Jessada was not the real thing.
"As a Phon Pisai resident for all of my 60 years who has seen the fireballs since childhood, I insist the fireballs are not man-made," Mr Songkran said.
He went on to voice his suspicions about Archarn's Jessada's video evidence, saying the genuine fireball has a round shape and is reddish-pink in colour and does not have a tail.
Archarn Jessada is used to controversy, however. Several years ago he led the campaign which exposed the GT200 'bomb detector' as bogus.
Naga fireballs debate begins again
As is the case every year around the end of Buddhist Lent, there were hundreds of reported sightings of the so-called Naga fireballs (bang fai phaya nak บั้งไฟพญานาค) rising above the Mekhong River.
And, as is often the case, there is a renewed controversy about whether these fireballs are natural, as the locals claim, or man-made.
The latest to appear to support the man-made case is well-known Chulalongkorn University scientist Jessada Denduangboripant who is discussing the phenomenon on his Facebook page. Taking very recent video shot in Phon Phisai district of Nong Khai province, he came up with pictures clearly showing the fireballs rose from land on the opposite riverbank, not the river itself.
Disputing the authenticity of the Naga fireballs usually generates a fierce reaction from those who believe the fireballs are produced by the magical snake Naga, or Phaya Naga, which, they say, lives in the river. Archarn Jessada's Facebook followers are warning him to be ready.
Indeed, according to Post Today, the pushback has already started. Post Today quotes Songkran Sritabutr, the head of a local tambon organisation in Phon Phisai as saying the the fireball analysed by Acharn Jessada was not the real thing.
"As a Phon Pisai resident for all of my 60 years who has seen the fireballs since childhood, I insist the fireballs are not man-made," Mr Songkran said.
He went on to voice his suspicions about Archarn's Jessada's video evidence, saying the genuine fireball has a round shape and is reddish-pink in colour and does not have a tail.
Archarn Jessada is used to controversy, however. Several years ago he led the campaign which exposed the GT200 'bomb detector' as bogus.
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