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Summerville , South Carolina , has been frequent by mystifying " ghost lantern " for decades . Now , a scientist thinks she ’s finally worked out what the floating orb are : turn out , they could be link to tinyearthquakes .
Local legends propose the mysterious ball of light , which are often spot near old railway line tracks , are lantern carry by the ghost of a woman who lost her husband in a train accident .
It is not exonerated exactly when the floating orbs were first see in the area , butreferencesmostly date stamp back to the mid-20th C . The lights are described as small , glowing spheres , often in blue or gullible , seen drift above a minute stretchability of Sheep Island Road , where an one-time railway line used to draw . Witnesses also reported motorcar shake off violently , foreign rustling and , occasionally , " ghostly " apparitions .
In the surrounding area , locals have described slamming doors , the phone of footsteps , disturbed creature and birds , and object moving as if of their own agreement .
Now , Susan Hough , a seismologist for the U.S. Geological Survey ( USGS ) , has extensively examine these reports and concluded that the mysterious orbs may be explained by a rare geological phenomenon known as seism lights .
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According toUSGS , earthquake lights are glowing spheres , sparks and streamers thought to occur in an area before , during or immediately after earthquakes .
" They have never been read or confirmed consistently because almost all of the information / observations are anecdotal , but lights during earthquakes have been reported for many years , " Hough told Live Science in an e-mail .
One of the most widely accepted explanations for this phenomenon is the ignition of underground gases , such as methane and radon , as they seep out of the background during increased seismic bodily process . All that ’s needed is aspark , generated by static electricityor be active rock .
Hough say that this account was particularly appropriate for the Summerville spectre . Her findings were published Jan. 22 in the journalSeismological Research Letters .
Could Summerville’s ghost lanterns be caused by earthquakes?
In August 1959 , a magnitude 4.4 quake was recorded 2.5 miles ( 4 kilometers ) from the stretch of road where the bulk of the Summerville sightings were reported . By the end of 1960 , two smaller temblor had also been reported in the same sphere , Hough publish .
It is potential that even lowly earthquakes have occurred since but were not greet as such .
Seismic body process would also explain many of the other " paranormal " activities reported in the area , Hough writes . For example , shaking cars , swing out doors and motivate object can all be attributed to small earthquakes . Birds and animal may also get spooked by the movement , no matter how small .
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As for the ignition discharge , Hough said that sword rails and scrap piles are commonly found at the sites of old railways , which when excite may create a spark . Hough noted this would explicate why exchangeable specter lights are often seen near disused railway line lines .
While this hypothesis continue high-risk , Hough said that it could be screen by measuring gas emissions from the ground in country where the " ghosts " are project . sensor could also await for active faults in the region .
If confirmed , these sightings could aid seismologists learn more about America ’s geology . " Understanding earthquakes in central and eastern North America has been challenging because we have so little data to investigate earthquakes and active mistake , " Hough order . " This might be the most interesting implication of my niggling study , that friendly ghosts are illuminate shallow demerit along which accelerator pedal are relinquish . "
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