| Similar Articles: Brown Mountain Lights, Marfa Lights |
Overview and Evidence[]
The Martebo Light, also known as the Marteboljuset, is an atmospheric 'ghost light' occasionally reported within the Martebo bogland in Gotland, Sweden. Most sources claim that the legends have existed for over 100 years, but the earliest known report was made in March of 1922.
According to eyewitnesses, the light is rather large and floats several meters off the ground. Some describe it as flickering like a flame while others claim it is a solid ball of light.
Unlike most anomalous lights, the Martebo Light actually has an accompanying narrative. According to the legends, a man named Knut Stare was alone at his home in Knutstorp with his son when some soldiers stopped to ask for food and shelter. After drinking a few rounds with the men, Stare fell asleep and awoke to find his son and the soldiers missing. According to the legends, the light represent the spirit of Knut Stare searching for his missing son.
Skeptics, on the other hand, generally conclude that the lights are simply produced by other known sources, such as flashlights or cars on the nearby stretch of road. Several experiments performed by the organization UFO-Sweden have even demonstrated that groups of test subjects have even mistaken intentionally placed car headlights as the ghost light(s). Other explanations include ball lightning and swamp gas, a particularly likely explanation due to Martebo being a bog.
Alleged Sightings[]
First-Person Accounts[]
At 6 p.m.November 9, 1993, my future partner Barbro Leion came and told me that our neighbor Britta Jacobsson asked her if she wanted to come with her in the car to go out and see something strange that happened at Martebomyr. She had also wondered if I also wanted to come and watch. I denied this, I agree several times before heard of this and did not place any faith in the information. After about an hour and a half, Barbro returned and talked about the strange phenomenon she had seen, and persuaded me that we should go there in our car, so that I too would be convinced of what she had seen. When we had driven down the narrow forest road, which after a few kilometers ended at Martebomyr, we stopped the car and turned off the car light. We were then about 300 meters from the main road to Stenkyrka. Stenkyrkavägen was then behind us where we stood down at our observation point. The car was facing the bog, a few kilometers away. Despite the darkness on the narrow road, you could see the sky a little brighter against the dark forest on both sides.
At one point during the evening, a bright light also suddenly came from the forest, counting from the left driver's seat. Estimated distance 100 meters. Extinguished after four to five seconds. After observing these light phenomena for about an hour and a half, we then turned the car on an exit road and went to our house in Tingstäde. [sic][1]Sources[]
Gallery[]
Image Gallery[]
