Sienna Rhodes
The Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, have captivated observers for generations with their vibrant colours and dancing lights. But do they make a sound? While modern science suggests that the lights occur too far away for any sound to be audible, some observers have reported hearing faint cracking, popping, and whooshing noises. These sounds have been described in the folklore of Indigenous peoples, including the Sámi of Finland, Norway, and Sweden, and the Inuit and Tlingit tribes of North America. In the early 1930s, personal testimonies flooded into The Shetland News, describing the sounds as rustling silk or two planks meeting flat ways. These reports have sparked scientific investigations, such as the Aurora Acoustics Project, to unravel the mystery of whether the Northern Lights produce audible phenomena.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Sounds | Crackling, popping, whooshing, whizzing, buzzing, faint whistling, rustling silk, two planks meeting flat ways, burning grass or spray, snapping |
| Scientific Explanation | The motion of the Northern Lights alters Earth's magnetic field, inducing changes in the electrification of the atmosphere, even at a significant distance. This electrification produces a crackling sound much closer to Earth's surface when it meets objects on the ground, much like the sound of static. |
| Scientific Community View | Scientists have traditionally dismissed the sounds as folklore, or auditory illusions, or a psychological phenomenon due to the vividness of the aurora’s appearance. |
| Occurrence | The sounds are rare and only present themselves in 5% of violent auroral displays. |
| Location | The sounds are most commonly heard on the top of mountains, surrounded by only a few buildings. |
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What You'll Learn
The Northern Lights and folklore
The Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, have long been a source of wonder and fascination for people around the world. With their vibrant colours and dance-like movements, it is no surprise that they have inspired a wealth of folklore and legends. The Indigenous peoples living under the regular displays of the lights, including the Sámi of Finland, Norway, and Sweden, and the Inuit of North America, have particularly rich traditions of oral stories and beliefs about the lights.
In Inuit folklore, the Northern Lights are sometimes seen as evil spirits, carrying knives to protect themselves. Other stories claim that the lights are spirits playing games with a walrus skull, or that they are the souls of the departed playing a heavenly game of soccer with the skulls as balls. This belief is also held by the Greenland Eskimos, who consider the lights to be the spirits of children who died at birth. The sound of the souls running across the frost-hardened snow is described as a "whistling, rustling, crackling sound".
In Scotland, the Northern Lights are known as the "Merry Dancers", depicting fallen angels or sky warriors engaged in battle. This belief is echoed in the Native American story of the Great Plains, which holds that the lights are tribes cooking their enemies in huge pots over blazing fires. In Wisconsin, the Menominee Native Americans saw the lights as torches used by spirits to catch fish at night. Meanwhile, in Estonia, the lights are believed to be sleighs taking guests to a wedding feast.
The Northern Lights have also been associated with divination and prophecy. Some believe that children conceived on a night when the lights are visible will be particularly intelligent, while elders warn that misbehaving children will be taken away by the lights. The lights are also thought to predict the weather and communicate with the dead.
The sounds associated with the Northern Lights have been described as faint rustling or snapping noises, with some observers claiming to have heard them. However, a physical explanation for these sounds has eluded scientists, and they continue to be a subject of mystery and intrigue.
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Scientific explanations for the sounds
The existence of sound accompanying the northern lights has been a topic of debate among scientists. While some claim to have heard faint sounds during the phenomenon, others refute these claims, arguing that the lights occur too far away from the Earth's surface for any sound to be audible.
Some scientists have proposed that the sounds associated with the northern lights, or aurora borealis, may be a result of the interaction between the lights and the Earth's atmosphere. The lights are caused by solar particles colliding with gas molecules in the upper atmosphere, and it is possible that this interaction creates auditory phenomena. The sounds have been described as crackling, popping, buzzing, and whooshing, almost like "rustling silk" or "two planks meeting flat ways".
The Aurora Acoustics Project, a collaboration between the Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory (SGO) and the Helsinki University of Technology, was formed in 1999 to investigate these sounds. Unto Laine, a leading researcher on the project, hypothesized that the sounds may be coming from the inversion layer of the atmosphere. Laine has set up microphones and instruments at high altitudes to capture the elusive sounds, and he might even capture the sounds of meteors, which he believes produce noise in the inversion layer.
Another theory to explain the sounds suggests that the motion of the northern lights alters the Earth's magnetic field, inducing changes in the electrification of the atmosphere. This electrification can produce a crackling sound, similar to static electricity, when it interacts with objects on the ground. This theory was first proposed by Canadian astronomer Clarence Chant in 1923.
It is important to note that the occurrence of sound during the northern lights is rare, and it is typically only audible in 5% of violent auroral displays, usually in remote locations like the top of mountains. The sounds have also been explored for their aesthetic value, inspiring musical compositions and novel ways of interacting with the electromagnetic signals produced by the lights.
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The Northern Lights and music
The Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, have long been a source of wonder and inspiration for people around the world. The vibrant colours and dancing lights of this natural phenomenon have captivated audiences for generations, but it is the possibility of hearing sounds accompanying the lights that has sparked intrigue and scientific inquiry. The question of whether the Northern Lights produce audible phenomena has been explored by scientists, researchers, and explorers alike, blending the realms of folklore and science.
Folklore and Cultural Significance
The idea of the Northern Lights creating sounds is deeply rooted in the folklore of various Indigenous cultures. The Sámi peoples of Finland, Norway, and Sweden, along with the Inuit and Tlingit tribes of North America, have long described strong auroral storms accompanied by faint rustling or snapping sounds in their oral traditions. Whistling during the Northern Lights is considered bad luck in Inuit folklore. These stories have persisted for centuries, intertwining the visual spectacle with the auditory realm in the imaginations of countless individuals.
Scientific Exploration
While the folklore surrounding auroral sounds is rich, the scientific community has approached the topic with a mix of scepticism and curiosity. Early explorers and scientists, including polar explorers and Greenland sledgers, reported silence during their observations of the Northern Lights, casting doubt on the existence of accompanying sounds. However, in the early 20th century, assistants of the leading auroral scientist Carl Størmer claimed to have heard faint whistling and sounds reminiscent of burning grass or spray, adding legitimacy to the personal reports of auroral sounds.
The Aurora Acoustics Project, founded in 1999 by Unto Laine in collaboration with the Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory and the Helsinki University of Technology, has been dedicated to exploring the mystery of these sounds. Laine's work has involved bringing microphones and instruments to higher altitudes, capturing intriguing sounds during aurora borealis displays. The project has hypothesised that the sounds may originate from the inversion layer, an aspect that Laine continues to investigate.
The Elusive Nature of Auroral Sounds
Despite the efforts of scientists and researchers, the Northern Lights' sounds remain elusive and rare. Reports of audible phenomena during violent auroral displays describe crackling, whizzing, buzzing, and whooshing noises, often occurring in remote locations like mountain tops. The scientific community has acknowledged that the Northern Lights may, on rare occasions, produce sounds audible to humans. However, the phenomenon is elusive, occurring in only 5% of violent auroral displays and typically in isolated, high-altitude settings.
Musical Inspiration
The allure of the Northern Lights and their potential sounds has not been lost on the world of music. Composers like the Latvian Ēriks Ešenvalds have drawn inspiration from explorers' accounts, incorporating the mystery and beauty of the lights into their compositions. The intersection of the Northern Lights and music continues to captivate artists and audiences alike, creating a unique blend of natural wonder and artistic expression.
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The Northern Lights and smell
The Northern Lights, or the aurora borealis, have been described as producing a variety of sounds, from crackling and popping to faint whistling and buzzing. However, the question of whether the Northern Lights also emit a smell has not been widely discussed.
While the existence of auroral sounds has been debated and investigated by scientists, with some dismissing it as folklore or an auditory illusion, the possibility of a smell associated with the Northern Lights has received less attention. This may be because smells are more difficult to perceive and describe than sounds, and the idea of a smell accompanying the lights has not captured the public imagination in the same way as the sounds.
However, it is worth noting that in addition to the reported sounds, some witnesses have reported a metallic smell accompanying particularly intense displays of the Northern Lights. This suggests that the phenomenon may engage multiple senses, adding to the mystery and intrigue of the aurora borealis.
While the existence of auroral sounds remains elusive, with some scientists attributing them to psychological phenomena or the McGurk effect, the potential for a smell component to the experience of the Northern Lights has been almost entirely neglected by researchers. This may be an area for future investigation, as it could provide further insight into the complex interplay of atmospheric and electromagnetic factors that create this stunning natural display.
In conclusion, while the sounds of the Northern Lights have gained some recognition and scientific scrutiny, the potential for a corresponding smell has been largely overlooked. This metallic smell, reported by a small number of witnesses, may be another facet of the multi-sensory experience of the aurora borealis, and further research could help to elucidate the underlying mechanisms that give rise to this extraordinary phenomenon.
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The Northern Lights and Inuit culture
The Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, have captivated people for generations, with their vibrant hues and mystical movements. This phenomenon, caused by electrically charged particles from the sun colliding with the Earth's atmosphere, has inspired numerous legends and folklore across different cultures. The Inuit, the Indigenous people of the Arctic, have their own unique beliefs and stories about the Northern Lights, which play a significant role in their cultural heritage.
In Inuit folklore, the Northern Lights are often associated with spirits and the afterlife. Some Inuit believed that the lights were spirits of the dead playing a game with a walrus skull, creating a whistling, rustling, or crackling sound as they ran across the frost-hardened snow in the heavens. This belief was recorded by Danish explorer Knud Rasmussen in 1932, who wrote about the Greenland Inuit's concept of a heavenly soccer match. According to Rasmussen, the Inuit believed that whistling back to the lights would make them curious, and they might even dance for you.
In another variation of this story, the Inuit of Nunivak Island in the Bering Sea believed that it was the walrus spirits playing with human skulls, kicking them across the sky. The lights were seen as a means of communication with the dead, and some Inuit legends suggest that they could predict the weather. The dancing lights, with their lively movements, were also associated with happiness and spiritual significance, representing the souls of ancestors and even children. For example, the East Greenland Eskimos believed that the Aurora Borealis was the spirit of children who died at birth.
However, not all Inuit interpretations of the Northern Lights were positive. Some Inuit in Point Barrow, Alaska, considered the lights evil and carried knives to protect themselves. Similarly, the Inuit of Hudson Bay dreaded the lights, believing them to be the lanterns of demons pursuing lost souls. These contrasting perspectives showcase the complexity of Inuit folklore surrounding the Northern Lights, with some communities finding comfort in the lights while others viewed them with fear.
The Northern Lights have also been associated with superstitions and taboos within Inuit culture. Elders often warned children to behave, threatening that the lights would disappear from the sky and take misbehaving children with them. Additionally, some believed that children conceived on a night with visible Northern Lights would be particularly intelligent. These stories highlight the deep-rooted cultural significance of the Northern Lights in Inuit communities, influencing their beliefs, customs, and storytelling traditions.
While the scientific explanation of the Northern Lights involves the interaction of solar particles with the Earth's atmosphere, the legends and folklore of the Inuit people offer a different interpretation, enriching our understanding of this natural phenomenon and providing a glimpse into their cultural heritage and worldview.
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Frequently asked questions
The northern lights, or aurora borealis, have been reported to make sounds on rare occasions. Some people have described the sound as crackling, whizzing, buzzing, or like "rustling silk". However, the scientific community has largely dismissed these reports as folklore or auditory illusions.
There is no definitive explanation for the sounds that accompany the northern lights. Some researchers have hypothesized that the sounds are caused by the electrification of the atmosphere, while others suggest it is a psychological phenomenon due to the vivid appearance of the lights.
The northern lights typically occur in the Polar Regions, and they are most commonly heard on the tops of mountains with minimal surrounding buildings.
The northern lights occur high in the Earth's atmosphere, typically around 60 to 100 miles above the ground. It takes sound waves a significant amount of time to travel that distance, and the sounds would have to be extraordinarily loud to be heard from such a distance.
