Case file · High strangeness
Aleya: marsh lights of Bengal
Fishermen of the Bengal marshes and Sundarbans tell of aleya, flickering lights over the water said to be the ghosts of drowned fishermen that lure boats astray.
1907 CE · 21.95, 89.18 · status: disputed
The account
The lights appear in Bengali folk tales gathered in the early twentieth century and in present-day accounts from both India and Bangladesh. Some fishermen say following them leads to death; others that they mark where a man drowned. The year marks an early printed attestation (approximate).
The sceptical view
Marsh gas combustion and bioluminescence are the usual explanations, as for will-o'-the-wisps worldwide.