Chir batti of the Banni grasslands
In the Banni grasslands and salt flats of Kutch, Gujarat, villagers and border guards describe the chir batti, a colour-changing ball of light that bobs above the ground on dark nights.
2007 CE · 23.60, 69.80 · status: unexplained
The account
It drew national coverage in the Indian Express in August 2007 and India Today in 2008, which called it 'widely documented but not explained'. Herders say the light can lead travellers off the track into the salt pans.
The sceptical view
Spontaneous ignition of marsh gases (phosphine and methane) is the standard hypothesis for such lights, though it has not been tested here.
The researched reading
A ghost light of the salt marshes with no measurements at all. Mirages, distant vehicles, marsh gas and tradition are each plausible, and none has been tested.
| Explanation | Weight | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A known natural phenomenon | 30% | Two natural explanations fit a flat, saline marsh: oxidising marsh gases (phosphine and methane, the classic will-o’-the-wisp idea) and superior mirages over the salt flats, which lift distant lights above the horizon and make them shimmer and change colour. Neither has been tested here. |
| Something in the surroundings | 22% | The Banni lies near the Pakistan border with Border Security Force posts, roads and vehicles; headlights and lamps seen across tens of kilometres of flat ground appear to bob and move away as one approaches. |
| A cultural story | 22% | The chir batti is a herders’ tradition with the familiar motif of a light leading travellers astray; it frames any odd light seen at night. |
| Perception, memory or mind | 14% | On very dark nights a single light without reference points appears to drift (the autokinetic effect), and expectation does the rest. |
| Genuinely anomalous | 8% | Unmeasured lights reported by border guards and herders over years leave some room for a poorly understood effect, but there is no instrumental record. |
| A hoax or fabrication | 4% | No sign of fabrication, though tourism promotion repeats the stories. |
Official position: No official investigation; press reports called it widely seen but unexplained.