Case file · High strangeness
Luz mala
The luz mala ('evil light') is a glowing light seen at night on the pampas of Argentina and Uruguay, believed to be a lost soul or a sign of buried bones or treasure; gauchos would pray or bite a knife to drive it off.
1900 CE · -36.00, -61.00 · status: legend
The account
It is reported from Buenos Aires province to Paraguay and southern Brazil. The year is an approximate date for the first folklore records; the pin is symbolic, in the pampa.
The sceptical view
Folklorists and scientists suggest phosphine from decomposing bones or swamp gas, as with European will-o'-the-wisps, as well as distant lights distorted by temperature layers.