Disclosed

Hessdalen lights

Date
Dec 1981
Place
Hessdalen valley, Holtålen, Trøndelag, Norway
Record
Curated case
Assessment
Unexplained
Evidence strength
467 case pages by decade; this one falls in 1980s with 22 othersAll cases

What was reported

Residents of the Hessdalen valley reported bright white, yellow or red lights that hover, drift or move fast, 15 to 20 times a week between December 1981 and mid-1984 and less often since. Project Hessdalen's 1984 field campaign and, from 1998, an automatic measurement station with cameras, radar and magnetometers have recorded the lights repeatedly, with results in peer-reviewed papers; some sightings proved to be stars, aircraft or headlights. There is no agreed mechanism: proposals include combustion of airborne dust and a dusty plasma, and the workbench dossier treats it as a persistent unidentified natural light, not evidence of craft.

What officials concluded

No conclusion stated

No official explanation has been given.

Strongest ordinary reading

An unexplained natural atmospheric or geophysical light (dust combustion or dusty plasma proposed)

Evidence profile

Sensors4 of 9 · multi-sensor
  • Yes: Visual
  • No: Infrared
  • Yes: Radar
  • Yes: Video
  • Yes: Photo
  • No: Film
  • No: Audio
  • No: Night vision
  • No: Other sensor
Witnessescount not stated
  • Yes: Civilian
  • No: Military aircrew
  • No: Military ground
  • No: Airline crew
  • No: Sensor operator
  • No: Law enforcement
  • Yes: Scientist
  • No: Astronaut
  • No: Intelligence official
  • No: Other
ShapeLight only
  • Yes: Light only
  • No: Orb or sphere
  • No: Disc
  • No: Triangle
  • No: Cylinder
  • No: Cube
  • No: Other shape
Effectsnone reported
  • No: Physiological
  • No: Physical trace
  • No: Electromagnetic
  • No: Sound
  • No: Silent

Outside sources

On the map

62.79° N, 11.19° E, plotted at the centre of the region named in the record

Show on the map