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Gympie and ancient history

Old Bob said:
Stanbroke cattle station was where my son was the station pilot. He would run at night to keep fit along the station roads. One night he had a dull bobbing light ahead, thinking it was a station hand with a torch he caught up to it. Only to find it was a sort of floating light about 1.5 meter above the ground clearly lighting up sticks and grass, a soft moon coloured light. Needless to say it spooked him and the run back was a record. He says it was within 20 ft(M) before he realised what it was. They show a intelligence.
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"Needless to say"? Why would a floating light "spook" anybody? Personally, I'd find such a light absolutely fascinating, and I'd be getting as close as I could in order to investigate and work out what it was.

And was he within 20 feet or twenty meters? I'm not sure what "20 ft(M)" is supposed to mean, given that they are quite different units of measurement. Within twenty feet is pretty darn close, that's less than three meters, but something small that's nearly 20 meters away can be hard to see clearly, especially if it's a soft light source in darkness.
 
Don't have time to read the whole thread, so apologies if the obvious has been pointed out already.
Australia was discovered before Cook, Van Diemen etc. Long, long before.
By the ancestors of the modern Aborigines. We don't know how advanced their culture was, then or later, but it had to be up to at least one over the horizon sea voyage.

That they may have built settlements and structures subsequently is hardly surprising- but it looks like climate change forced them into a low population density, nomadic lifestyle which they could not change without higher technology- which had to come from somewhere with a more equable climate , higher population density and accessible resources.
The interesting question long term is - will the western settlers undergo similar population crash and have to settle for similar adaptations if climate change accelerates and Oz can no longer trade with the outside world?
What is the maximum human population Australia can carry sustainably?
 
Hope our moderator will put up with the off topic, Stanbroke is a big company and the encounter was near the Diamentina. Another friend was contract cultivating near Rolleston and the min min follow him all night(kept him awake) Sold a house to a lady who got fed up with them and let them have a full clip, lights went out straight away. Eerie as the dino foot prints near Winton.
 
politas said:
"Needless to say"? Why would a floating light "spook" anybody? Personally, I'd find such a light absolutely fascinating, and I'd be getting as close as I could in order to investigate and work out what it was.

And was he within 20 feet or twenty meters? I'm not sure what "20 ft(M)" is supposed to mean, given that they are quite different units of measurement. Within twenty feet is pretty darn close, that's less than three meters, but something small that's nearly 20 meters away can be hard to see clearly, especially if it's a soft light source in darkness.
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Twenty feet is about 6 m That expert on min min is fool. You would be a very brave woman to pet a min min, or a death wish. Folklore says follow a min min to your death. I'd rather pet a western brown. My kid was close enough to see the sticks stones grass lit up under the min min. they are not over the horizon, that I'm sure off.
 
politas said:
"Needless to say"? Why would a floating light "spook" anybody? Personally, I'd find such a light absolutely fascinating, and I'd be getting as close as I could in order to investigate and work out what it was.
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politas said:
Min min lights explained.
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From the quoted reference:

"I talked to old timers out there who had seen it and they were terrified by it," he told ABC Science Online. "It’s a bit embarrassing for them because hardened outback men can be brought to tears by this thing. It really is quite alarming."
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I would have said there was nothing spooky about min min lights right up until the moment I saw one.

I don't think we have to attribute anything paranormal to a phenomenon like the min min in order to understand its potential to scare people.

The most rational of people when faced with something they can't identify, and remember this is night-time in the middle of nowhere, will revert to a version of "fight-or-flight". "Let's go and investigate" is a daytime activity, although it's a choice that involves as much shame as it does common-sense for a bronzed Anzac or a tough old bushie.


Anyway. Thank you very much for the reference. I wasn't going to do any online research until we'd discussed a few theories here, but I had to peek and I'm delighted that my own best-guess may have some validity.

My next story* concerns two separate but nearly identical appearances of the lights which were, at least to me, very supportive of the mirage idea and are probably what started me thinking in that direction myself.


Stay tuned . . .

:)


*completely unevidenced anecdote
 
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Old Bob said:
Twenty feet is about 6 m
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Quite correct, don't know what I was thinking. So which is the correct unit for your son's distance of "20 ft(M)"?

Old Bob said:
That expert on min min is fool. You would be a very brave woman to pet a min min, or a death wish. Folklore says follow a min min to your death. I'd rather pet a western brown.
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Has anyone ever been injured by a min min?

Old Bob said:
My kid was close enough to see the sticks stones grass lit up under the min min. they are not over the horizon, that I'm sure off.
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Have you seen them yourself? Have you ever seen an inversion layer reflection in order to be able to compare the two experiences?

Every description you and other people give of min min lights is of something that stays the same distance away, travels along with them, and bobs and weaves as the person moves their head. In other words, exactly the way that a reflected light from a long distance behaves.

As for the sticks and stones underneath lighting up, have you ever noticed that when the moon is low on the horizon, there is a patch of ground not far off in the direction of the moon that is easier to see than other areas to either side? I have.
 
Old Bob said:
Sold a house to a lady who got fed up with them and let them have a full clip, lights went out straight away.
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The shots probably caused sufficient air turbulence to break up the inversion layer. Seems to corroborate the "fool's" theory to me.
 
Soapy Sam said:
Don't have time to read the whole thread, so apologies if the obvious has been pointed out already.
Australia was discovered before Cook, Van Diemen etc. Long, long before.
By the ancestors of the modern Aborigines. We don't know how advanced their culture was, then or later, but it had to be up to at least one over the horizon sea voyage.

That they may have built settlements and structures subsequently is hardly surprising- but it looks like climate change forced them into a low population density, nomadic lifestyle which they could not change without higher technology- which had to come from somewhere with a more equable climate , higher population density and accessible resources.
The interesting question long term is - will the western settlers undergo similar population crash and have to settle for similar adaptations if climate change accelerates and Oz can no longer trade with the outside world?
What is the maximum human population Australia can carry sustainably?
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Heh. As Old Bob points out, that was certainly out of left field. :)

Anyway, it's a good topic, and something I can discuss reasonably well. I'll put it on "pause" for now and we'll come back here after we solve the mystery of the min min.


Cheers
 
Old Bob said:
Hope our moderator will put up with the off topic, Stanbroke is a big company and the encounter was near the Diamentina. Another friend was contract cultivating near Rolleston and the min min follow him all night(kept him awake) Sold a house to a lady who got fed up with them and let them have a full clip, lights went out straight away.
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Meh. You and I are hopeless at stayin' on topic too. :)

Yeah, I knew Stanbroke was a pastoral company, but the station I was thinking of was Miranda Downs. The Diamantina is more like min min country than the Gulf is though, so that makes sense.

I have no hesitation accepting most of both of these stories. They DO appear to follow you in a very disconcerting way, and I've heard a few stories of people shooting at them, although I can't explain how it would have had any effect.



Old Bob said:
Eerie as the dino foot prints near Winton.
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That's not exactly on topic for Gympie either, now is it? ;) Still, the Winton Dinosaurs is another great topic. Can we get back to them after the min min?


Old Bob said:
Twenty feet is about 6 m That expert on min min is fool. You would be a very brave woman to pet a min min, or a death wish. Folklore says follow a min min to your death. I'd rather pet a western brown. My kid was close enough to see the sticks stones grass lit up under the min min. they are not over the horizon, that I'm sure off.
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It was just the way the distance was written that was a little confusing, that's all.

What's all this about patting min mins? Never heard that one before. In any case, while I admit that the damned things are scary, and I know of the legends, there's never been any evidence at all of them interacting with their surroundings in any way. They leave no traces and have never harmed anyone.

The lights can definitely appear between an observer and the horizon. This has been my experience whenever I've seen them, however, normal daytime mirages can do that too.



Old Bob said:
politas, sorry about the sex mix up, but that is a good looking eye.
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What did I miss there? Are you flirting Bob? ;)
 
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a_unique_person said:
You aren't saying "mate" like they do in "wake in fright" are you?
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Old Bob said:
politas, sorry about the sex mix up, but that is a good looking eye.
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That's disturbing, in the context of the movie. ;)


Yeah, I guess I am a bit Chips Rafferty/John Meillon at times, although mostly it's an affectation. I also remind myself of Dawn Lake, and that's disturbing too.



a_unique_person said:
Don't know what's better in that film, the Kangaroo shoot, or when he chucks up when he's on top of Donald Pleasance's daughter.
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You are an unique person. :)

It's a great film though, if brutal, and well worth watching.

Also, Tiboonda seems like an ideal place to see min min lights.
 
Sorry, I know you were asking old Bob, but . . .


politas said:
Have you seen them yourself? Have you ever seen an inversion layer reflection in order to be able to compare the two experiences?
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Yes to both. Same thing, for my money. Especially when I allow for the poor servant that my memory can be.

I can't say though, that other people haven't seen lights that had a different natural explanation.



politas said:
Every description you and other people give of min min lights is of something that stays the same distance away, travels along with them, and bobs and weaves as the person moves their head. In other words, exactly the way that a reflected light from a long distance behaves.
Click to expand...


Yep. Their appearance in front of objects was puzzling me, but I understand it now. All good!


politas said:
As for the sticks and stones underneath lighting up, have you ever noticed that when the moon is low on the horizon, there is a patch of ground not far off in the direction of the moon that is easier to see than other areas to either side? I have.
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Yep. Although I don't recall noticing this effect with my min mins.

I think I'll save my other story up for my grandchildren. It's just more of the same. :)


Anyway, over to Bob for now. My only point, if I had one, was to establish that the min min is a real phenomenon, rather than a myth or hallucination, and that they have a spooky index of 8.3 on the Sphincter Scale™
 
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All good stuff, in a mythical way relates to Gympie. Yes we have seen inversion layers, seen the moon rise twice in 10 minutes on a dry night. I have never been close to a min min but our aborigine legion tells of min min disappearing those who follow. Sorry about the distant thing earlier just that I missed putting 6 in front of m for meter. The man who had them following him all night would have seen them at every point of the compass as he was circling the 1000 acre paddock and that area is not dead flat. The seem to be in areas that have fossil deposits?
 
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