41 of the World’s Biggest Mysteries That Have Finally Been Solved

They have confused people for centuries before you get any ideas about what these things might be from the offputting name. In the old days, before major cities and built-out areas, ceremonies for paying respects to the dead would look rather different not only in practice but also in the physical surroundings.

When carrying coffins across marshes and swamps for burial, little balls of light would float above the ground, almost acting as lights guiding the way. Many people thought that these lights were the spirits of the dead. However, that theory has since been debunked. These lights resulted from methane gas being made by rotting organic material, producing a flame-like substance.