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The strange this we see in the woods

Mike

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Up Nort
I'm stumped with this one. I hunted both mornings this weekend and I was in the same stand. It was an hour and a half before legal shooting time, it's pitch black and I start seeing these blueish white lights coming from the ground. There were maybe a total of 5 or 6 at different times. They were the size of a marble and emitted no halo around the light. They didn't move. I was able to put my binos on them and then they appeared to be the size of a pea. These things would light up bright and then fade after 10-30 seconds. There were more Saturday morning than Sunday morning. What kind of insect in northwest Ohio emits bio-luminescence besides lightning bugs? Glow worms? I was a little freaked out.:smiley_confused_vra
 

Mike

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Up Nort
That crossed my mind, but the lights were in the blue-white spectrum and were tiny compared to the pictures I've seen of glowing mushrooms. Glow worms are out because they glow yellow too (baby fireflies).
 

jagermeister

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Ohio
Were you shining a light when you saw them? Wolf spiders eyes will reflect blue very bright. They're pretty common to see on the forest floor this time of year.
 

steveOh

Junior Member
750
114
Dayton Area
Might be this...saw this on a ranger led walk at night down in Hocking Co.

"Foxfire", also sometimes called "fairy fire", is the bioluminescence created by some species of fungi present in decaying wood. The bluish-green glow is attributed to luciferase, an oxidative enzyme, which emits light as it reacts with luciferin. It is widely believed that the light attracts insects to spread spores, or acts as a warning to hungry animals, like the bright colors exhibited by some poisonous or unpalatable animal species.[1] Although generally very dim, in some cases foxfire is bright enough to read by.[2]
 
Was the area wet with a lot of rotting plants or like a small swamp ?

I remember reading about balls of swamp gas that glowed
Those balls of glowing swamp gas were where some of the aliens ideas came from

John
 

yotehunter

Member
1,527
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spencerville oh
I noticed the same thing but more green then blue. And I just assumed it was some sort of spider or insect. Mine was without a light along a creek I have to cross to to get to my stand.
 

Mike

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Up Nort
I was 18 feet up. The light did not emit a halo. It was pinpoint bright, not a glow. We're talking small, pea size. I sent a message to the entomology department at OSU. I'll attempt to video it if I see it again.
 

Joel

Senior Member
3,049
113
Centerburg, Ohio
Sounds pretty cool. I googled "blue lights in the woods" and saw everything from aliens, spirit orbs, other strange things... The only thing that made any kind of sense to me was something about decaying organic material making methane gas that glows. Maybe you will see it again on your way to the stand and can get a closer look at it.
 

hickslawns

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Ohio
I have seen them. You are not crazy. They exist. Just be thankful you don't remember the part where they transported you back down from their ship. I remember it and it was traumatic.

Seriously though, I was thinking they were about the size of potato bugs. Weird for sure.