# Extremely strange natural phenomenon: can anyone explain this? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 14, 2007, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-strange-natural-phenomenon-can-anyone-explain-this/422668 "2007-10-14T12:44:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![noblebaron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e274bd/32.png) [@noblebaron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/noblebaron)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-strange-natural-phenomenon-can-anyone-explain-this/422668/1 "2007-10-14T12:44:24Z")
It was about 1pm on an extremely hot, dry day in August of 1990 on remote lake beach outside of Maple Ridge, BC. The beach was sandy with dry driftwood, bark, sticks and logs of various lengths littered along it. We were in the middle of a drought, so the conditions were dry for weeks. I noticed tiny little wisps of smoke rising up from smouldering points on various pieces of wood on the beach – there were literally hundreds, maybe a few thousand of them. None of these smouldering spots appeared to start actually start fires. The smouldering spots were about an eighth of an inch in diameter, a quarter inch at most, and looked as though one had rubbed two sticks together and generated enough heat to cause a tiny little bit of smoke, but without any flame whatsoever. No less than a dozen other people saw this phenomenon, but no one I have described this scene to since has ever heard of this happening before. Many questioned whether I was talking about steam, mist etc, but I can assure you this absolutely was smoke. Has anyone ever heard of this happening elsewhere before or can you hazard a guess as to what might have been the cause? Thanks, NB ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-strange-natural-phenomenon-can-anyone-explain-this/422668/2 "2007-10-14T13:11:37Z")
Could it have been steam, not smoke? ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-strange-natural-phenomenon-can-anyone-explain-this/422668/3 "2007-10-14T13:45:56Z")
how can you be so sure it wasn’t steam? Did you smell it to be sure? Otherwise, maybe the area was just carpet bombed by very small meteorites, and you showed just in time not to be blasted by all the space bird shot. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-strange-natural-phenomenon-can-anyone-explain-this/422668/4 "2007-10-14T13:51:30Z")
[QUOTE=noblebaron] I noticed tiny little wisps of smoke rising up from smouldering points on various pieces of wood on the beach – there were literally hundreds, maybe a few thousand of them. None of these smouldering spots appeared to start actually start fires. [/quote] Did you see it first? Or smell it first? ---
**Author:** ![noblebaron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e274bd/32.png) [@noblebaron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/noblebaron)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-strange-natural-phenomenon-can-anyone-explain-this/422668/5 "2007-10-14T14:09:18Z")
I saw the smoke wisps and looked closely numerous small, charred smoldering spots. There was also a very light haze over the beach. ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-strange-natural-phenomenon-can-anyone-explain-this/422668/6 "2007-10-14T21:47:46Z")
Double post ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-strange-natural-phenomenon-can-anyone-explain-this/422668/7 "2007-10-14T21:46:02Z")
[QUOTE=noblebaron] I saw the smoke wisps and looked closely numerous small, charred smoldering spots. There was also a very light haze over the beach. [/QUOTE] I’m not an expert, but I think that if there were a thousand smoldering spots, there would have been a strong and unmistakeable odor of burning and you probably would have noticed the smell before you saw anything. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-strange-natural-phenomenon-can-anyone-explain-this/422668/8 "2007-10-14T21:45:30Z")
Were there any bits of glass around that could have focused or reflected light onto these areas? ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-strange-natural-phenomenon-can-anyone-explain-this/422668/9 "2007-10-14T22:49:43Z")
[QUOTE=noblebaron] It was about 1pm on an extremely hot, dry day in August of 1990 on remote lake beach outside of Maple Ridge, BC. The beach was sandy with dry driftwood, bark, sticks and logs of various lengths littered along it. We were in the middle of a drought, so the conditions were dry for weeks. [/QUOTE] I’ve heard from several farmers (around North Dakota and Montana) of hay and straw decomposing when it’s bundled up or baled, and actually catching on fire. Apparently, as the hay/straw decomposes, it generates heat, which smoulders long enough for flame to break out. Apparently, this is a big reason why hay/straw needs to be kept dry when it’s bundled up. . . Is it possible the washed up driftwood and sticks were packed tightly enough to actually start smouldering? Tripler Just a thought or two. . . ---
**Author:** ![JimOfAllTrades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@JimOfAllTrades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimOfAllTrades)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-strange-natural-phenomenon-can-anyone-explain-this/422668/10 "2007-10-14T23:05:21Z")
Is it possible there was a fire somewhere relatively close and some burning embers had floated on the wind and landed on the beach? Where they hit driftwood, you might see small burning spots, where they hit sand, you wouldn’t see much at all. ---
**Author:** ![Khampelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Khampelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khampelf)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-strange-natural-phenomenon-can-anyone-explain-this/422668/11 "2007-10-14T23:40:14Z")
Perhaps a few dozen Boy Scouts with magnifying glasses had just left the area? ---
**Author:** ![krisolov](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/krisolov/32/3724_2.png) [@krisolov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/krisolov)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-strange-natural-phenomenon-can-anyone-explain-this/422668/12 "2007-10-14T23:42:47Z")
were these bits burning on the top of the debris, or perhaps directly at ground level? I have seen fires burn underground at the root level that appear as fairly widely seperated smoking spots in the earth. Sometimes quite a lot of such spots could appear in a large enough underground fire. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2007, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-strange-natural-phenomenon-can-anyone-explain-this/422668/13 "2007-10-15T06:57:28Z")
If that day was August 16th, it was probably fall out fron on of the [fires in BC](http://www.fire.uni-freiburg.de/iffn/country/ca/ca_1.htm) that day. From the 1990 IFFN fire report: > [@](#): > > The busiest day occurred on 16 August when the Province had 1,129 active fires. Things began to slow down after that as favourable weather invaded the province and brought relief to the fire situation. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2007, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-strange-natural-phenomenon-can-anyone-explain-this/422668/14 "2007-10-15T17:33:53Z")
Coal, woody material, and biomass can spontaneously combust, but typically it needs to be packed together to accumulate heat. [http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mwetcharcoal.html](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mwetcharcoal.html) I’m guessing something else was at play here. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2007, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extremely-strange-natural-phenomenon-can-anyone-explain-this/422668/15 "2007-10-15T20:51:47Z")
Fire ants?