Originally Posted by dh/dt

GeorgieB,

I'm new to this site and a strong introvert, so I'd appreciate a little decorum if there are any replies.

Here's the answer, but I'll warn you it's kinda like watching those street magicians where you say, "How the hell did he/she do that??" Then they show you and you shrug, "Oh" and walk away, disappointed.

The tops of the north slope of the Chinatis are covered by hard, but white, reflective soils (USDA Boludo Series, 2002) that reflect car lights towards the Observation Area. Alas, because the surface is curved it distorts the image like a fun-house mirror. You can mimic the effects with a small flashlight and a curved facial mirror.

The 1883 descriptions so thoroughly quoted sound nothing like what is there today - and I've yet to find an actual copy.

From above, there is absolutely nothing from the UV to FIR, nothing.

The Center for Image Processing in Education (I'm not affiliated other than a contributor of data) is already using it their lesson "Guiding Light" optics sessions for HS physics students in several states. The optics model, admittedly, is no fun.

On a personal note, I've seen them several times, videorecorded them, had them overflow with a digital data analyzer. I had to ask the most obvious and un-asked question: if there is really nothing unusual, why do the lights appear so different from every other road in the world that happens to descend from a mountain slope?

Sigh.