Paasselkä devils

Paasselkä devils (Finnish: Paasselän pirut) are light phenomena sometimes appearing at Lake Paasselkä, Finland and swampy and forested areas nearby the lake.

Paasselkä is a lake formed in an impact crater. There is a magnetic anomaly in the centre of the lake.

The Paasselkä Devil is usually told to be a ball of light visible in the air above Paasselkä or areas nearby. It is said to move at varying speeds on some occasions and to remain stationary at others. Sometimes there are several balls. The "ball of fire" has been said by some locals to act as if it were conscious. It can follow fishermen's boats or escape the light of torch. Sometimes the light moves at incredible speeds.

The light has been visible for a long time; it is a part of local folklore and was given the name "devil". Locals in earlier times may have believed that ball of light was actually an evil creature. In earlier times local people were used to seeing these lights and did not consider them to be something extraordinary.^[1] Also nowadays the lights are observed occasionally, they have been taken on movies and photographed. This light phenomenon was made more famous by a book of Sulo Strömberg issued in 2006 and containing stories about this phenomenon.

See also

• Will-o'-the-wisps

References

• Sulo Strömberg: Kerimäen ja Savonrannan kyliä kiertämässä. Tarinoita Paasveen piruista ja pohuista (2006)

Coordinates: 62°09′N 29°25′E / 62.150°N 29.417°E / 62.150; 29.417