Min Min Light
There's no mistaking the moon for the Min Min. The mysterious light that is only rarely seen in the
Australian wilderness seems to
have a life of its own, flying just above the ground, seeming to wander around, then sit on a fence post. This kind of Min Min light
is most likely the common barn owl, also known as the Great White Owl or Tyto Alba. It glows with intrinsic biomuninescence, according
to Mr. Silcock, author of the book "The Min Min Light - The Visitor Who Never Arrives."
But not all barn owls glow and when
they do,
it is only on occasion. Why? It seems that the ability to radiate a bioluminescent glow requires energy and that those barn owls that
have this capability might only glow when they need to catch insects to survive. Nobody who owns a pet barn owl seems to have observed
any glow
from their well-fed birds.
Consider one quotations from the book by F. F. Silcock:
[account by Mr. Young, So. Australia]
"In 1956 . . . we were sitting around the fire and noticed a light . . . out in the saltbush. . . . There it was, hoping from one
saltbush to another. As we would walk towards it it would go away from us . . . it would go out and come on behind us. We . . . couldn't
get anywhere close and went back to camp."