00:00At Westbrook, in Maine, people saw a huge ice disk in January 2019.
00:07This disk looked like a winter snowdrift.
00:10It was spinning in the Presume Scott River.
00:13The inhabitants gave it all kinds of names.
00:15The spinning ice plate, the frozen wheel of fortune, Jean Pass, and better ones.
00:20It is estimated that it was about 91 meters wide,
00:24which makes it one of the largest ice disks ever seen.
00:27Curiously, spinning ice disks are not a novelty.
00:31We have already seen them in Russia and in the state of Washington.
00:34They almost always form perfect circles.
00:37But how do these disks appear?
00:39In 1997, scientists said that it was the water that caused them,
00:45creating a whirlwind effect, smoothing the ice and making it perfectly circular.
00:50In 2016, other scientists said that the flow currents helped to form these disks,
00:56but that it was the changes in temperature that made them spin.
01:00Warm or cold water melts and pours the ice,
01:03which creates a whirlwind that spins the disk.
01:06The warmer the water, the faster the disk spins.
01:11Have you ever heard of Estalen lights in Norway?
01:15No, these are not Boreal auroras.
01:18These are kind of incandescent balls.
01:20They have been observed regularly since at least the 1930s.
01:23These luminous wonders appear in various colors.
01:27Sometimes they flicker, other times they just shine.
01:31Estalen lights can appear 10 to 20 times a week.
01:35They appear as well during the day as at night.
01:38They can last a few seconds or remain stationary for more than an hour.
01:43It is interesting to note that no one has any idea what they are exactly.
01:48Among the efforts made to understand these lights,
01:51let's mention the Estalen project, launched in 1983,
01:55and other subsequent projects, such as the Triangle project.
01:59Despite the research, there is no consensus on the origin of these lights.
02:03Some think that they are celestial bodies,
02:06others planes, others mirages.
02:09According to a theory, these lights are caused by dust in suspension,
02:14while another mentions the plasma formed by the ionized air
02:17and the dust resulting from the disintegration of radon.
02:21Luminous rocks are an interesting geological phenomenon
02:25that you probably didn't know about.
02:27And this is our next step on the road to mysterious natural phenomena.
02:31You will find them in the county of Bux, in the United States.
02:34If you hit these rocks with a hammer or another stone, they start to ring.
02:39Scientists have studied them, but the mystery remains.
02:43There are also different hypotheses on this subject.
02:47The size and shape of the rock blocks, as well as the way they are stacked,
02:51can affect the sounds they produce.
02:54But this does not explain why they produce a sound.
02:57It is described as metallic,
02:59but it is probably due to the density and internal tension of the rocks,
03:03and not only to their iron content.
03:05An experiment carried out in the 1960s suggested
03:08that the sounds came from an internal tension,
03:11and not from any external alteration.
03:13The rocks located in the middle of the fields have an expansion or relaxation
03:18after being cut,
03:20which indicates the presence of an internal elastic tension.
03:23A slow alteration in the dry fields could be at the origin of these tensions.
03:29The theory of residual tensions suggests that these rock blocks act like guitar strings.
03:35A de-stressed block produces a deaf sound,
03:38while a stressed block resonates at different frequencies.
03:41The blocks can continue to sound after being removed from their fields,
03:45and it is said that some of these rocks have been stolen.
03:48There are no more small sounds in most fields,
03:51and by breaking large blocks, the sounds are stopped.
03:54Massive machines are needed to move the small blocks, which weigh more than a ton.
04:00Let's talk about the fireballs of the Nagas.
04:02They only appear along the Mekong, in Asia.
04:05These fireballs are located on a trench 250 km from the river.
04:09Reddish, they naturally rise from the water to the sky.
04:13They can be the size of a spark or a basketball.
04:16According to the inhabitants, there are between a few dozen and a few thousand fireballs per night.
04:22They can be observed throughout the year.
04:25But they seem to manifest most often at the time of the full moon and at the end of autumn.
04:30Why? Nobody knows.
04:32Some have tried to scientifically explain the phenomenon.
04:36A theory suggests that phosphine from swamps could be at the origin.
04:41However, skeptics say that it is unlikely that a spontaneous combustion is at the origin of the phenomenon.
04:47According to another explanation,
04:49it would be plasma orbs created by surface electricity and floating freely.
04:55However, this phenomenon usually occurs in controlled environments,
04:59during experiments, and not in a natural way.
05:03Then we have the lightning ball.
05:06This is a very rare thing, an incandescent ball that appears in the air.
05:10They usually appear near the ground during thunderstorms,
05:13at the same time as normal lightning.
05:15They can be red, orange, yellow, white or blue,
05:19and are often accompanied by a whistling and an unpleasant smell.
05:23These luminous spheres are fast.
05:25They only last a few seconds, turn in a circle,
05:29then disappear, sometimes in silence, sometimes with a little dry noise.
05:34The ball lightning can seem disturbing, but it is generally harmless.
05:38Of course, it happens that it burns or melts objects,
05:42but it is not there to harm us.
05:44Scientists are not quite sure of what causes this phenomenon,
05:48nor its link with ordinary lightning.
05:51Some have mentioned a strange behavior of air or gases,
05:55high-density plasma, or even a whirlwind of incandescent gas.
05:59Even microwave radiation trapped in a plasma bubble is on the list.
06:04But do not confuse ball lightning with pearl lightning.
06:08This is a different phenomenon,
06:10which looks more like a pearl chaplet,
06:13and which occurs when a lightning lasts for a good second.
06:20Fall.
06:21We are now in the silent zone of Mapimi.
06:24This is a place located near Bolson de Mapimi in Mexico.
06:27History tells that in this desert area,
06:30it is impossible to capture radio signals or talk to anyone.
06:34In July 1970, a rocket from Utah deviated from its trajectory and landed here.
06:41It was carrying cobalt.
06:43The authorities had to evacuate tons of earth from the site of the accident.
06:47Today, thanks to cleaning, the silent zone is the subject of many legends.
06:52We are talking about a strange magnetic phenomenon that disturbs radios,
06:56plants and animals that undergo mutations.
06:59Inhabitants follow the movement, which stimulates tourism in the region.
07:05Very well.
07:06We can now talk a little about the sun.
07:08It is not just a big fireball.
07:11It has an exterior layer called a crown.
07:14It is a kind of invisible solar vest composed of gas.
07:18In general, you cannot see it because the sun is very bright.
07:22But there is a trick.
07:24During a total solar eclipse,
07:26when the moon slides between the earth and the sun,
07:29the crown appears, all bright and white.
07:32The crown is burning, even hotter than the surface of the sun,
07:36which is quite strange.
07:38Scientists set out on a mission to elucidate this mystery.
07:42They discovered what are called thermal bombs,
07:45which leave the sun and head towards the crown,
07:48exploding and heating the surface.
07:50But this may only be part of the puzzle.
07:53The surface of the sun is like a playground covered with magnetic fields.
07:57These magnetic fields create interesting shapes,
08:00for example, loops and serpentines.
08:03Telescopes allow us to observe these shapes up close.
08:07The crown extends relatively far and emits what are called solar winds
08:11everywhere in the solar system.
08:13These particles are so fast
08:15that they escape to the gravity of our beautiful star.
08:19And then there is a nice place,
08:21the beach of Kuala Selangor,
08:23which you can only visit when the tide is low.
08:26The times change every day
08:28and you cannot access it when the tide is high.
08:31Most of the time, the beach is hidden under the sea
08:34and does not even appear on the map.
08:36But when the tide is good, it appears,
08:38a bit like the Malaysian version of Salar Duyuni.
08:41Some people call it the mirror of the sky.
08:44Because when it is not submerged,
08:46it wonderfully reflects the sky.
08:48A great place for really beautiful photos.
08:50In addition to being an ideal place to travel,
08:53it also houses a very diverse fauna and flora,
08:56for example, swamps and other seashells
08:59that live on these sandy banks.
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