Will-o'-the-Wisp Legends in Asian Folklore — Hitodama and Foxfire

Mysterious atmospheric lights feature prominently in Asian folklore traditions as well. In Japan, the hitodama are ghostly fireballs — pale blue or green luminous spheres said to be the souls of the recently dead, drifting away from the body shortly after death. They are most commonly reported near graveyards, hospitals, and battlefields. The related phenomenon of kitsunebi (foxfire) consists of ghostly lights attributed to magical foxes (kitsune), often seen in procession across fields or hillsides. In China, similar lights are known as guǐhuǒ (ghost fire) and are associated with graveyards and places of death. In India, the aleya (or marsh ghost-light) of West Bengal is a well-documented phenomenon of lights over the marshy wetlands of the Sundarbans, blamed for the deaths of fishermen who follow the lights and lose their way. In the Philippines, the santelmo (derived from 'St. Elmo's fire') refers to ball lightning or marsh lights seen over rice paddies and considered omens of death.