MEKONG LIGHTS

We watched them rise
We saw them fly
The river launched them
To the sky.

We just watched the most interesting thing. It is called "bung fai paya nak" if you spell it phonetically.  The Jorgensens (our friends who work with us and live above us) called us and told us to look out out our back window into the sky. We saw what looked like small planes flying low over the river.  But they weren't planes. Glenn got out his camera and they are little fire balls up in the sky. They floated through the air like hot air balloons but not nearly as big. These just kept coming and coming and coming.  It was really cool.  Here is the explanation I got from a wikipedia:

The Naga fireballs (Thai: บั้งไฟพญานาค; RTGS: bang fai phaya nak), also known to as Mekong lights, and “bung fai paya nak” by the locals, is a phenomenon with unconfirmed source said to be often seen in Thailand’s Mekong river, which is also seen in (Nong Khai province in Isan) and in Laos (Vientiane Province)—in which glowing balls are alleged to naturally rise from the water high into the air. The balls are said to be reddish and to have diverse sizes from smaller sparkles up to the size of basketballs; they quickly rise up to a couple of hundred metres before disappearing. The number of fireballs reported varies between tens and thousands per night.