UFOs & Bioluminescent Mushrooms...mysterious lights of the night

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I've seen a UFO and not everyone can claim that.

Denise says if there were not about 10 of us then no one would believe it.

It was 1979 or 1980 (the exact date is published in a book and newspapers)...a group of us sitting on Bundagen Beach at about midnight (south of Coffs Harbour NSW) when a large light over the Pacific Ocean danced before our eyes.

We thought it may be a plane or a weather balloon but It's path was very irregular so we ruled those out.

I held up a 20 cent coin and though it was distant the light was the size of the coin to the naked eye.

It hovered at intervals...shot off at various angles...no regular course...watched it for quite a while...until it disappeared East across the Tasman Sea.

Slept on the beach...complained of sandflies and cool breezes...emerging for breakfast at the cafe that was next to the Bellinger River .

Then we saw it.

"UFO" emblazoned on a newspaper hoarding.

Two jets from the New Zealand Air force had chased it then lost it.

A map of the reported sightings on the Australian East Coast.

Our sighting was further south than the newspaper reports other than the pursuit area of the NZ Air force.

Yep...we have seen an Unidentified Flying Object.

And years later I found the event detailed in a glossy book.

Maybe we should have reported it...but just because we didn't does not mean we didn't see a UFO.

'Cos 10 of us know we did.

******



I watch the stars at night waiting for a shooting star or two.

First saw Saturn by telescope when I was 10...even saw it once with its ring vertical (standing on end) rather than the usual horizontal.

Used to look at Jupiter with 4 moons in a small telescope I had...thought I'd discovered a right angled triangle constellation near one of the stars of the Southern Cross...thought this and sometimes that.

One night after picking up our son Simon from a friend's house we both exclaimed, "Can you see what I am seeing?"

A meteor so close we could see sparks flying off it.

We reported that one!

At one stage ours was the Sydney sighting furthest north but numerous other reports are it landed in Galston Gorge behind our place or maybe over the gorge at Dural.

The night sky has always fascinated me...seeing the Southern Cross in the Northern Hemisphere in Mali...Haleys Comet at Coonabarabran, NSW...super moons...solar & moon eclipses...the clear skies of Tibet...the altiplano of Bolivia and Chile...the pulsating Milky Way in the High Pamir of Tajikistan with Denise, Dangerous Dave & MJ...following the Voyager missions to Jupiter, Saturn & Neptune.

But bush walking at night can risk a relationship...so beware.

One time after I disappeared into a precipitous bush valley with only the moon to guide me, Denise when we were dating was so angry she smashed my car door window and stomped off.

Maybe I'd better not tell that one!

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Well I somehow survived & married Denise...bought a simple cottage next to National Park and Galston Gorge...disappearing into the bush...precipitous cliffs...our kids born then doing the same...sometimes the bush draws us.

Denise & I self drove Patagonia...down the Andes from Bariloche to Torres del Paine in a 4WD...in and out of Argentina & Chile...National Parks of volcanic plugs, wilderness, Tolkien forests, pampas, jaw dropping peaks, hanging lakes and glaciers...just us on dirt roads...sometimes not even roads.

When we returned...walked into our Aussie backyard...the bush we call home.

But blocking our path was a 4 foot wall of spikes and burrs of vegetative venom...'Biden'..."farmer's friend" some know it..."burrs of the apocalypse" I call them.

So Denise walks up the street and knocks on doors seeking help to try to make our bushland backyards pristine like the Patagonia.

And that is how 'Alan Avenue Bushcare Group' was born.

Five couples...once a month weeding for 2 hours...best morning tea in Hornsby Shire (we even got an Award for that)...best friends now...best thing Denise could have done.

Now for the point of the story...

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Two years ago (2017), Peter from Bushcare says there are some luminous mushrooms on the bush track...thinks I may be interested.

One had a diameter of 10 inches (25cms) so of course I am!

I had taken photos of a ring of these mushrooms around that tree in 2015...no idea then what they actually were.

Denise is away for the weekend...so at 9.30pm I grab a tripod and my Sony NEX 6 with 18-200mm lens and head into the bush.

No moon...a torch to light me...no wife to prevent me...only my wits to protect me.

Then I saw it.

A pale white glow at the base of a tree...a 70 degree slope into blackness...loose soil but someones gotta do it...so down I go.

Set up the tripod...manual 30 second exposure...trying various ISOs and focal lengths...click...waiting in darkness each time...checking playback each time...pretty excited.

I return after two hours...onto my computer...green not white images jumping out...clarity sketchy at best...into bed disappointed.

Falling into sleep of the unrequited...dozing at best.

But this dancer has never been one to be put off by being out of step...so the following night I return.

But this time I take the 50mm lens that saved our Peru, Bolivia, Atacama trip after my 18-200mm lens failed in 2015...hope springing eternal.

Another 2 hours...various ISOs and focal lengths...onto the computer...smiles...bright green images jumping out...clarity crisp and focus clean...sleeping better that night...pretty chuffed actually.

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December 2018 I check out the base of that tree after rain...mushrooms emerging...returning 3 nights later but too late...reduced to mulsh...bioluminesence lost...none further until a few weeks ago.

Only an afterthought that I check out the base of the tree recently...heaps of ghosties smiling.

So I decide, "Tonight must be the night."

So I set out before dinner...gumboots...insect spray...headlamp...tripod...50mm lens.

Dull white glow intensifying when my torch is off....bioluminescent mushrooms at their zenith...around three adjacent trees...by tomorrow they may fade away.

Bioluminescent mushrooms are found in temperate or tropical forests...produce an enzyme that creates light by chemical reaction...only about 80 species in the World...only a handful of species in Oz...only glowing when the lights are off.

I got my best results at ISO 3200 for large clusters of mushrooms because they created the strongest glow.

Of the three clumps at the base of three trees, one had a stronger white glow than the others, which I presumed were probably a day or two older than the other clumps.

Anything less than 30 second exposures or distance greater than 40 cms was sketchy at best.

Some at ISO 6200 to 12800 were too bright for large bunches or too grainy for small bunches or single mushrooms.

My guys are ghost fungi...Omphalotus Nidiformis...usually found in Tasmania or South Australia, Australian Geographic says...so I reckon I'm lucky to find them in my Sydney Aussie backyard.

They say their glow is not to attract but to deter predators but I have found one type of insect on them so maybe there is a symbiosis in action to spread spores.

Some reports say they are not poisonous...others say they are dangerously toxic.

Aboriginal legends tell they signal bad spirits thereabouts...but to me they are lucky.

Other bioluminescent lifeforms in Oz are corals, scorpions, sea snails, glowworms, algae and jelly fish.



I hear my ghost mushrooms echoing the words of Mick Jagger at the end of the song "Something happened to me last night" on the "Between the Buttons" Album:

"Well thank you very much and now I think it's time for us all to go.

So from all of us to all of you...we'd like to say God bless.

So if you're out tonight, don't forget...if you're on your bike...wear white.

Evening all."



Relax & Enjoy the glow,

Dancing Dave

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Photos

Coral fungi
Not bioluminescent

First attempts 2017 with 18-200mm lens
Necessitated I return with 50mm lens

Bioluminescent Large Mushroom
By Day - 2017

Bioluminescent Large Mushroom
By Night - 2017 50mm lens

Bioluminescent Layered Mushroom
By Day - 2017

Bioluminescent Layered Mushroom
By Night - 2017

They are back 2019
Gotta return tonight!!!

They are back 2019
The return at night

2019 by night
ISO 1600

2019 by night
ISCO 3200

Ring of Ghost Fungi
2015

Ring of Ghost Fungi
2015 - Detail

Comments

[Ake Och Emma]

Wish I will see that one day
I have seen fire flies, milky seas effect and bioluminescent worms but never those mushrooms. Since you also mention astromony I can add that I've seen aurora borealis, and a Mercury transit and a Venus transit. Thanks for your blog. It was interesting. /Ake

[Dancing Dave]

Wish I will see that one day
Our world is full of wonders Ake and I never cease being amazed when I discover them. These bioluminescent mushrooms emit a white glow to the naked eye which in reality is green, all a result of a chemical reaction created by the enzymes within. One day I hope to also see the aurora borealis. I will then enquire why the light they emit is also green. Fascinating stuff.

[Bernie]

I've seen one also.
UFO that is. A little after first light at Mooloolaba, QLD. We were getting ready to go out fishing, it was a sight and experience I will fondly recall for the rest of my life. Loved your story ??

[Dancing Dave]

I've seen one also.
Some say only the crazies claim to have seen a UFO, Bernie. But you like me are part of an exclusive club...not crazy but intrigued by having an experience of the unexplained. I'd love to hear more of your sighting story.

[His Dudeness]

Magic mushroom!
Nice backyard, sure you didn't have a nibble on those shrooms when you saw that UFO ;)

[Dancing Dave]

Magic mushroom!
If only Ralph...may have been easier to have achieved the vibrant colours which were only obtained with obsessive effort. Your comment made me belly laugh. Thanks for that !!!

[gangopa]

UFOs come at night!
The dark night skies always intrigue my imagination. Like yourself, I spent watching the night sky in Masaimara and Tsavo...fascinating, Dave. My wife must have talked to you before, she didn't come for the trip when I got lost in the Mara bush at night. Moral of the story: I travel best on my own. You are the same freak as I am about taking photos. Never satisfied. You went into the bushes two nights consecutively to take the same shots. I traveled to Vietnam twice in consecutive years ,- just to take the same night shot of Ho Chi Minh City from the hotel rooftop patio - same hotel, same table, same spot on the parapet. we seem to be the birds of the same feather, Dave...LOL

[Dancing Dave]

UFOs come at night!
Returning to the same spot to better the photo in separate trips to Vietnam indicates an impressive determination, Tab. I once returned to a mountain in China 4 or 5 years later to climb the remaining 9 metres I had been denied years before. My blog is called "China...Rectifying my Regret." I know the smile that results from such persistence. These bioluminescent mushroom pics are clearly a testament to that. Enjoy.

[Travelling Fraggles]

Wow!
Just wow! they're incredible!!

[Dancing Dave]

Wow!
Thanks Marie & Emma. 'tis amazing what one can find when the lights go out!

[A Small Swede in the Big World]

You need to take me there!
IF I ever make it to your Sydney backyard you need to take me there!

[Dancing Dave]

You need to take me there!
You would be an honoured guest Per-Olof...maybe not spiritually enlightening but enlightening it would be!

[bvchef]

What beautiful pictures
This was a great read Dave. I learned so much more about you, not to mention about the fungi. Did you have to battle rubber snakes on your way to the Bush? lol

[Dancing Dave]

What beautiful pictures
It is 14 months since you joined us in our Aussie backyard with the Trouble, Brendan and the rubber snake still protects the mandarin tree but causes no quarms for the swamp wallaby that continues to pick its fruit. Denise has just handed me chopped rock rmelon so the service here has not diminished since you left to return to the land of the red headed Don. Our Aussie backyard continues to fascinate me...last blog macro sects and this one UFOs & bioluminescent mushrooms...too good not to share. I'll pull up a chair and reminisce with Denise in the hope we can spend further times together.

[Crannster]

Aurora
Very interesting photos. It's like like having the aurora borealis (or Australis in your case) beneath your feet. I am not blessed with the luxury of darkness at this time of year, so I will search the tundra when the the light disappears in the fall. The genus Panellus is apparently bioluminescent, it is not common in these parts though - I will need a powerful lamp. Dave

[Dancing Dave]

Aurora
When I was a kid I was known as Sherlock Sharp Eyes for my uncanny skill at finding lost golf balls hit during my $1 per round caddying days. It is amazing what one can find if one actually looks. I look forward to the bioluminescent Panellus from the tundra, Dave. A background of the aurora borealis would frame it perfectly. He who seeks can find. The challenge is to replace 'can' with 'got ya'. Your quest is set. I wait in anticipation.

[Hem]

Your interesting Aussie backyard!
Well you could not snap the UFOs in those days but you have captured the bio-luminescent mushrooms nicely. You backyard has stuff going on!

[Dancing Dave]

Your interesting Aussie backyard!
Glad you have checked in Hem. Your photography skills are clear for all to see. May the ghosties inspire you also.

[D MJ Binkley]

You had our attention at mushrooms!
Thank you for taking us on a wonderous and mysterious journey into the night skies and dark walks. When you come to our place you'll get to play with our telescopes. Loved our time along the Pamir highway gazing into the twinkling sky. Terrific story telling once again and utterly magnificent photos. You've captured nature at her finest.

[Dancing Dave]

You had our attention at mushrooms!
How could we ever forget that night in the High Pamir in Tajikistan, MJ? Standing in icy winds looking into the night sky with the Milky Way pulsating at us nearly close enough to touch. A special time that only we shared...and in an extraordinary locale. Now I share the bioluminescent mushrooms that I found in my own Aussie backyard. We hope to visit you in your Florida backyard and we hope we have set the bar high enough for you to emulate!

[Playagal]

UFOs & Mushrooms
I really enjoyed this blog. My hubby Al has a thing for UFOs, always reading up on them, and is also into astronomy. He was doing the same thing as you as a kid, looking at a different world through a telescope. He also one time brought home a book, Mushrooms of Ontario. It was so random that it caught me off guard! Now I'll make his day showing him your pics of bio-luminescent mushrooms. So cool! It's good to learn something every darn day. Good job as usual...Your Canadian gal Sal! :)

[Dancing Dave]

UFOs & Mushrooms
Always nice to hear from you Sal. So Al has an interest in UFOs, space and mushrooms...must be a great guy! Happy Canada Day. I enjoyed Facetime with our son Simon who lives in Toronto enjoying "our win"...that's Raptors & the North Rule...now that's "our win", Sal. I am a 1/4 Canadian after all.