Weird-ass fireflies(?) Seeking answers.

[Magic Poriferan]

So a couple days ago, I saw a swarm of what I only presumed to be fireflies hovering over the empty plot next to my house. The thing is, they glowed an intense white color, the kind of white that almost looks blue. This is a color I've never seen in a firefly and I thought couldn't even exist. Secondly, they flashed almost instantly, like a camera, instead of the slow soft way that fireflies normally fade in and out. It was all strangely inorganic looking. I told me housemate to come see (just to be sure I wasn't crazy), and she indeed saw them as well and also found them bizarre.

Interestingly, in the past two years, I believe I have seen these same things, rarely, but only like one at a time. It seemed odd but the phenomenon was always small enough that I shrugged it off. I later asked a friend of mine, who's lived in this part of the state a lot longer than me, if she had ever seen such a thing, and she excitedly said that she had but only recently, and she had never seen it before and also wasn't sure what they were.

Sadly, I do not have a remotely decent camera device, so I could not record any footage for you all. I regret not trying to catch one. I spent a bit trying to find answers with Google but I've turned up no leads at all. So what is going on here? Anyone know of such a thing? This has really been bugging me (hah hah, pun).

 

[Obfuscate]

Bioluminescent Insects - Bugs That Get Confused With Fireflies

List of bioluminescent organisms - Wikipedia

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

So a couple days ago, I saw a swarm of what I only presumed to be fireflies hovering over the empty plot next to my house. The thing is, they glowed an intense white color, the kind of white that almost looks blue. This is a color I've never seen in a firefly and I thought couldn't even exist. Secondly, they flashed almost instantly, like a camera, instead of the slow soft way that fireflies normally fade in and out. It was all strangely inorganic looking. I told me housemate to come see (just to be sure I wasn't crazy), and she indeed saw them as well and also found them bizarre.

Perhaps it's a blue ghost? I've never seen one myself. All the information describes them as living further south, like in the Smoky Mountains, but who knows these days with climate change? All those rocks falling into the sea must be doing crazy things.

Blue ghost firefly

The glow patterns are also described as different, although I'm not sure if this matches what you described.


More on blue ghosts

I'm sure it's very hard to capture accurately in pictures, so I'm not sure to what extent a good camera would help. long exposure might be able to capture the light, but then it would just show up as streaks(like in the second article) and wouldn't reflect what you actually see. If it's even possible to do such a thing, the techniques or equipment needed are probably not easily accessible.

 

[Lark]

Wilo the wisps for sure

 

[Doctor Cringelord]

Is it a torchbug? Save the thorax and sell it to Arcadia.

 

[The Cat]

Sprites?

 

[Magic Poriferan]

Bioluminescent Insects - Bugs That Get Confused With Fireflies

List of bioluminescent organisms - Wikipedia

Yes, I have been digging around through things like that, but absolutely nothing has sounded similar by description. Nor have any pictures resembled what I saw.

Perhaps it's a blue ghost? I've never seen one myself. All the information describes them as living further south, like in the Smoky Mountains, but who knows these days with climate change? All those rocks falling into the sea must be doing crazy things.

Blue ghost firefly

The glow patterns are also described as different, although I'm not sure if this matches what you described.


More on blue ghosts

I'm sure it's very hard to capture accurately in pictures, so I'm not sure to what extent a good camera would help. long exposure might be able to capture the light, but then it would just show up as streaks(like in the second article) and wouldn't reflect what you actually see. If it's even possible to do such a thing, the techniques or equipment needed are probably not easily accessible.

At first I was hopeful that the blue ghost was what I was looking for, but it can't be. They are regarded a creating more of a blue-green appearance, and only through an illusion that is achieved at a distance that is further away than I would have been from my subjects. Also, they are described as being a constant glow firefly, which is unusual, but also like the opposite of the things I saw.

Wilo the wisps for sure

Is it a torchbug? Save the thorax and sell it to Arcadia.

Sprites?

I am firmly ruling out the super natural.

However, one of my brothers jokingly said they were drones. That's almost not a joke at this point. They looked so much like LEDs.

Still, probably not drones, right?

 

[The Cat]

I'd go with sprites over drones, you'd probably sleep better. But then maybe not. So, yes, I'm sure they were probably just drones, nothing supernatural or magical at all.

 

[Lark]

I am firmly ruling out the super natural.

However, one of my brothers jokingly said they were drones. That's almost not a joke at this point. They looked so much like LEDs.

Still, probably not drones, right?

Nanite drones for sure, although who would be using them?

 

[Population: 1]

Alien drones from a race of AI looking to consume biological matter for fuel. Alien invasion Gray Goo apocalypse is imminent.

We now have these orange and black ants in the northeastern US with shells so tough they audibly crunch and they’re really resilient. Apparently they migrated from the southern US a decade or so ago. Probably something like that is occurring.

 

[Lark]

If you do ever get a clip of these will you PM me? Bioluminescence is fascinating

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

I still think I'd go with fireflies. If anything, even if it isn't what you saw, the Blue Ghost shows that fireflies come in different colors other than the "standard" yellow.

 

[Population: 1]

I still think I'd go with fireflies. If anything, even if it isn't what you saw, the Blue Ghost shows that fireflies come in different colors other than the "standard" yellow.

We get the green ones. Although they’re not nearly as prevalent as when I was a child. I remember my parents and I going outside in our yard (way back talking 1970’s here) and they were everywhere. The whole yard would just be lit up by them. Now there’s like one spot in a forested area near me where you can see them towards late June early July.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

We get the green ones. Although they’re not nearly as prevalent as when I was a child. I remember my parents and I going outside in our yard (way back talking 1970’s here) and they were everywhere. The whole yard would just be lit up by them. Now there’s like one spot in a forested area near me where you can see them towards late June early July.

I think I saw a green one once in North Carolina.

 

[Population: 1]

I think I saw a green one once in North Carolina.

Do you get them in your area? If so what color?

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Do you get them in your area? If so what color?

Yeah, they're yellow, with maybe only a slight green tinge. Almost all of the ones I've seen have been that color. I've spent a lot of time in Pennsylvania, New York State, and Illinois.

The only time I saw a relatively pure green one in was in North Carolina. I'm still not entirely sure if the green one was a different species, or just sick in some way.

 

[Luminous]

I've never seen a firefly.

 

[Magic Poriferan]

I saw them again last night. I went out to see them twice. The first time they were quite high up in the trees. The second time I saw they were low enough that I could maybe touch one, but I didn't bring anything particularly useful for bug catching and didn't grab one. I did, however, see one flash maybe a couple feet from my face. From what I could tell, it looks like just any old firefly. The color is still very odd, though, even when it is unmistakably close. I don't know why they look like this.

 

[Magic Poriferan]

Do you get them in your area? If so what color?

In my case, I've seen many over the years, in colors that have ranged all the way from fully green to an almost amber yellow. The green ones are all I ever saw around Harrisburg. The really golden ones I've only seen in western PA but I've not seen them in a long time.

 

[Obfuscate]

In my case, I've seen many over the years, in colors that have ranged all the way from fully green to an almost amber yellow. The green ones are all I ever saw around Harrisburg. The really golden ones I've only seen in western PA but I've not seen them in a long time.

there are over 2,000 species of them, but i have never heard of white fireflies...