To celebrate the birthday of legendary Jim Corbett, following the suggestion from Natraj Publishers, we had a discussion about Jim Corbett and the problems that conservationists face today in India.
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To celebrate the birthday of legendary Jim Corbett, following the suggestion from Natraj Publishers, we will have a discussion about Jim Corbett and the problems that conservationists face today in India, and we will have the recording of the meeting on our website, here, very soon.
As you can see from the poster, the participants of the discussion are foremost scholars and conservationists: 1. Mr Samir Sinha, Head - TRAFFIC India to understand the dimensions of this problem and the measures that are required to address this crime. TRAFFIC is an international wildlife trade monitoring network and a joint program of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the global conservation organization and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). (We met Mr Samir Sinha in 2016 April, when we were in Kumaon together with the group from Rigby Gunmakers, who brought a Corbett legendary .275 rifle for the first and only time since Corbett left India. In 2016 Mr Sinha was the Director of Corbett National Park and he organized for us a memorable visit to the park). 2. Dr. AJT Johnsingh an Indian vertebrate ecologist from Tamil Nadu. Johnsingh's study of the Dhole in Bandipur National Park was ground-breaking in that it was the first study of a free-ranging animal by an Indian scientist. (We are good friends and admirers of AJT Johnsingh's research, and had several of his articles shared on our website). 3. Dr. Rajesh Gopal has been closely associated with ‘Project Tiger’ in India for almost 35 years. As a former member of the Indian Forest Service, he was the Director of several tiger rich reserves in Central India like Kanha and Bandhavgarh for over a decade, while taking many initiatives to protect the tiger, its habitat and prey. We are sure Corbett fans will enjoy the discussion! 2THE THIRD JIM CORBETT RESEARCH PRIZE
Dear Jim Corbett International Research FB discussion group members, Today, July 25th, 2021, let us wish the man who united all of us, Jim Corbett, happy birthday, and express our deep belief that his influence on our world will be growing, for the good of the future of our world! Jim Corbett International Research Group is pleased to announce the Third Jim Corbett Research Prize. Let us remind our group members, that this prize aims to encourage Corbett fans to take up researching the legacy of Jim Corbett, as a writer, environmentalist, hunter, filmmaker, and humanitarian. Participants can be anyone, excluding the already established researchers of Jim Corbett's legacy with officially published research outcomes (articles or books). Participants and winners of the first competition are also allowed to participate in this competition. We would like to remind to those who are interested to participate, to take research in various directions, for example: (1) Gathering the information in the villages, where Corbett's activity took place (for example, interviewing villagers in the villages where man-eaters claimed victims); (2) A critical study/review of the existing book (books) on Corbett; (3) New research in any Corbett-related direction; If you are an avid Corbett fan, but are shy as you have never researched anything, remember that Jim himself is a great example of a person who did not have any formal training and still became a brilliant writer and naturalist! It is important that participants gradually develop elements of the scholarly style of research and writing, like: (1) State clearly the goal of the research, (2) Review the existing research on the topic, (3) Describe the materials used in the research, (4) Make clear conclusion of your research, (5) Present full reference of the sources (dates of oral interviews or full details of the written sources). The submission can be in any form (like a written article, Google-Earth project, or a film-documentary). Research articles should not exceed 6 pages of written text, including references, with following specifications: Font "Times New Roman", size 12, with 1.5 spaces between lines) Films should not exceed 25 minutes. As we want to encourage research activity, all submitted projects must follow the vigorous research guidelines of the research goals, review of existing literature, and references, stated above. The materials should be submitted to the Jim Corbett International Research Group (by emails: <[email protected]> and <[email protected]> and will be assessed by the members of the Jim Corbett Research Competition Prize Committee, consisting of members of Jim Corbett International Research Group and invited experts. Timelines of the competition: (1) Submission of the article/film - between March 1 and March 21, 2022 (2) Announcement of the winner will happen on April 2022, via the FB of the Jim Corbett International Research Group. Winners and the prize money There can be one, two or three winners, and there will be a small prize as well: 1st prize - 250USD, 2nd prize - 150USD, and 3rd prize 100USD. The success of the first competition raised our hopes that this prize will further encourage Corbett fans to start actively research the legacy of the man they already love cordially! Good luck to everyone who is considering participating in the competition! Signed: Jim Corbett International Research Group members William Ibbotson, or Ibbi, was the closest and dearest friend of Jim Corbett, and the only trusted companion of his hunting expeditions for man-eating tigers and leopards. We are happy to offer for the interested readers the biography of this remarkable man. THE SECOND JIM CORBETT RESEARCH PRIZE
Dear Jim Corbett International Research FB discussion group members, Today, July 25th, 2020, let us wish the man who united all of us, Jim Corbett, happy birthday, and express our deep belief that his influence on our world will be growing, for the good of the future of our world! Jim Corbett International Research Group is pleased to announce the Second Jim Corbett Research Prize. Let us remind our group members, that this prize aims to encourage Corbett fans to take up researching the legacy of Jim Corbett, as a writer, environmentalist, hunter, filmmaker, and humanitarian. Participants can be anyone, excluding the already established researchers of Jim Corbett's legacy with officially published research outcomes (articles or books). Participants and winners of the first competition are also allowed to participate in thie competition. We would like to remind to those who are interested to participate, to take research in various directions, for example: (1) Gathering the information in the villages, where Corbett's activity took place (for example, interviewing villagers in the villages where man-eaters claimed victims); (2) A critical study/review of the existing book (books) on Corbett; (3) New research in any Corbett-related direction; If you are an avid Corbett fan, but are shy as you have never researched anything, remember that Jim himself is a great example of a person who did not have any formal training and still became a brilliant writer and naturalist! It is important that participants gradually develop elements of the scholarly style of research and writing, like (1) State clearly the goal of the research, (2) Review the existing research on the topic, (3) Describe the materials used in the research, (4) Make clear conclusion of your research, (5) Present full reference of the sources (dates of oral interviews or full details of the written sources). The submission can be in any form (like a written article, Google-Earth project, or a film-documentary). Research articles should not exceed 6 pages of written text, including references, with following specifications: Font "Times New Roman", size 12, with 1.5 spaces between lines) Films should not exceed 25 minutes. As we want to encourage research activity, all submitted projects must follow the vigorous research guidelines of the research goals, review of existing literature, and references, stated above. The materials should be submitted to the Jim Corbett International Research Group (by emails: <[email protected]> and <[email protected]> and will be assessed by the members of the Jim Corbett Research Competition Prize Committee, consisting of members of Jim Corbett International Research Group and invited experts. Timelines of the competition: (1) Submission of the article/film - between March 1 and March 21; (2) Announcement of the winner will happen on April 19th, via the FB of the Jim Corbett International Research Group. Winners and the prize money There can be one, two or three winners, and there will be a small prize as well: 1st prize - 250USD, 2nd prize - 150USD, and 3rd prize 100USD. The success of the first competition raised our hopes that this prize will further encourage Corbett fans to start actively research the legacy of the man they already love cordially! Good luck to everyone who is considering participating in the competition! Signed: Jim Corbett Internations Research Group members Jim Corbett Research Competition Committee received three submissions:
(1) Richard Allen’s Google Earth presentation, based on Champawat story; (2) Shaz Syed’s documentary film “In the Footsteps of Jim Corbett” based again on Champawat story; (3) Vandana Abhade’s research paper on the timelines and the killing date of the Panar man-eating leopard. The Jim Corbett Research Prize Competition Jury consisted of five members, three members from the Jim Corbett International Research Group, and two invited independent members, internationally renowned researchers on Jim Corbett. As one of the five members of the Jury (and a member of Jim Corbett International Research Group) was in direct contact with the authors of all three submissions while they were preparing submissions, he proposed that he was not going to take part in voting. His proposition was accepted, so the Jury verdict below reflects the assessment of four Jury members, two members of Jim Corbett International Research Group and two invited internationally renowned Corbett researchers. The members of Jim Corbett Research Competition Jury agree, that all three submissions were done on a high level, and want to congratulate the authors of these submissions for advancing our understanding of Jim Corbett's legacy. Interestingly, all three submissions were done in different formats, the first one as a Google Earth Presentation, the second one as a film-documentary, and the third one as a more traditional research paper. The Jim Corbett Research Competition Jury members had detailed discussions on each of the presentations, their strong and weak points. Let us introduce all three of them with very brief general comments: RICHARD ALLEN, a Western Australian partly retired expert of the travel agency, nature lover and keen hiker, submitted a Google Earth presentation on the Champawat story. His Google Earth presentation is well done and a pleasure to watch; he clearly has the mastery of the tool. We, the members of the Committee, have no problem with the concept of legitimate investigation being done using the medium of Google Earth: rotating a view of the landscape and calculating distances overland has the potential to be very illuminating, both to support or to undermine a theory. At the same time, we need to remember that Google Earth in itself is just a tool, not a result. If you do not use it to investigate, you are not investigating! In his submission cover letter, Richard himself is honest and insightful about what he has done, and what he has not done: “I do not make any claim for original research as I have merely taken the work of others and presented it in a new and digestible format.” Exactly right. He has –– very skilfully –– made a visual summary of the rival claims (Jim Corbett International Research Group research results versus Quinton Ottley’s research results). He has found nothing new, he has given no argument to tilt the viewer’s support toward one theory or the other. (Whereas we can imagine good work being done using Google Earth could indicate that some claims, about a kill site, or a bungalow, are unrealistic or implausible.). Also, Richard presents many of the locations on his map with question marks: “pool where ravines meet?” “area of rocks?” –– maybe yes, or maybe not! But what are the arguments for or against this place or that? The viewer’s understanding is not advanced. In short, as Richard himself is gracefully the first to admit, this is not research. It is synthesis and packaging. Very skilful and attractive packaging –– and very valuable in order to reach a wider popular audience. The packaging is very important –– but we are judging a research contest. SHAZ SYED, a young Indian professional filmmaker, presented a 17-minute film-documentary mostly based on Champawat man-eater final moments. We all (Jury members) were extremely impressed by the film, and we probably should mention that our Committee included a professional filmmaker. Shaz’s camera work is professional, the pace is lively, the effects are witty, the animation scenes are clever and informative, his presence on-camera and in voice-over is charming, and he does an excellent job with a potentially confusing aspect of his story, which is to explain that he went to Champawat twice. Shaz makes an outstanding ambassador and communicator for Corbett enthusiasts, and that is very valuable. The Jury believes that this film seriously deserves a wider audience and we will try to assist him in reaching a wider audience. The only critique is that the film is based on following the research results of the book “Behind Jim Corbett’s Stories” with a limited element of original research, which was the central aim of the Jim Corbett Research Competition. Members of our group are already discussing a suggestion to support Shaz’s passion for Corbett, creative talent, and high professionalism for the benefit of the Corbett Universe. VANDANA ABHADE, a Bachelor of Science from the University of Mumbai, currently is a homemaker of a family with a husband and two daughters in Mumbai. She submitted a research paper on the timelines of Panar story. Her research paper is elegant, clear, and well-reasoned. Her use of sunset and moonrise tables is ingenious and original, and a real contribution to Corbett studies –– valuable beyond the scope of this paper alone, because Corbett himself so often mentions the state of the moon. This is probably what we need to do as Corbett researchers: to reread other Corbett accounts with a new awareness that his descriptions can be cross-checked with moon tables. She is careful to lay out in detail her accounting for the hours from the time of Corbett getting ready to the time of the kill, rather than just asserting some total time span without explaining her reasoning. We don’t say that she seems always right (particularly the details of timing are sometimes controversial), but she advances a concrete argument and makes specific claims, so important for research results. Likewise, we can debate the notion of the “third quarter” that Corbett uses for the Moon phases. But again, Vandana makes concrete specific claims that are both original and grounded in objective sources: as a result, the submitted project is valuable research with a substance. In other words, she might be wrong in her details, but in the future, any Corbett scholar intending to present a Panar timeline that differs from Vandana’s will have to address her findings and do some serious work to refute her. That seems to us to be the essence of a valuable contribution to the field: she has added a significant and original brick to the structure of Corbett Studies. Final results of the Inaugural 2020 Jim Corbett Research Prize Competition are as follows: First Prize: Vandana Abhade, for the research paper, based on Panar man-eating leopard story Second Prize: Shaz Syed, for the film-documentary “In the Footsteps of Jim Corbett” Third Prize: Richard Allen, for the Google Earth Presentation based on Champawat Story All three winners, apart from the announced earlier Prize Money will receive a hard copy of the book “Behind Jim Corbett’s Stories” Vol 2. We want to congratulate all the winners and thank them for their very valuable input in further study of the legacy of Jim Corbett. 2020 Jim Corbett Research Competition Jury Hello Corbett Fans, On this occasion of the 65th death anniversary of Jim Corbett, we are greatly honoured and privileged to present a gift to you all: The .pdf E-BOOK version of the 2nd Volume of "Behind Jim Corbett's Stories" is finally here and available for FREE DOWNLOAD!!! We sincerely hope you have enjoyed the first volume which was published in 2016, and following our trend of continuous research, this second attempt has been made in a spirit to suit each and every taste of Corbett fans for his stories. This Second Volume of "Behind Jim Corbett's Stories" bring Jim Corbett's stories to life again. It's reading will literally carry you into Corbett's Universe: his hunting grounds, his playing ground as a kid, his relatives and family, his writings, his friends and acquaintances up to his final homestead, in Kenya. Whatever left you craving for more after reading each Corbett book is provided here in this Second Volume: new materials, untold and unpublished writings, new facts and tidbits, unseen photos, new research theories and scholarly explanations and the most recent discoveries of the places described in his hunting narratives, and much more...
We thank you for your patience in waiting for the official release of "Behind Jim Corbett's Stories" - Volume 2. Here you go: Click HERE FOR FREE DOWNLOAD, https://tinyurl.com/r5a5devv and enjoy... Let us all hope that in all our comments and discussions on our FB discussion page we will all try to follow the guiding principles of scholarly arguments and discussions. This is another chapter from forthcoming Vol 2 of "Behind Jim Corbett's Stories." This time it is about the mysterious lights that Jim Corbett and his men saw on April 5, 1929, when they were on their way after the Talla Des man-eating tiger. One of the best known unexplained events that Corbett described in his stories, is an observation of mysterious lights by Corbett and his men when they were on their way to hunt Tala Desh man-eating tigress. So far there has never been an attempt for a scholarly explanation of the event, apart from the brief comment by the author of this chapter, made on “Jim Corbett International Research Group” FB group during 2018. In the text below I give a more detailed scholarly explanation of the event. First of all, we should keep in mind, that by his character Corbett was a born scholar, and this feature of his character was particularly important when he was describing the events he could not explain. We should also keep in mind that during this hunting expedition Corbett was suffering from an abscess that was formed in his head after a hunting incident a few weeks ago. Corbett, according to his own words, was unable to hear in one of his ears, and to see with one of his eyes, and was experiencing a growing pain from the abscess. The possible reason why Corbett decided to go on such a dangerous mission in his physical condition is discussed separately, in a separate chapter of this book. Unlike another mysterious event from his life, the night of horrors at Champawat bungalow, which Corbett never described in detail, Corbett gives a very detailed account what he saw and even what he thought. Even more, only days following seeing of the lights, Corbett published an article on the subject in the local newspaper, and this article got the local population interested (see in the Corbett’s text below). To discuss this issue, let us, first of all, listen to Corbett himself, when and how he saw the mysterious lights. On April 5th, 1929, Corbett was on his way to Kala Agar, when they chose a place to spend a night on the Tanakpur-Chuka path, little past Lower Punagiri Temple. They were on the right side of the Sarda River, with Nepal on the other side of the river. He had several helpers from Nainital (Corbett gives the names of all of them, quite unusual for Corbett stories, possibly because he wrote the text only the days after the event). Here the event itself with Corbett’s description: “Finding a suitable place on which to camp for die night [very dark night] was not easy, but after rejecting several places made dangerous by falling stones we eventually found a narrow shelf where the overhanging rock offered measure of safety. Here we decided to spend the night, and after I had eaten my dinner and while the men were cooking their food with driftwood brought up from the river I undressed and lay down on my camp bed, the only article of camp equipment, excluding a washbasin and a forty-pound tent, that I had brought with me. The day had been hot and we had covered some sixteen miles since detraining at Tanakpur. I was comfortably tired and was enjoying an after-dinner cigarette, when on the hill on the far side of the river I suddenly saw three lights appear. The forests in Nepal are burnt annually, the burning starting in April. Now, on seeing the lights I concluded that the wind blowing down the gorge had fanned to flame the smouldering embers in some dead wood. As I idly watched these fires two more appeared a little above them. Presently the left-hand one of these two new fires moved slowly down the hill and merged into the central one of the original three. I now realized that what I had assumed were fires, were not fires but lights, all of a uniform size of about two feet in diameter, burning steadily without a flicker or trace of smoke. When presently more lights appeared, some to the left and others farther up the hill, an explanation to account for them presented itself. A potentate [a very important man, autocrat] out on shikar had evidently lost some article he valued and had sent men armed with lanterns to search for it. Admittedly a strange explanation, but many strange things happen on the far side of that snow-fed river. My men were as interested in the lights as I was, and as the river below us flowed without a ripple and the night was still, I asked them if they could hear voices or any other sounds — the distance across was about a hundred and fifty yards – but they said they could hear nothing. Speculation as to what was happening on the opposite hill was profitless, and as we were tired out after our strenuous day the camp was soon wrapped in slumber. Once during the night a ghooral sneezed in alarm on the cliff above us, and a little later a leopard called. A long march and a difficult climb lay before us. I had warned my men that we would make an early start, and light was just showing in the east when I was given a cup of hot tea. Breaking camp, when only a few pots and pans had to be put away and a camp bed dismantled, was soon accomplished. As the cook and my Garhwalis streamed off in single file down a goat track into a deep ravine, which in Collier's day had been spanned by an iron bridge, I turned my eyes to the hill on which we had seen the lights. The sun was not far from rising, and distant objects were now clearly visible. From crest to water's edge and from water's edge to crest I scanned every foot of the hill, first with my naked eyes and then with field glasses. Not a sign ol any human being could I see, or, reverting to my first theory was there any smouldering wood, and it only needed a glance to see that the vegetation in this area had not been burnt for a year. The hill was rock from top to bottom, a few stunted trees and bushes growing where roothold had been found in crack or cranny. Where the lights had appeared was a perpendicular rock where no human being, unless suspended from above, could possibly have gone. Nine days later, my mission to the hill people accomplished, I camped for a night at Kaladhunga. For a lover of nature, or for a keen fisherman, there are few places in Kumaon to compete with Kaladhunga. From the bungalow Collier built when extracting the timber Nepal gave India, the land slopes gently down in series of benches to the Sarda River. On these benches, where crops grew in the bygone days, there is now a luxuriant growth of grass. Here sambhar and cheetal are to be seen feeding morning and evening, and in the beautiful forests behind the bungalow live leopards and tigers, and a wealth of bird life including peafowl jungle fowl, and kalega pheasants. In the big pools and runs below the bungalow some of the best fishing in the Sarda River is to be had, either on a spinning rod with plug bait or on a light rod with salmon fly or fly spoon. At crack of dawn next morning we left Kaladhunga, Ganga Ram taking the mountain track to Purnagiri and the rest of us the shorter way through the Sarda gorge. Ganga Ram's mission — which would entail an additional ten-miles walk — was to present our thank-offerings to the sacred Purnagiri shrine. Before he left me I instructed him to find out all he could, from the priests who served the shrine, about the lights we had seen when on our way up to Talla Des. When he rejoined me that evening at Tanakpur he gave me the following information, which he had gleaned from the priests and from his own observations. Purnagiri, dedicated to the worship of the Goddess Bhagbatti and visited each year by tens of thousands of pilgrims, is accessible by two tracks. These, one from Baramdeo and the other from Kaladhunga, meet on the northern face of the mountain a short distance below the crest. At the junction of the tracks is situated the less sacred of the two Purnagiri shrines. The more sacred shrine is higher up and to the left. This holy of holies can only be reached by going along a narrow crack, or fault, running across the face of a more or less perpendicular rock cliff! Nervous people, children, and the aged are carried across the cliff in a basket slung on the back of a human. Only those whom the Goddess favours are able to reach the upper shrine; the others are struck blind and have to make their offerings at the lower shrine. Puja (prayer) at the upper shrine starts at sunrise and ends at midday. After this hour no one is permitted to pass the lower shrine. Near the upper and more sacred shrine is a pinnacle of rock a hundred feet high, the climbing of which is forbidden by the Goddess. In the days of long ago a sadhu, more ambitious than his fellows, climbed the pinnacle with the object of putting himself on an equality with the Goddess. Incensed at his disregard of her orders, the Goddess hurled the sadhu from the pinnacle to the hill on the far side of the snow-fed river. It is this sadhu who, banished forever from Purnagiri, worships the Goddess two thousand feet above him by lighting lamps to her. These votive lights only appear at certain times (we saw them on 5 April) and are only visible to favoured people. This favour was accorded to me and to the men with me, because I was on a mission to the hill folk over whom the Goddess watches. That in brief was the information regarding the light which Ganga Ram brought back from Purnagiri and imparted to me while we were waiting for our train at Tanakpur. Some weeks later I received a visit from the Rawal (High Priest) of Purnagiri. He had come to see me about an article I had published in a local paper on the subject of the Purnagiri lights, and to congratulate me on being the only European ever to have been privileged to see them. In my article I gave the explanation for the lights as I have given it in these pages, and I added that if my readers were unable to accept this explanation and desired to find one for themselves, they should bear the following points in mind:
The following year I was fishing the Sarda with Sir Malcolm (now Lord) Hailey who was Governor of the United Provinces at the time. Sir Malcolm had seen my article and as we approached the gorge he asked me to point out the spot where I had seen the lights. We had four dhimas (fishermen) with us who were piloting the sarnis (inflated skins) on which we were floating down the river from one fishing stand to the next. These men were part of a gang of twenty engaged by a contractor in floating pine sleepers from the high-level forests in Kumaon and Nepal to the boom at Raramdeo. This was a long, difficult, and very dangerous task, calling for great courage and a thorough knowledge of the river and its many hazards. Below the shelf blasted out of the cliff by Collier, on which my men and I had spent the night when on our way up to Talla Des, was a narrow sandy beach. Here the dhimas at my request brought the sarnis to the bank, and we went ashore. After I had pointed out where the lights had appeared, and traced their movements on the hill, Sir Malcolm said the dhimas could possibly provide an explanation, or at least throw some light on the subject. So he turned to them — he knew the correct approach to make to an Indian when seeking information and could speak the language perfectly — and elicited the following information. Their homes were in the Kangra Valley where they had some cultivation, but not sufficient to support them. They earned their living by floating sleepers down the Sarda River for Thakur Dan Singh Bist. They knew every foot of the river as far down as Baramdeo, for they had been up and down it countless times. They knew this parti of Jar gorge very well, for there were backwaters in it that hung up the sleepers and gave them a great deal of trouble. They had never seen anything unusual in this part of the river in the way of lights, or anything else. As he turned away from the dhimas I asked Sir Malcolm to put one more question to them. Had they in all the years they had been working on the Sarda ever spent a night in the gorge? Their answer to this question was a very emphatic No! Questioned further they said that not only had they never spent a night in the gorge but that they had never heard of anyone else ever having done so. The reason they gave for this was that the gorge was haunted by evil spirits. Two thousand feet above us a narrow crack, worn smooth by the naked feet of generations upon generations of devotees, ran for fifty yards across a perpendicular rock cliff where there was no handhold of any kind. In spite of the precautions taken by the priests to safeguard the lives of pilgrims, casualties while negotiating that crack were heavy until H. H. The Maharaja of Mysore provided funds a few years ago for a steel cable to be stretched across the face of the cliff, from the lower shrine to the upper. So there well might be spirits at the foot of that cliff but not, I think, evil ones.” = = = = = = = = In order to try to propose a scholarly explanation of what Corbett and his men saw on the evening of April 5th 1929, let us first check the list of features how Corbett himself characterizes the lights one more time: (1) The lights did not appear simultaneously, (2) They were of a uniform size (about two feet in diameter), (3) They were not affected by wind, (4) They were able to move from one spot to another, We can also add a few other points that we can clearly deduce from the text: (5) Lights were first seen on a mountain side; (6) Lights stayed there, above Corbett and his men; (7) Lights were able to merge with each other, (8) They were burning without any flicker or any trace of smoke, (9) Corbett does no mention the maximum number of the lights but there were at least more than five of them. (10) Corbett does not mention for how long they were watching lights, but we know they decided to sleep quite soon, while lights were still there, so the lights were there more than a few minutes, possible for a half an hour or more. Suggested explanation – “Ball Lightning” From searching the available information on various natural phenomena, the author of the chapter came to the conclusion that Corbett and his men most likely witnessed a very interesting natural phenomenon, known as a “ball lightning.” Ball lightning was not a subect of scholarly study until the 1960s. Today there are plenty of scholarly publications on the phenomenon of ball lightning, and although it has been seen many times, there is no accepted explanation of the phenomenon. Apart from scholarly articles, there is also a special report from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA, USA Governmental body). This document is known as “Nasa Technical Note: NASA TN D-3188. Initially a classified document, it is now freely available on the Internet (details see below in references: Rayle, 1966). We can summarise the various scholarly articles on the subject of ball lightning by following points: (1) The term “ball lightning” refers to reports of luminous, spherical objects that vary from pea-sized to several meters in diameter; Most usual size is over 12 inches in diameter; (2) Ball lightning is an unexplained and potentially dangerous atmospheric electrical phenomenon; (3) Some early reports claim that the ball eventually explodes, sometimes with fatal consequences, although in most reports they cause no disturbances whatsoever; (4) After disappearing, they usually leave behind the odor of sulfur; (5) Though usually associated with thunderstorms, the phenomenon lasts considerably longer than the split-second flash of a lightning bolt, and can occur in perfectly still weather and can last for dozens of minutes; (6) Until the 1960s, most scientists treated reports of ball lightning skeptically, despite the fact that numerous accounts were available from around the world from the early centuries; (7) Laboratory experiments can produce effects that are visually similar to reports of ball lightning, although it is not known how they relate to the natural phenomenon; (8) The first ever optical spectrum of what appears to have been a ball-lightning event was published in January 2014, and included a video at high frame-rate; (9) Scientists have proposed many hypotheses about ball lightning over the centuries. Scientific data on natural ball-lightning remains scarce, owing to its infrequency and unpredictability. (10) Owing to inconsistencies and to the lack of reliable data, the true nature of ball lightning remains unknown. (11) In regards to the frequency of occurrence, according to a 1960 study, 5% of the population of the Earth reported having witnessed ball lightning. Another similar study analyzed reports of 10,000 cases. (12) Almost universally the cases of ball lightning are traditionally considered to be connected to supernatural forces. There are a large number of famous cases of seeing ball lightning troughout recorded human history. To read about the cases of ball lightning, readers can see the above mentioned NASA article, or a book dedicated to ball lightning (Singer, 1971). Understandably, more violent ones attracted more attention. Ball lightning found the way even in the popular music scene. The popular rock band “Foo Fighters” name came out of Pilots in the World War II describing an unusual phenomenon most likely related to ball lightning: the pilots saw small balls of light moving in strange trajectories and these balls of light were referred to as “foo fighters.” All the existing scholarly reviews note that the descriptions of ball lightning vary widely. It has been described as moving up and down, sideways or in unpredictable trajectories, hovering and moving with or against the wind; attracted to, unaffected by, or repelled from buildings, people, cars and other objects. Some accounts describe it as moving through solid masses of wood or metal without effect, while others describe it as destructive and melting or burning those substances. Its appearance has also been noted on the altitudes of 1,000 feet (300 m) and higher; during thunderstorms and a perfectly calm weather. Ball lightning has been described mostly as transparent, evenly lit, radiating round ball-like object; Although it mostly appears as a single ball, instances of the appearance of several balls had also been recorded; The ball lightning can last from a few seconds to more than a half hour; Their appearance and disappearance, as a rule, happens without any sound, although there had been cases of loud explosions; In most cases, it causes no damage or destruction, although there had been some distractions as well, from minor to quite catastrophic, causing distractions to buildings and fatalities among humans. A review of the available literature published in 1972 identified the following properties of a "typical" ball lightning: Ø They frequently appear almost simultaneously with cloud-to-ground lightning discharge. Ø They are generally spherical or pear-shaped with fuzzy edges. Ø Their diameters range from 1–100 centimetres (0.4–40 in), most commonly 10–20 cm (3.9–7.9 in). Ø Their brightness corresponds to roughly that of a domestic lamp, so they can be seen clearly in daylight. Ø A wide range of colours has been observed, red, orange, and yellow being the most common. Ø The lifetime of each event is from 1 second to over a minute with the brightness remaining fairly constant during that time. In rare cases they can last up to half an hour or possibly more. Ø They tend to move, most often in a horizontal direction at a few metres per second, but may also move vertically, remain stationary or wander erratically. Ø Many are described as having rotational motion. Ø It is rare that observers report the sensation of heat, although in some cases the disappearance of the ball is accompanied by the liberation of heat. Ø Some display an affinity for metal objects and may move along conductors such as wires or metal fences. Ø Some appear within buildings passing through closed doors and windows. Ø Some have appeared within metal aircraft and have entered and left without causing damage. Ø The disappearance of a ball is generally rapid and may be either silent or explosive. Ø Odors resembling ozone, burning sulfur, or nitrogen oxides are often reported. There is a great number of traditional and/or religious explanation for the appearance of ball lightning, from representing wandering spirits of the dead, and the work of the devil to the pranks of fairies. They are feared in some cultures as a portent of death, or seen as the positive forces. There are also folk beliefs that supernatural fires appear where a treasure is buried; According to concluding remarks of the NASA article (pg 19-20), Ø The frequency of the occurrence of ball lightning is much greater than is commonly believed. It might even approach the order of magnitude of the frequency of lightning strokes to the ground; Ø There is little indication that ball lightning commonly involves large quantities of energy. Very bright, noisy or destructive occurrences were few. A mechanism for ball lightning need not account for megajoule energies to be satisfactory for the vast majority of cases; Ø Ball lightning commonly does not change in appearance during its existence. This fact makes it very difficult to propose a mechanism involving the dissipation of stored energy and tends to support a process involving a continuous energy supply from an external source; Ø Short duration events were more likely to end with a bang; they were also more likely to be connected with a lightning stroke to ground. Ø Among the 112 descriptions, two groups of 12 each were found which appeared to describe two different types of events, Group A and Group B: Ø Group A description: the ball lightning observations generally followed a lightning stroke to ground, and were reported to be seen in daytime. Balls were larger then 15 inches, and they approach ground within a foot; Ø Group B description: lightning ball originates without lightning strokes and without accompanying bad weather. The ball is first seen in midair, does not approach the ground, and remains in midair throughout its life. The ball/balls were larger than 15 inches, less bright, and they disappear quietly. The lights seen by Corbett and his men coincides with the description of ball lightning from the Group B, but only if we assume that the lights were moving in the air, not in close proximity of the mountain on the Nepalese side of River Sarda. Is this possible? Corbett said the lights appeared on the hillside, but by the time of their appearance it was probably quite dark and would be difficult to estimate their closeness to the mountain slope. Seeing lights higher on the Nepalese side, Corbett naturally assumed they were close to the mountainside. As we remember, Corbett’s both possible explanations for the lights were placing lights on the ground (1 - burning of forest, and 2 – humans searching something on the ground). Another unusual feature is a large number of balls seen by Corbett and his men, and their unusually long existence, although the appearance of several lightning balls has been also documented in a number of cases, and very long existence of ball lightning has also been recorded. Another interesting feature of the lights seen by Corbett and his men is the confirmed cases of seeing the lights by other witnesses on other occasions. Corbett does not mention the exact locations and the frequency of such events, so this detail will be impossible to discuss. Another interesting element would be to evaluate if there are any other factors that cause the appearance of ball lightning in the vicinity of Purnagiri, Temple, for example, (1) the presence of high rock pinnacle at the higher Purnagiri Temple, or (2) the possible presence of metal objects at the High Purnagiri Temple, or (3) more remotely, the possible presence of iron deposits on the Nepalese side of the River Sarda in the vicinity of the Purnagiri Temple. Whatever is the true explanation, the appearance of lights in close proximity of Purnagiri Temple is one of the fascinating topics for Corbett researchers. In this chapter the author reached the conclusion on the evening of April 5, 1929, Corbett and his men most likely saw the natural phenomenon, known as “ball lightning,” and more precisely, using the classification given in the NASA article, they saw the ball lightning from group B. This chapter is the first (and so far the only) scholarly explanation of the mysterious Purnagiri lights that Corbett saw on his way to hunting expedition for the Tala Desh men eating tiger in 1929. The author hopes this chapter will provoke further research of this fascinating event. For example, discussions with the current Purnagiri priests might provide some new interesting facts. References: Corbett, Jim. (1954) Temple Tiger and More Man-Eaters of Kumaon. OUP Singer, Stanley. (1971) The Nature of Ball Lightning. Springer, Boston, MA Rayle, Warren D. (1966) Ball Lightning Characteristics. Lewis Research Center Cleveland, Ohio. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Washington, D.C. The full text of the NASA research article in pdf format can be found here: <https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19660006027.pdf> |