Dolores Novitski age 13, of Rochester, NY  

What is the will‑o'‑the‑wisp‑?

Will‑of‑the‑wisp, alias Jack‑olantern is a ghostly glimmer of light which tends to float over boggy marshland in the gloaming of warm summer evenings  Some say the eerie candle may come from a swarm of glowing insects, somewhat like fireflies  Some say it cornea from certain phosphorescent bacteria which set up housekeeping in damp, decaying logs  These fellows, with their built‑in lamps, could well be carried aloft on bubbles of warm gases rising up from the bog 

Many gases, such as methane or marsh gas, tend to rise from a bog and some of them also may glow with pale light, Science is not yet sure which of these suggestions is true and it may be that several different things can cause the ghostly glow over the marsh.