Fifolet
Field Report
The Fifolet is a ghostly phenomenon rooted in Louisiana folklore, described as eerie blue or green lights that float above swamps and bayous, leading travelers astray. Some stories say these lights mark buried pirate treasure or the sites of old murders, tempting the greedy to chase them into quicksand or snake-infested waters. Others believe they’re spirits of the restless dead, wandering eternally and drawing the living toward their doom. Skeptics link Fifolet sightings to natural explanations like marsh gas igniting into will-o’-the-wisps. Yet the Fifolet remains a staple of Cajun ghost tales, embodying deep-seated fears of getting lost in the wilderness and the moral that chasing easy riches can end in ruin. It stands as a glowing reminder of how the swamp itself seems to breathe with mysteries, alive with flickers that blur the line between natural and supernatural.
Classification
Type:Spirit Entity
Location:United States, Louisiana, New Orleans Bayous
Traits:Glowing, orb-like, shifting size, flickering, drifts low
Threat Assessment
Danger Level: 3.2
First Reported: 1800s
Sightings: 2
Reveal Full Dossier
Behavioral Patterns
It floats just above swamp water as a wavering light, drifting aimlessly. When pursued, it flickers and darts deeper into the bayou.
Folklore & Origins
Louisiana swamp stories warn these floating blue lights are spirits luring the greedy into marshes.
Media Documentation
Appears in Louisiana folklore studies and occasionally in local newspaper columns around Mardi Gras when ghost lights are discussed. Pops up in Cajun cultural documentaries. Not treated seriously by broader media.
Hoax Analysis
Fifolet is a figure from Scottish folklore with no recorded modern hoaxes. It remains a part of traditional myth without documented fraud or deception.