The Boitatá
In Brazilian folklore, a fiery serpent glides over the fields at night, a living light that guards the land.
What was reported
The boitatá, from Tupi words for 'fire snake', is a figure of Brazilian folklore: a great serpent of fire that moves across fields and marshes at night. In some stories it protects the land from those who set fires; in others, it chases travellers.
The Jesuit José de Anchieta wrote in 1560 of fiery apparitions that Indigenous people called 'baetatá', which they feared and which 'appeared at night'.
Explanations offered
The boitatá is widely thought to be a folk explanation for natural lights seen over marshes and wet ground, such as the will-o'-the-wisp, caused by gases from rotting plants igniting. The legend lives on in festivals and children's stories.
- When
- Recorded since 1560
- Where
- Southern Brazil
- Witnesses
- Rural communities across Brazil
- Status
- Mostly explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.