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Hessdalen Valley

62°47′N, 11°11′E — Holtålen, Sør-Trøndelag, Norway — narrow north–south valley at ~750 m elevation

What's documented

Hessdalen is a valley in Holtålen Municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, central Norway. Roughly 15 km long, with a population in the low hundreds. Beginning in 1981 and especially through the mid-1980s, residents and visitors reported recurring luminous phenomena in the night sky over the valley. Project Hessdalen, an academic research effort under Østfold University College, has operated automated observation instruments in the valley since 1998 and continues to publish data on the recorded phenomena.

Public-record imagery

Hessdalen valley with abandoned farms, winter 1953.
Hessdalen valley with abandoned farms, winter 1953.Wikipedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Riksarkivet / Billedbladet NÅ · 1953
Hessdalen, 1953 — a fjellgrend (mountain settlement) of abandoned farms photographed by Billedbladet NÅ. The valley has been depopulated since the mid-20th century; today, scientists outnumber residents during monitoring campaigns.
Hessdalen, 1953 — a fjellgrend (mountain settlement) of abandoned farms photographed by Billedbladet NÅ. The valley has been depopulated since the mid-20th century; today, scientists outnumber residents during monitoring campaigns.Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Unknown authorUnknown author · 1953
Another archival view of Hessdalen. The Project Hessdalen automated monitoring station, established by Erling Strand in 1998, still records anomalous luminous phenomena multiple times per year.
Another archival view of Hessdalen. The Project Hessdalen automated monitoring station, established by Erling Strand in 1998, still records anomalous luminous phenomena multiple times per year.Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Unknown authorUnknown author · 1953
Hessdalen valley. The peak-activity period — December 1981 through summer 1984 — drew Norwegian Defense Research Establishment investigators who logged dozens of luminous events firsthand.
Hessdalen valley. The peak-activity period — December 1981 through summer 1984 — drew Norwegian Defense Research Establishment investigators who logged dozens of luminous events firsthand.Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Unknown authorUnknown author · 1953