The aurora borealis has long been associated with the Hollow Earth theory. It first started when Sir Edmund Halley thought it was caused by a luminous atmosphere leaking out of a hollow cavity. In later years some writers suggested that the aurora was caused by a direct light from an Inner Sun shining out of the Earth (like the light Maedler saw saw shining out of Venus).

Scientists have discovered that the aurora is really driven by charged particles from the Sun. These charged particles strike the Earth's polar regions and follow magnetic lines of force up into the arctic. They then strike the Earth's atmosphere and cause the spectacular aurora of the northern and southern polar regions. When seen from space the aurora forms a circular feature which surrounds the arctic. This is the auroral oval. The oval moves north and south as the Earth spins.

It would seem as if we know everything there is to know about the aurora. Think again.

While there is a coupling between solar flares and the subsquent variation in the auroras behaviour, it turns out that this coupling is very loose. In fact, many solar flares are not accompanied by a subsequent increase in auroral activity. There is no strict pattern whereby a solar flare on the Sun is immediately followed by an aurora on the Earth. In fact, there are many subtle conditions which no one has yet explained. Most of the charged particles from the Sun are actually repelled by the Earth's magnetic field. And auroras only tend to occur when the Sun's magnetic field is pointing southwards - no one knows why. Could it be because the charged particles actually need to be moving southwards into a Polar Hole?

The aurora also has a strange pulse to it. Some very interesting experiments were conducted some decades ago by scientists from the University of Alaska. They discovered that there is a perfectly synchronous pulse in the aurora which occurs at opposite ends of the Earth at the same time.

Another problem with the aurora is that particles arriving from the Sun are actually travelling too slowly to create the aurora. In fact, while in the Earth's magnetic field some of these particles are accelerated to many times their original speed! How are they accelerated? Nobody has the faintest idea.

Now let me make a very radical proposal (as if my other thoughts aren't radical enough!). In examining the problems relating to the aurora I have wondered whether the particles creating the aurora actually pass through the Earth by way of the Earth's Van Allen belt. The Van Allen belt is a doughnut-shaped belt of charged particles encircling the Earth. Could it be that these particles, being controlled by the magnetic field, actually pass into the Earth (where an Inner Sun creates the magnetic field) and orbit into and out of a Hollow Earth, thereby speeding up until they have enough energy to create the aurora? They may orbit for days or weeks on end at incredible speeds but will only strike the atmosphere when activity in an Inner Sun bends the magnetic lines of force such that these particles can then strike the atmosphere in the polar regions.

It seems to me as if the vast majority of charged particles which create the aurora do indeed come from the Sun originally (but are accelerated by the Earth itself). There are some particles, like the pulsating aurora for instance, which seem to have a definite earthly origin. All these particles might be accelerated and controlled by a small Inner Sun which is floating at the centre of the Earth thereby causing the aurora.