Spook Lights

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Spook Lights

Below is some research I have put together to help better understand ghost lights, spook lights, and earthquake lights. I have had quite a huge interest in the phenomena and hopefully the information I have put together is helpful and insightful. From this stage now on I will refere to them as spook lights.

History

Spook lights have been recorded in various places throughout Earth's history. They have been the stem of fokelore around the world, often associated with dragons, fairies (Ireland), UFO's, gods (Asia), and the paranormal (American). They were often called will-o-wisp (will-o meaning Will Of, and wisp meaning a bunch of sticks used as a torch). It wasn't until the 1950's that the western cultures began calling them 'ghost lights' or 'spook lights'. Michael A. Persinger and Ghislaine F. Lafreniere began studying these lights and coined the term Tetonic Strain Theory in 1975. This theory was based on how different favourable geographic varriables may account for numerous paranormal and UFO based sightings.

Persinger has also come to public attention due to his 1975 Tectonic Strain Theory (TST) of how geophysical variables may correlate with sightings of unidentified flying objects (UFOs). Persinger argued that strain within the earth's crust near seismic faults produces intense electromagnetic (EM) fields, creating bodies of light that some interpret as glowing UFOs. Alternatively, he argued that the EM fields generate hallucinations in the temporal lobe, based on images from popular culture, of alien craft, beings, communications, or creatures.

Tetonic Strain Theory

What are Spook Lights?

There are many theories as to what causes these lights to occur. In Ireland they are considered fairies, in Asian cultures they are revered as gods. Many Americans have concluded them to be associated with paranormal or UFO activity. Modern science have contributed them to be a combination of hydrogen phosphide and methane which can appear as glowing light. They are almost always viewed at night, although there are photographs of them appearing at dusk and dawn and even in broad day light.

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Port Perry,Ontario, Canada - Ghost Road.

Another theory is produced that they are the natural stresses and strains of the Earth's crust:

It is Michael Persinger who coined the phrase "Anomalous Luminous Phenomena" to avoid having to use the term UFO, with its negative connotations. The Tectonic Strain Theory that he posits with Gyslaine Lafrenière states that ALP are "natural events, generated by stresses and strains within the earth's crust", and goes on to submit that the magnetic disturbances associated with the strains can mar the observational integrity of witnesses to the events. Their work predates Devereux by several years, but Devereux devoted as much work to singling out and identifying the phenomenon as he did in offering possible explanations for the mechanism behind it.

Earth Lights: Spooklights and...

Famous Spook Lights

Each culture seems to have their own various versions of spook lights. I have tried to find an extensive collection of spook lights from around the world for your viewing pleasure.

Paulding Light

The Paulding Light (also called the Lights of Paulding or the Dog Meadow Light) is a Ghost Light that appears outside of Paulding, Michigan near Watersmeet off Highway 45 on Robins Pond Rd.

Cont...

Continued...

Paulding Light:



Bang Fai Phaya Naga (Naga Fireballs)

The Naga fireballs (Thai: บั้งไฟพญานาค, bangfai payanak) are a phenomenon seen in the Mekong river — in Thailand (Nong Khai province and Isan) and in Laos — in which glowing balls rise from depths. The balls are reddish in colour and about the size of an egg; they rise a couple of hundred metres before disappearing. The number of fireballs is variable, being reported at between tens and thousands per night.[1]

Marfa Lights

According to the people who claim to have seen the lights, they may appear at any time of night, typically south of U.S. Route 90 and U.S. Route 67, five to fifteen miles east of Marfa, at unpredictable directions and apparent distances. They can persist from a fraction of a second to several hours. There is evidently no connection between appearances of the Marfa lights and anything else besides nighttime hours. They appear in all seasons of the year and in any weather, seemingly uninfluenced by such factors. They sometimes have been observed during late dusk and early dawn, when the landscape is dimly illuminated.

Random other videos:


(PS: We Canadians don't speak like that... I don't know why she is!)

UFO Hunters even did a small webisode on the topic:


Famous Spots

Here are some of the worlds most famous spots to spot these spook lights:

Anson Lights -- Abilene, Texas
Bragg Road/Big Thicket/Saratoga Ghost Light -- Between Saratoga and Bragg, Texas
Brown Mountain Lights -- Brown Mountain, North Carolina
Belfast Light -- Belfast, Virginia
Bingham Light -- Dillon, South Carolina
Chapel Hill Light -- Chapel Hill, Tennessee
The Cohoke Light -- West Point, Virginia
Codgell Spooklight -- Codgell, Georgia
Crossett Light -- Crossett, Arkansas
Dover Lights -- Dover, Arkansas
Gurdon Ghost Light -- Gurdon, Arkansas
Haldeman Light -- Haldeman, Kentucky
Hansell Road -- Bucks County, Pennsylvania
Hornet/Joplin/Seneca Ghost Light -- Missouri/Oklahoma Border
The Maco Light -- Wilmington, North Carolina
Marfa Lights -- Marfa, Texas
Ontario Lights -- Ontario, Canada
Oxford Light -- Oxford, Ohio
Paulding Light -- Watersmeet, Michigan
Scugog Island -- Ontario, Canada
Senath Light -- Arbyrd, Missouri
St.Louis Light -- St.Louis, Saskatchewan, Canada
Surrency Spooklight -- Surrency, Georgia
Locations

Whether you believe that spook lights are a natural occurance forming due to a mixture of gasses or some sort of paranormal unknown, they are a still a beautiful sight to see. I myself have travelled up to Port Perry in Ontario, Canada to a small road called Ghost Road. Legend has it that a motorcyclist was travelling along the road when he hit a rock and got decapitated. Every night, mostly between the hours of 11pm and 4am, accounts of a strange light has been videotaped and photographed. It is said to come down the road (that runs East to West) as a white light and then instantly turn red as if it were a motorcycle doing a really fast U-turn (without actually turning). I have seen this phenomena which has lead me to this fascination with spook lights.

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Marfa Lights

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Jolin Hornet Ghost Light

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Jolin Hornet Ghost Light

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reply to post by beauty from pain


Hey ive seen them before in my hometown my hometowns haunted anyway so i guess its common there

Great post

reply to post by Zeplin100


Where do you live if you don't mind me asking?

Awesome thread. S&F for you.

I live not too far from the Joplin Spook Light and have plans to check it out. I'm not sure when just yet, but it's on my to do list.

reply to post by mrwupy


Sounds awesome! Port Perry Ghost road is only about an hour and a half drive from where I live. We've made the trek about 10 times in two years. The street is packed with paranormal investigation teams, curious people, and kids just looking for a good time.

Yes, and what about the famous 'Min Min' lights in south west Queensland in Australia.

en.wikipedia.org...

Same deal. Been seen by 100s of people. Sometimes they even follow cars.


[edit on 9-8-2009 by swinggal]

reply to post by swinggal


I recently just heard about the Min Min Lights and am currently researching much about them. Thank you!

Really cool thread. S&F. Perfect way to spend some time on a rainy Sunday afternoon. I love these spook lights! They're creepy enough on video, and I imagine in real life they are sort of frightening.

When they are close to the ground, as the ones in the Poulding Lights vid, it would be cool to get on an all terrain vehicle and try to chase them down!

But I guess it would be like chasing a rainbow.

reply to post by ladyinwaiting


Many people have tried and have been unsucessful. The one up in Port Perry's Ghost Road is one that tends to disappear when people try to chase them. Once the light appears people tend to gun their car or run on foot to try to get a better glance of them but have never been able to get close enough.

I remember these, been a while since I actually seen them on the web. A team that I was a apart attempted to recreate these Spook lights as you call them. And we tried Chinese Lanterns, but the effects turned out different. We then attempted sparklers, but that didn't come close..lol.. We had enough money to hire a Flare guy, because detonbating Flares in the forest is illegal here in Louisiana. And he burned his face, becaus eit got to close, he's alright now. But it just seemed to diffuclt and to strong of a task to take up to make them work. So we just decided that they were either a natural phenomena, an unkown bug, or a paranormal event. Someone told me once that they were fairies, but I am not really sure. Its interesting to think about.

Star and Flag.

Probably one of the best Paranormal Threads, I have seen in a while

reply to post by TheMythLives


Many thanks for your response. There is a true mystery about these lights that draw me in. We attempted to recreate the lights up at Ghost Road by having a car down at the end of the field (roughly 2 or 3 miles away) and turn the car lights on. You could clearly and distinctly see two car headlights. The strangest part of the Ghost road is that often times the phantom lights sway back and forth almost like it's swinging on a pendulem. It's so strange to see.

Some more spook lights:

reply to post by beauty from pain


ill give you a hint its a famous civil war town thats all iam going to say

Thanks for taking an intrest

Originally posted by Zeplin100
reply to post by beauty from pain

 

ill give you a hint its a famous civil war town thats all iam going to say

Thanks for taking an intrest

Good enough

So I'm pretty much just trying to gather information to see what you people think these lights are. Has anybody been out to see these lights in their area?

Originally posted by beauty from pain
Marfa Lights

According to the people who claim to have seen the lights, they may appear at any time of night, typically south of U.S. Route 90 and U.S. Route 67, five to fifteen miles east of Marfa, at unpredictable directions and apparent distances. They can persist from a fraction of a second to several hours. There is evidently no connection between appearances of the Marfa lights and anything else besides nighttime hours. They appear in all seasons of the year and in any weather, seemingly uninfluenced by such factors. They sometimes have been observed during late dusk and early dawn, when the landscape is dimly illuminated.

That description of the Marfa lights is contradictory to this report which shows clear patterns regarding the timing of the lights, direction and frequency.

The Marfa lights are automobile headlights as demonstrated in the below informative analysis:

www.spsnational.org...

Does that explain what the cars are doing out there where there are no roads? Or why those cars appear to fly? Maybe those cars back in the 1800's didn't need roads.
Skepticism is critical thought, not the lack of thought.
Sure, there are natural explanations for most phenomena. That doesn't make them any less wondrous.
CPW

www.ThorntonAusten.com...

reply to post by Arbitrageur


My great grandfather was a Texas Ranger before cars existed. He patrolled from Presidio, Texas to Brownsville on horseback. He wrote about the lights in the 1800's. I graduated from Sul Ross in Alpine and the lights are not head lights from cars. I have watched them at least 100 times and these "head lights" change colors from yellow to green to red to blue and white. I am no expert in this field but I know what I have seen and there were no headlights capable of making the movements that these lights make. During WWII there was an army airforce training base that they had to close because the lights would form lines and pilots would land far from the runways.

reply to post by Monteriano


Thanks for sharing that! That is an interesting story, certainly helps strengthen the theory that it isn't just car headlights.