On April 13, 2009 the On the Fringe crew set out to investigate the “Dover Lights”, located NW of Dover, Arkansas. 

There weren’t many reports online to use for data, but the few we found all stated similar circumstances.  You can count on them to show, they are responsive to outside visual stimuli…such as flashlights/headlights shining into the valley, and also audible stimuli, such as a car horn honking or yelling.  Anywhere from one to several lights can be seen winking in and out or in a constant bright state, they move several thousand yards in a few seconds, and sometimes appear to light up like a spotlight shining into the air.

For more on Spooklights, click HERE

On April 13, 2009…The On the Fringe crew experienced this with their own eyes.  And better yet, we believe this may be the most well documented circumstance ever recorded of such a phenomenon.  We were able to record the light on two Hi-8’s in night shot, as well as our production camera…a canon XL2, which does not have night vision capability.  It was caught on 6 tapes. 

The Dover Spooklight

It did everything that the reports stated, save one thing…We unfortunately did not get to see the lights move about.

Following will be a detailed report of what, when and how, but first I want to break down the environment to help rule out possible causes…and believe me, we have tried to rule out everything…we still can’t believe what we saw.

Number one concern:  Human contamination.

Breakdown:  There is no electricity in the canyon the lights are seen in.  Not a single home, RV park, street light…NOTHING.  It is in fact so remote (the actual location the lights seem to originate from), that no one has ever made it back in there to see where they come from.  It is a very steep sided canyon, much of which is bluffs.  The lights of Russellville Arkansas CAN be seen however, but they are 15+ miles far to the Southwest of the canyon.  They could not, because of the nature of this Box-in canyon and their distance from it, contaminate the actual viewing area.

Second concern:  Car Headlight refraction.

Breakdown:  Again, it’s the remoteness of the canyon that utterly prevents this.  There are no roads in the actual viewing area of the lights, and the location of the origination of the lights is 1200 FEET below the valley rim.

Third concern:  Reflection off of the creek of the moon or stars.

Breakdown:  Fortunately for us, these were ruled out by nature.  The entire time we were viewing, there was heavy cloud cover…not a star, or moon, in sight.  Also, we (all four of us), actually saw the light ITSELF reflect off of the creek at one point.

*Note concerning the creek- we also thought of remote campers accessing this inaccessible place by canoe, for it is a river that is designated for float trips.  However, nature again helped us out.  The river was flooded from recent rains, and far above the level that they will actually let people float it.  Trust me…we did our homework on this.  We have pictures in our picture section of the sign stating the water level at which you’re not allowed to float, and also the river gauge showing the water level.

Fourth concern:  Human origination

Breakdown:  We can not rule out humans playing tricks on us…like we said, it would be a two day hike to the location of the lights origination.  However, circumstantial evidence does strongly suggest otherwise.  First, the inaccessibility of the location.  We’ve already went over that.  Second, there are no homes there, it is national forest property.  Third, this light has been reported so long that one witness stated, “My grandmother says the lights appeared long before electricity made it into this area.”  That quote was pointed towards ruling out electric light contamination, but gives somewhat of a time frame.  Explain to me how somebody is ALWAYS down in that inaccessible location to mess with whoever happens to a come-a-courtin’ these lights.  For the last 90 years.  


We were far more inclined to believe it was real, even before we saw them, but as a naturally occurring phenomena, not something paranormal.  We still are leaning that way, however, we cannot explain the fact that it responded to our stimuli.  In all fairness, that could be a HUGE coincidence, but it was right on the money every time.  And according to all reports, it is responsive to every one who happens to see them.

Anyway, On to the report.

We arrived at the location at approximately 9:27 pm.  It was incredibly dark, because of heavy cloud cover.  It rained and misted on us off and on the entire time.  There was a fairly strong breeze from the West, and it was around 40 degrees.

Almost instantly, as we were climbing out of the vehicle, Joe was looking into the canyon and said “THERE IT IS!”

Sure enough, there was a very bright red point of light starting to flicker.  This was the point we saw it reflecting on the water’s surface. 

It was exactly 9:30.

At 9:35 the light became a constant, bright, fixed point.  It became a bright blue, and the reflection was no longer seen on the water.  It remained constant and unwavering for 15 solid minutes.  During this time we were able to get the production camera on a tripod, as well as a Hi-8 in night shot, and actually see it in the cameras, and focus on it.  Keith also had a Hi-8 in hand, and was able to see it.  An interesting note is that all the cameras were able to pick up OTHER lights fading in and out around the fixed light, but we were unable to observe these with naked eye.

At 9:50 the light began to dim and flicker.  It was in and out for 5 minutes, and we decided to introduce stimuli.  I shined my flashlight across the valley, at the furthest point AWAY from it, and slowly panned it towards the light.  The light immediately brightened up, and stayed bright after I turned my light off.

For the next hour the light remained in perfect view, sometimes dimming considerably, and then brightening considerably…but it always remained in view, and in a seemingly fixed position.

Around 10:50 it began to fade from sight again.  We again introduced more stimuli for quite some time, but seemingly to no effect.  We packed up all of our gear, and were going to leave when Keith looked into the valley and saw that it had returned.  We hurriedly took a Hi-8 back out and began to film once more.  For 25 to 30 minute it continued to remain fixed, dimming and brightening, and almost as if a final hurrah, gave us the most interesting observation of the night.  It seemingly shot a beam of light, like that of a spot light, straight up into the clouds.  This was witnessed by Jordan, Joe and I, and we actually saw it shining through the mist and on the bottom of the clouds.  Keith did not see this, because he had the camera trained on me as I was talking about how unreal this all was.  So the beam was not caught on tape.

Our final thoughts are pretty much already covered at the top of this page.  But our analysis is this:  Whatever may be the source of the Dover Light phenomenon, it is REAL.  And yes, we are aware the critics are going to rip this apart.  And they can have at it.  I know what I saw with my own eyes.  And it was the coolest thing I’ve ever witnessed.

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How to Get There

Assuming you're staying in Russelville, Head North on Hwy 7/27 and follow it through the town of Dover, stay on 7/164 for around 12 miles, and look for OLD Hwy 7 to your left.  Turn left, and then look for TREAT ROAD on your right.  Take that road and you'll drive right to the viewing overlook.  Yes, somebody at some point built an overlook.  It will be on your left, and as always, I suggest you scout it in the daylight, because street signs and overlooks are easy to miss at night.

Justin
OTF