Some say the Cherokee spirits and Catawba braves made the lights to search the valley for maiden lovers. It seems that the two tribes had a big battle hundreds of years ago, in which nearly all of the men of the two tribes were killed. Apparently this legend has some basis in fact, because at least a half a dozen Native American graves have been found in the area.
According to some local residents, the lights first began to be sighted on a regular basis sometime in 1916. At the time it was thought that the mystery lights might have been caused by the headlights on locomotives or cars running through a nearby valley. However, during the spring of that year, all bridges were knocked out by a flood and the roads became too muddy for cars to travel—yet the Brown Mountain lights were seen in greater number than before.
Some who have witnessed the phenomena believe that the lights are intelligently controlled. They say that they have seen them butting into each other and bouncing like big basketballs. Certain observers swear that they have tracked the lights at speeds of almost 100 miles per hour. On one Saturday night in 1959, according to some area residents, more than 5,000 persons turned out to see the lights.
Silver Cliff Ghost Lights
In the little town of Silver Cliff, Colorado, ghost lights have plagued the local cemetery since 1880. Silver Cliff is itself almost a ghost town: In 1880 it had a population of 5,087; by the 1950s it had only 217 inhabitants.
Local folklore has it that the lights were first seen in 1880 by a group of miners passing by the cemetery. When they saw the flickering blue lights over the gravestones, they left in a hurry. Since then, the lights have been observed by generations of tourists and residents of Custer County. Many of these witnesses have noted that the curious blue lights cannot be seen as clearly on the sandstone markers. This convinced several spectators that the lights were only a reflection of houselights in the valley.
There was night dedicated to proving this theory wrong. A night when everyone in Silver Cliff and nearby Westcliff shut off their lights. Even the street lights were turned off, but the graveyard lights still appeared.
Old-timers and younger theorists have come up with many suggestions. Some believe that the lights are reflections from the stars. Yet the lights are just as clear on a starless, moonless night. Others theorize that they are caused by phosphorescing ore and glowing wood. It was suggested that radioactive ores were causing the flickering lights. But Geiger counters were then employed to cover the entire area, and no radioactivity was discovered.
At this point the old-timers simply smile and provide the fitting explanation for any classic ghost story. According to local legend, the cemetery, which is still in use, is the final resting place for many miners who died while digging precious ores. The flickering lights of the graveyard resemble the little lights worn on the miners' caps, and the ghostly lights belong to the restless souls of the miners, who still search for the gold they never found.
The Hornet Spooklight
A far more notorious ghost light is located in the tri-state area of Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma. Called the Spooksville Triangle, the ghostly light is advertised as a tourist attraction, and brings in countless numbers of the curious. The mysterious light, known variously as "The Hornet Spooklight" or "Seneca Light"(theres about 15 variations due to the size of the area its appearances encompass) to the visitors and inhabitants of the region, it is the Worlds most famous spooklight.
In appearance the ghost light resembles a bright lantern. Often the light dims before the spectators, then slowly fades and disappears. Hundreds of firsthand encounters with the mysterious ghost light are on record. These accounts demonstrate actual experiences with the unknown, sometimes frightening, but always interesting.
During World War II (1939–45) the U.S. Corps of Engineers scoured the entire area, using the latest scientific equipment of the time. For weeks they tested caves, mineral deposits, and highway routes, exhausting every possible explanation for the origin of the mystery lights. They finally left, confounded.
On the Fringe did TWO investigations in season one of this notorious light, and the results can be seen HERE!
The legends vary widely, but the most given is that its the spirit of an early Native American settler carrying a lantern through an ever-recurring foggy night looking for lost children. A google search will provide you with a TON of information.
The Marfa Lights
Perhaps the second most famous spook lights in the United States are the eerie illuminations that appear in the night sky just east of Marfa, Texas, a small ranching community southeast of El Paso. Settler Robert Ellison, who feared that he was seeing Apache campfires in the distance, first spotted the strange lights in 1883. When he investigated the next day, he could find no ashes where he had seen the lights. Local folklore soon attributed the ghost lights to the spirits of slain warriors seeking peace, the ghosts of murdered settlers, the restless spectre of the Apache chief Alsate, or the quests of lost lovers yearning to be reunited. Some area residents have stories of being guided home to safety by the mysterious lights, while others tell of being terrified by close encounters with the glowing orbs.
Theorists have ascribed the Marfa Lights to natural phenomena, such as ball lightning, electrostatic charges, or gas emissions. Certain scientists have blamed a combination of solar activity and seismic activity that creates a kind of underground lightning that on occasion rises above ground level to be seen as the eerie lights.
All that said, there have been occasions where locals have chased the lights in a jeep across the prairie but could never catch them. They remained perpetually on the horizon.
The Dover Lights
On the Fringe Investigated the Dover Light with STUNNING results in early Spring of 2009. See 'The Dover Lights' HERE!
These lights have been showing up for at least one hundred years, and by local accounts, were spotted long before the invention of the electric light made its way into north-central Arkansas. The lights are located about 12 miles north of the small town of Dover, and are touted as the "spoolight that never disappoints". They appear in a valley that has no electricity, and is all but inaccessible by vehicle. Far from the nearest town, these lights have thrilled locals for years.
The OTF crew was ASTOUNDED at intensity and endurance of the light.
We stand as witnesses. The Dover Lights are THERE. What causes them? We can't speculate.
The legend is that its the spirits of the early spanish explorers still wandering through the box-in canyon searching for their lost gold mine. Others claim its the spirit of and elderly could who perished in a gruesome murder/suicide.
Whatever the cause, these lights certainly did not disappoint!
The Gurdon Light
The town of Gurdon Arkansas has a mystery light which was profiled a few years ago on "Unsolved Mysteries". If you go to the railroad tracks on the outskirts of town at night, then walk about 2 1/2 miles down to where there is a slight slope of the tracks and wait, a ball of yellowish light will almost always appear, hovering over the tracks. The light seems to be about the size of a basketball, and around fifty yards away. If you walk toward it, the light will receed away from you or disappear, sometimes reappearing behind you.
Of course, since its seen on the railroad tracks, the legend goes like so many others...
"The light is the lantern of a unlucky brakeman for the railroad...he's looking for his lost head. He was killed in a freak accident which resulted in the train wheel decapitating him."
*TAKE NOTE* This seems to be a very accesable phenomena to investigate, especially if you find one of the many pages online about it. TAKE HEED...It is absolutely illegal to be on railroad tracks OR in the right-of-way!!! It is a FEDERAL OFFENSE!
The Crossett Light
This legend happens near the town of Crossett, in far southeastern Arkansas. Regionally, its existence is un-questioned. You may as well read the Gurdon Light legend again, because this one is precisely the same. The only difference(a good one for you intrepid legend-seekers)is that the railroad tracks this light originated on are now gone, and have been turned into a road. So you are FREE to go check it out. The only thing you need to watch out for now(as I understand it), are partying teenagers.
Cloverdale, Alabama Spooklight
Somebody email me this legend, in your own words and tell us all where, EXACTLY, to find it. Im finding this story on line, VAGUELY, and this computer box in front of me says I have to buy an EFFIN' BOOK if I want to know the rest of the story. Please, some benevolent Alabaman out there...bestow the TRUTH of the Amazing Cloverdale Spooklight on we poor 'On the Fringe' folk...
-UPDATE-
Wyatt Cox of currently of South Carolina had the inside info on the Cloverdale Earthlights, and graciously has provided us with the information...read on! Thanks Wyatt!!!
The Cloverdale Earthlights are very intersting.
I would be gald provide an article for your website.
Here is the short story: I grew up in Alabama near Cloverdale and heard about these Earthlights from a friend whose mother claimed she saw a large ball of light float across some fields and wooded areas on an almost nightly basis. A friend and I investigated and discovered that what was being seen was most remarkable.
What we found was a "path" where these large Earthlights appeared. These Earthlights are different than those in Marfa, Texas or Brown Mountain, NC. These are actually large balls of pulsating yellowish light. They appear and are in clear view from 1-10 minutes. One particular path is about 1/3/ mile wide and about three miles long.
I make no exageration when I say these balls of light are large. They are typically about six foot in diameter and are bright. They are not some point of light int he distance. They are completely silent and are unaffected by the wind. They appear and float in their path. they move farily slow - we estimate about 20 mph.
The location to the exact field (private property) that is an excellent viewing area is easy to locate. I have permission to use the property. There is a place where a car can park on public property as well. Using a map of the Cloverdale area - travel north on highway 157 to where SR 272 intersects. The Earthlight bascially floats in a east/west direction near the intersection.
I have observed about 180 Earthlights since I learned about their existence. I currently live in South Carolina and make one or two trips a year to Cloverdale to view them. The last sighting I had was in Jan. of this year. I hope to go back some time this month.
Over 95% of my sightings are those which are yellowish in color. They are all about six feet in diameter. We have been close enough to them many times to know this for certainty. A few have been red or blue. The lights do not blink or flicker but they do pulsate.
Some times two are seen at the same time. Some have been seen hover 3-5 feet from the ground and some much higher than the trees. But they do use the same "path."
I'm not sure if you make video documentaries about this type of phenomena or not. If so, I assure you this is a most remarkable Earthlight sighting area that produces large balls of light on an almost routine basis. I am aware of other Earthlight sighting areas but the Cloverdale Earthlights seem to be unique.
Some personal info Employed by the Army (civilian employee with 31 years service) B.A. degree Currently lives in Anderson, South Carolina
