The Ghost Light of Paulding Michigan
Actual shot of the mystery light..jpg)
The Paulding Light SignDo you want to see one of the most famous mysteries of our time?
I am talking about a enigma that you can walk right up to, fly above, walk around and still be mystified as to it's origins.
As the sun begins to set in the sky the event readies itself for this spectacular display, that takes place off of US Highway 45, near the town of Paulding Michigan. You want to look for Robins Pond Road,.......the exact viewing coordinates are,.....46 degrees 21'08"N----- 89 degrees 10'43.5"W.
This mystery is reliable in that it occurs nearly every day but remains unpredictable as to the time that it will actually appear.
Well,......what will I see?
A tiny white pin point of light appears low in the valley, (that at one time was an active railroad) then rises, expands and pulses with energy, appearing at times to get larger then smaller,...... and may change in color to glow red or green. You will hear the gasps of the crowd (and believe me,...there most likely will be an assembly) around you when the spooky lights take to the sky. This exciting mystery has remained unexplainable for decades.
What in the world is it?
This is the fun part as it seems everyone has their own theory.
The legend of the phantom lights revolves around the tragic death of a railroad brakeman. On the fateful night that the myth was born, railway cars were at a stand still on the tracks and in an effort to prevent a calamity from occurring, the worker jumped upon the tracks hoping to get the attention of the oncoming engineer. Frantically swinging his lantern, the worker was horribly crushed, while desperately trying to halt the rushing train.
Flash forward to the year 1966 when the documentation of this mystery begins.
While on an outing, a group of local youth spot the flashing and glowing lights while in an area known as Dog Meadow. Bringing the car to a halt, the eerie light illuminated the inside of their vehicle and in a state of amazement they proceeded to watch it light up the electrical lines along the roadway. Understandably upset and concerned, they immediately notified the sheriff and the first official report was filed. Many reports to the authorities would follow suit and the Ghost light of Paulding Michigan was born.
Unable to find any logical explanation for the phenomenon, the whispers in town started to attribute the light to the dead railroad worker, still swinging his lantern for all to see.
There are other legends, insisting that the ghost lights go father back,.....beyond the death of the railroad worker,.....to the turn of the century, where a mail courier's body was discovered in the very vicinity of the ghost lights. The unfortunate victim had been brutally and inscrutably murdered.
We do know that anguish and death can scar a location with bizarre activity for future generations to see,......could this be the explanation?
Recently the show "Fact or Faked:Paranormal Files" (which runs on the SyFy channel) did a show on the mystery of the Paulding Lights. The investigators headed out to the location with a plethora of sophisticated equipment and proceed to test the electromagnetic fields in the area, as power lines are nearby. They then tested the ground and surrounding vicinity for any unusual amounts of methane gas with a combustible gas detector.
Both tests conducted turned out normal. Nothing radioactive is picked up on the first meter and the gas detector measurements remained steady and very low........and thus electromagnetic fields and combustible gas could not be the cause for the ghost light mystery.
On to the next experiment.
The "F" team (Fact or Faked team) then proceed to test headlight shine (a popular theory among the skeptics) from Highway 45. Officers shut down the road in both directions as to create control over the experiment and Jael and Austin drive for quite sometime all the while staying in contact with the observer located at base.
All of the following tests are tried,..............
*The investigators S.O.S. base with the car's headlights,............nothing is seen at base.
*Red hazard lights are turned on and begin to flash,...............nothing red is seen at base,.............however at this very moment,......the white ghost light pops into view. The ghost light starts to grow in intensity, right before the base investigator's eyes.
*While the ghost light is in full view,..... Jael and Austin turn off all car lights to see if it has any effect on the ghost light display. The ghost light is unfazed and remains brilliantly ablaze in the sky.
The determination,..........vehicle headlights in any direction,....could NOT recreate the ghost lights.
Two of the shows investigators take an all terrain vehicle up the hill, to the location of the floating lights and stand in the exact location of the nighttime show. The investigator at base verifies the lights are directly in sight, however the investigators who should be standing directly under the ghost light, can not see it from their view point. (Very, very weird.)
The ghost light clearly viewable by base and appearing on camera,........is not seen at all by the thermal vision camera, known as the FLIR.
On day two, the group takes to the sky in a plane and flies over the entire area with a 25 million candle power spot light, pointed out towards the receiver at base.
Using a laser to guide in the plane to the exact location, the plane was unable to get low enough to hit the mark where the ghost light is seen floating on film. The plane is also traveling at a steady pace to,...... and then away from the exact point, in contrast the ghost light is able to remain stationary for very long periods of time.
Once again,..........the aircraft could not recreate the ghost light mystery.
The light from the aerial spot did not match the mystery light that is regularly observed. Another important point to make here, is the craft was exceedingly noisy and therefor genuinely easy to determine exactly what you are viewing.
The true ghost lights are completely silent.
So,.........if it is NOT methane gas,............ abnormal electromagnetic fields,............ cars,.......or aircraft,.............................then what is it?
Observers have claimed to see the light do strange and amazing things like,............
*Appear right before their eyes,......only to disappear minutes later.
*Show itself as one glowing orb,......then split into two or three different colored lights.
*Start moving towards the witness,.......then as the witness walks towards the mystery light,.......the light starts to move away.
*One witness shot at the light with a gun,........only to have the light completely vanish before the bullet left the chamber.
*On occasion,....the lights appear to be dancing,.....moving with each other and blinking on and off.
*The lights will move very slowly, as in slow motion,........then speed up and zip away.
The Paulding ghost lights remain unexplained to this very day.
So ,....what do you think they are?
Want to see a 1 minute video of the Paulding lights?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBzEs9baq5M&feature=fvwrel
