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JustDisGuy · 09-28-2004, 08:04 PM

Kay - here goes for mine.

When I was a young man, there were stories circulating in my area about 'The Ghost Light'. Nobody really seemed to have the same story about the place, but the stories were all about the same place, and they all had common threads.

The area in question was an abandoned section of railroad tracks, back in the boonies off the beaten path. It was a perfect party spot - we'd light big bonfires and tell spooky stories to the girls and get drunk and generally have a good time. Every now and then, for effect seemingly, a 'mysterious light' would appear perhaps a mile to a mile and a half down the tracks from the spot we always lit our fires at.

Well, as I said, it was a fine party spot and being young people we spent lots of time partying, so naturally, we spent lots of time at this particular spot. One night, when there weren't any parties that we knew about and we were bored we decided to go check out the Ghost Light for signs of party goers. It happened that it was a Friday the 13th, and a full moon at the same time. There was a little blurb in the paper that said the Wiccans were all bent out of shape about some cosmic alignment or some such that this sort of thing was really rare and yada yada yada.

Anyway, we drove the 20km or so to the spot, and sadly - no girls, no beer, no nothing. The light was out though, which was common place enough that it wasn't very exciting to watch from so far away. Still bored, we decided to take the truck down the service road that ran beside the tracks. We'd walked short distances down it before, to freak out the girls, but we'd never really gone very far. Well, that night as we drove down the tracks, we got noticeably closer to the light. It seemed like we got maybe half a mile away, and then it kept pace with us travelling away from us as quickly as we approached it. We drove on, and eventually the light blinked out. Finally, after travelling about a mile and a half down this dirt track, we came to a bend. There were trees growing pretty much right up to the far side of the tracks, and the road was getting more overgrown, and we all got the 'heebie-jeebies' at the same time. None of us wanted to go around that corner. So, we turned the truck around and started back. We got about a half mile away from the corner, and sure enough the light re-appeared behind us. It again paced us, all the way back to the main grid.

It was at this point that things got a bit freaky. My 'friend' (he's an asshole, but we've been friends for the last, oh thirty years now...<g>) pulls the truck onto the tracks where they cross the main grid, and parks! Of course, there are four of us in this quarter-ton truck, and two of us (me and another guy) are in the box. So the light, which was already closer to the 'spot' than we'd ever seen it at a half mile away is getting closer. Fast. It's coming, and coming and pretty soon it's a couple of hundred yards away and then 'blink'. Nothing. The light went out. THEN, about 50 FEET away, it's like a huge wooden match being struck - there was the sound, the burn that started at the bottom and expanded into a burning globe - and there were SHADOWS. Hard-edged, halogen lamp against a cardboard cutout arc-welding cast SHADOWS. This thing was burning bright and hard - it was about three feet across, probably 20 feet in the air, and it was distinctly PISSED OFF.

I says to my buddy through the open rear window, in a calm, collected voice, "Tim. Get the fuck out of here.". My buddy doesn't twitch. Louder now, still calm, "Tim. Get the FUCK out of here.". Nothing. "TIM!! GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!!!" He drops the truck in drive, and steps on it. As the truck tires roll off the tracks, the light is just - gone. As though it had never been. I don't know for sure to this day, but I think I saw three forks of purple lightning shoot up into the clear night sky from directly below where the burning ball was, but it could have been some persistence of vision or something.

We didn't go back there for years. When we finally did, we discovered that the tracks had been torn up for scrap metal salvage and the farmers that had purchased the land had fenced it all off to keep the kids out. The track bed is so overgrown now that you can't see thirty feet from where you stand so the light may or may not still come out, but if it does you wouldn't be able to see it.

Most of my friends and family just smile and nod when I tell this story. Fact is, I don't care if they believe me. I know what I saw, and my three friends do too.

09-28-2004, 08:04 PM	#25 (permalink)
JustDisGuy Insane Location: Saskatchewan	Kay - here goes for mine. When I was a young man, there were stories circulating in my area about 'The Ghost Light'. Nobody really seemed to have the same story about the place, but the stories were all about the same place, and they all had common threads. The area in question was an abandoned section of railroad tracks, back in the boonies off the beaten path. It was a perfect party spot - we'd light big bonfires and tell spooky stories to the girls and get drunk and generally have a good time. Every now and then, for effect seemingly, a 'mysterious light' would appear perhaps a mile to a mile and a half down the tracks from the spot we always lit our fires at. Well, as I said, it was a fine party spot and being young people we spent lots of time partying, so naturally, we spent lots of time at this particular spot. One night, when there weren't any parties that we knew about and we were bored we decided to go check out the Ghost Light for signs of party goers. It happened that it was a Friday the 13th, and a full moon at the same time. There was a little blurb in the paper that said the Wiccans were all bent out of shape about some cosmic alignment or some such that this sort of thing was really rare and yada yada yada. Anyway, we drove the 20km or so to the spot, and sadly - no girls, no beer, no nothing. The light was out though, which was common place enough that it wasn't very exciting to watch from so far away. Still bored, we decided to take the truck down the service road that ran beside the tracks. We'd walked short distances down it before, to freak out the girls, but we'd never really gone very far. Well, that night as we drove down the tracks, we got noticeably closer to the light. It seemed like we got maybe half a mile away, and then it kept pace with us travelling away from us as quickly as we approached it. We drove on, and eventually the light blinked out. Finally, after travelling about a mile and a half down this dirt track, we came to a bend. There were trees growing pretty much right up to the far side of the tracks, and the road was getting more overgrown, and we all got the 'heebie-jeebies' at the same time. None of us wanted to go around that corner. So, we turned the truck around and started back. We got about a half mile away from the corner, and sure enough the light re-appeared behind us. It again paced us, all the way back to the main grid. It was at this point that things got a bit freaky. My 'friend' (he's an asshole, but we've been friends for the last, oh thirty years now...<g>) pulls the truck onto the tracks where they cross the main grid, and parks! Of course, there are four of us in this quarter-ton truck, and two of us (me and another guy) are in the box. So the light, which was already closer to the 'spot' than we'd ever seen it at a half mile away is getting closer. Fast. It's coming, and coming and pretty soon it's a couple of hundred yards away and then 'blink'. Nothing. The light went out. THEN, about 50 FEET away, it's like a huge wooden match being struck - there was the sound, the burn that started at the bottom and expanded into a burning globe - and there were SHADOWS. Hard-edged, halogen lamp against a cardboard cutout arc-welding cast SHADOWS. This thing was burning bright and hard - it was about three feet across, probably 20 feet in the air, and it was distinctly PISSED OFF. I says to my buddy through the open rear window, in a calm, collected voice, "Tim. Get the fuck out of here.". My buddy doesn't twitch. Louder now, still calm, "Tim. Get the FUCK out of here.". Nothing. "TIM!! GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!!!" He drops the truck in drive, and steps on it. As the truck tires roll off the tracks, the light is just - gone. As though it had never been. I don't know for sure to this day, but I think I saw three forks of purple lightning shoot up into the clear night sky from directly below where the burning ball was, but it could have been some persistence of vision or something. We didn't go back there for years. When we finally did, we discovered that the tracks had been torn up for scrap metal salvage and the farmers that had purchased the land had fenced it all off to keep the kids out. The track bed is so overgrown now that you can't see thirty feet from where you stand so the light may or may not still come out, but if it does you wouldn't be able to see it. Most of my friends and family just smile and nod when I tell this story. Fact is, I don't care if they believe me. I know what I saw, and my three friends do too. __________________ "Act as if the future of the universe depends on what you do, while laughing at yourself for thinking that your actions make any difference." Last edited by JustDisGuy; 09-28-2004 at 08:08 PM..