Gurdon Light: Difference between revisions
Content deleted Content added
No edit summary Tags: Mobile edit Mobile web edit |
→top: Deleted unverifiable image per discussion on Talk page. Tags: Manual revert Mobile edit Mobile app edit Android app edit |
||
| (44 intermediate revisions by 19 users not shown) | |||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
| ⚫ | The '''Gurdon Light''' is an [[atmospheric ghost light]] located near railroad tracks in a wooded area of [[Gurdon, Arkansas]]. It is the subject of local folklore and has been featured in local media and on ''[[Unsolved Mysteries]]'' and ''[[Mysteries at the Museum]]''. The tracks are no longer in use, and the rails at least partially removed/covered, but it remains one of the most popular [[Halloween]] attractions in the area.<ref name=brown1>Brown, Alan (2002) "Haunted Places in the American South", University Press of Mississippi, {{ISBN|1-57806-477-5}}</ref><ref name=Mcneil1>McNeil W. K, Clements William M. (1992) "An Arkansas Folklore Sourcebook" University of Arkansas Press, {{ISBN|1-55728-254-4}}</ref><ref name=usm1>Unsolved Mysteries: Gurdon Light, NBC (December 1994)</ref> The light has been described as blue, green, white or orange and appearing to have a "bobbing" movement.<ref name="KARK">{{cite web |title=Arkansas Legend: The Gurdon Light |url=https://www.kark.com/about-us-2/arkansas-legend-the-gurdon-light/ |website=kark.com |publisher=[[KARK-TV]] |access-date=2 November 2023}}</ref> |
||
[[File:Gurdon light photo.jpg|thumb|The Gurdon light in 2014]] |
|||
| ⚫ | The '''Gurdon Light''' is |
||
==Folklore== |
==Folklore== |
||
According to folklore, the light is the swinging [[lantern]] of a [[ghost]] brakeman accidentally beheaded by a passing train, searching for his disembodied head. Another variation of the legend holds that the light is a lantern carried by the ghost of a worker killed in a fight with another railroad employee on the tracks.{{CN|date=February 2024}} According to skeptical writer [[Brian Dunning (author)|Brian Dunning]], very similar folklore exists for a number of such "ghost lights", and it's not likely "headless brakemen" could be such a common occurrence.<ref name="Dunning">{{cite web |last1=Dunning |first1=Brian |title=The Marfa Lights: A Real American Mystery |url=https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4038 |website=skeptoid.com |publisher=Skeptoid |access-date=2 November 2023 |quote=A similar phenomenon in Arkansas called the Gurdon Light is said to be the swinging lantern of a brakeman accidentally beheaded by a passing train. Not surprisingly, the exact same explanation is put forth for the Big Thicket Ghost Light in Bragg, Texas. These ghost lights can't all be headless brakemen, so it's conceivable that the folk explanation is not true in every case.}}</ref> |
|||
{{unsourced section|date=April 2022}} |
|||
According to folklore, the light originates from a [[lantern]] of a railroad worker who was killed when he fell into the path of a train. The legend states that the man's head was separated from his body and was never found, and that the light that people see comes from his lantern as he searches for it. In another variation, the light is a lantern carried by railway foreman Will McClain, who was killed in the vicinity during a confrontation with one of his workers, Louis McBride in 1931. McClain believed McBride was the one who removed the spikes from a section of track, causing a freight train to derail, in an attempt to derail the ''[[Sunshine Special]]'' passenger train. Some sources say the confrontation was about how many hours McBride was allowed to work due to the [[Great Depression]]. McBride confessed to the murder and was executed by electrocution. |
|||
==Causes== |
|||
The lights are believed by some to be from passing cars on the highway in the distance (which looks like small floating lights that flash off in the distance).<ref name=brown1/><ref name=Mcneil1/><ref name=usm1/><ref name=tailor1/> |
|||
==Explanations== |
|||
Some believe that it's caused by [[piezoelectricity]] from the constant stress that the area's underground quartz crystals are under. Gurdon sits above large amounts of quartz crystals and the New Madrid fault line.<ref>Unsolved Mysteries, Season 7 episode 10, December 16, 1994</ref> |
|||
The light has been proposed to be the reflection of passing cars on [[Interstate 30]], however believers contend there have been reports of the lights since the 1930s, while the interstate was not built until the late 1950s.<ref name=brown1/><ref name=Mcneil1/><ref name=usm1/> |
|||
== See also == |
== See also == |
||
Latest revision as of 21:12, 30 November 2024
The Gurdon Light is an atmospheric ghost light located near railroad tracks in a wooded area of Gurdon, Arkansas. It is the subject of local folklore and has been featured in local media and on Unsolved Mysteries and Mysteries at the Museum. The tracks are no longer in use, and the rails at least partially removed/covered, but it remains one of the most popular Halloween attractions in the area.[1][2][3] The light has been described as blue, green, white or orange and appearing to have a "bobbing" movement.[4]
Folklore
[edit]According to folklore, the light is the swinging lantern of a ghost brakeman accidentally beheaded by a passing train, searching for his disembodied head. Another variation of the legend holds that the light is a lantern carried by the ghost of a worker killed in a fight with another railroad employee on the tracks.[citation needed] According to skeptical writer Brian Dunning, very similar folklore exists for a number of such "ghost lights", and it's not likely "headless brakemen" could be such a common occurrence.[5]
Explanations
[edit]The light has been proposed to be the reflection of passing cars on Interstate 30, however believers contend there have been reports of the lights since the 1930s, while the interstate was not built until the late 1950s.[1][2][3]
See also
[edit]- Aleya (Ghost light), Bengal
- Aurora
- Brown Mountain Lights
- Chir Batti
- Cohoke Light
- Hessdalen light
- Longdendale lights
- Maco light
- Marfa lights
- Min Min light
- Naga fireball
- Paulding Light
- Will-o'-the-wisp
33°54′55″N 93°09′19″W / 33.91528°N 93.15528°W[6]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Brown, Alan (2002) "Haunted Places in the American South", University Press of Mississippi, ISBN 1-57806-477-5
- ^ a b McNeil W. K, Clements William M. (1992) "An Arkansas Folklore Sourcebook" University of Arkansas Press, ISBN 1-55728-254-4
- ^ a b Unsolved Mysteries: Gurdon Light, NBC (December 1994)
- ^ "Arkansas Legend: The Gurdon Light". kark.com. KARK-TV. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
- ^ Dunning, Brian. "The Marfa Lights: A Real American Mystery". skeptoid.com. Skeptoid. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
A similar phenomenon in Arkansas called the Gurdon Light is said to be the swinging lantern of a brakeman accidentally beheaded by a passing train. Not surprisingly, the exact same explanation is put forth for the Big Thicket Ghost Light in Bragg, Texas. These ghost lights can't all be headless brakemen, so it's conceivable that the folk explanation is not true in every case.
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: City of Gurdon