A mysterious ghost light haunts Gurdon, Arkansas. Unlike some of the other hauntings, it's a present phenomena and not something that's only been seen in the past. It's been seen on television, photographed by tourists and generally accepted as existing. Whether it's a ghostly marker from beyond the grave or a natural scientific phenomena is up for debate.

The local people tell a legend to explain the light, which is historically accurate. A railroad worker was working outside of the town one night. He accidentally fell into the path of a train and was killed. His head was severed from his body and never found.

Local people say the light is actually the light from his lantern as he walks the tracks searching for his missing head. The death of the railroadman is a documented fact. It is also true that the light appeared shortly after his death. Are the two related? The townspeople say yes.

This light cannot be seen from the highway; it's a two and half mile hike to the place where you can view the mysterious lantern. You will pass by two trestles before it is seen. The spot is marked by a slight incline in the tracks and then a long hill. The light is an eerie white-blue light which sometimes appears orangish. The light sways back and forth and moves around on the horizon. It is frequently seen on the darkest nights and best seen when it is cloudy and overcast. The light never reflects off the tracks and there are no roads or buildings nearby so it isn't a reflection from passing headlights or anything else that is easily explainable. There is also a theory that suggests stress on the quartz crystals underneath Gurdon causes them to emit electricity and produce the light.

As we investigated, we passed bridge number two, and Violet started feeling as if someone or something was following us. Alan took a position in the rear to make sure we were not being followed by locals. We continued to walk slowly toward Sticky Road. Once we had passed the 4^th bridge we stopped to rest and take pictures. The light that we had come to investigate did make an appearance but it was not until we had started back. 

Since Violet had a feeling that we were followed out on the tracks, she and James (who is also psychic) went ahead of the group to see if they could sense anything. Just after crossing bridge number three Violet said via radio that she was having trouble swallowing and that James felt as if he had a rope around his neck. 

The rest of the group caught up with them in a matter of seconds to find them looking into the woods. Violet said she could see an elderly black male and a young black boy in the woods. It was at this time that Alan told them a story that had been told to him by his father. He was raised in the area and had many experiences in the woods and on the tracks around town. This particular story was about finding a black man that had been hung the night before from one of the local bridges. Could this have been his spirit making contact with James and Violet?

We continued back to the cars, and found out later that there is a cemetery located around bridge #3. 

A follow-up investigation of the trestle and cemetery revealed even more fascinating results!

Final Report

Final Report - 2/2007

EVP

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