“From I-44, take exit 4 - HWY 86 South. Follow approx six miles to junction Route BB. Turn right on BB Highway and follow the road until it ends. Turn right again, go one mile, turn left on E50 Road (also known as Spooklight Road). Approx 1 1/2 - 2 miles is the darkest and best place to wait.”
- https://www.joplinmo.org/575/The-Spook-Light
Of interest.
There are other possible physical explanations.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ball_lightning#Direct_measurements_of_natural_ball_lightning
There is one in Pueblo, Colorado too. It’s called the Overton Road Light. Seen it myself several times. Never did find out what it is, but being so close to Ft. Carson, I figure it’s some sort of signaling device.
Rod Sterling lives
1881, eh?
The car headlights were pretty bright back then. (sarc)
***1965 article in Popular Mechanics***
I read that article way back then!
Sounds just like S.E. DC...
Get you kicks or Route 66!
There are three will-o-wisps Im aware of nearby, two of which Ive personally seen. The one I havent is very near one of the ones Ive seen and Im told is “the same one.” The one in the swamp I havent seen is accepted as swamp gas even though it is “the same” as the one that travels up on a nearby ridge with no swamp. The third travels down through a valley and up the hill on the other side, no swamp anywhere nearby. Two and three are supposedly temperature inversion/headlights.
All three existed before headlights. Before modern times one was and ancient evil spirit, another was a lost ghost searching for his family, and the third is alternately a postman or railway worker both of which were killed by indians.
Somewhere along the line I saw some geologists put a large spindle of granite into a machine and crush it. I forget what they called it but it was basically a pneumatic press like engineers might use when stress testing concrete. When the spindle fails under stress it briefly releases what visually appears to be a fireball that is the same as the two Ive seen and is supposedly the same as the third.
The geologists explained that the balls of energy were piezoelectric energy created when the edges of a fault are pressing into each other. I do know that at least two of the three Im speaking of lie over faults.
Many abandoned railroads have phantom headlight sightings