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Apr 13, 2024
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Patricia J.L. πŸ‘»πŸ§ΆπŸ–ŠοΈ's avatar

The Marfa Lights came up when I was researching this as the most famous example.

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S. L. Linton's avatar

We have a similar story in South Carolina. My mother told me about the Summerville Light. I don't know if the phenomenon is still occurring but I think it first appeared in the 50s and 60s. According to my mother's story, a railway worker on a train leaned out to catch the mail bag as they were going through Summerville, but the hook from which the bag hung caught him around the neck, decapitating him. And, of course, they never found his head. The light is either the worker looking for his head or the worker's wife doing the looking. Supposedly, some drunk sailors once mocked the light and it responded by setting their car on fire, burning them all to death.

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Patricia J.L. πŸ‘»πŸ§ΆπŸ–ŠοΈ's avatar

That is a horrifying way to go in a legend! o.o

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Michael Woudenberg's avatar

I went to Michigan Tech and have seen the Paulding Lights. The car hypothesis seems the most likely as distances at night and the brightness of lights can be confusing.

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Patricia J.L. πŸ‘»πŸ§ΆπŸ–ŠοΈ's avatar

My little sister lives over at that end of the UP and went to check them out one night. She said it was pretty cool to witness.

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Honeygloom's avatar

Some Michigan Tech guys took video with a telescope that shows it’s just cars. It’s still really cool though. And I think they mention that it’s odd that you can see headlights that well at that distance.

https://youtu.be/YKIQ8DpWC_Q?si=uA9hgYv8B4kpYVN-

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Michael Woudenberg's avatar

That's the one I was thinking of.

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Patricia J.L. πŸ‘»πŸ§ΆπŸ–ŠοΈ's avatar

I think that's the nearby college I reference in my post.

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Honeygloom's avatar

It must be! It was a cool video, I’m glad you sent me down that rabbit hole😝

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A.C. Cargill, All-Human Author's avatar

Can't a gal go out with a flashlight to find her car keys that she dropped on her way to the house without anyone make a big spooky legend about it? And no, I didn't find the car keys. Sigh.

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Patricia J.L. πŸ‘»πŸ§ΆπŸ–ŠοΈ's avatar

LMAO! I want to write a story where that happens and becomes a paranormal phenomenon now.

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A.C. Cargill, All-Human Author's avatar

I'm just passing along the favor. Hubby gives me great ideas all the time.

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Patricia J.L. πŸ‘»πŸ§ΆπŸ–ŠοΈ's avatar

You got yourself a good hubby there. =)

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Skyla's avatar

Oohhh, makes me think of a the Brown Mountain Lights!

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Patricia J.L. πŸ‘»πŸ§ΆπŸ–ŠοΈ's avatar

Cool. Mysterious lights seem to be all over. What's the story behind those?

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Skyla's avatar

If I remember correctly there's a few theories. Wendigoon over on YouTube actually made a very interesting documentary on it with interviews!

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Patricia J.L. πŸ‘»πŸ§ΆπŸ–ŠοΈ's avatar

Cool. I go find them and check it out.

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Linda Hartley's avatar

This happens in the UK too. There’s a spot near where I used to live in Lancashire and though they look like lights in the sky they are actually car headlights from the M6 motorway reflecting in clouds.

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Patricia J.L. πŸ‘»πŸ§ΆπŸ–ŠοΈ's avatar

It seems to be a world-wide occurrence. I love the various lore that goes with these lights and even if they end up just being car lights, it's still fun.

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Bill Hiatt's avatar

It's interesting that some part of us wants there to be a supernatural explanation, no matter how rationally we operate in our daily lives. Maybe our subconscious--which is emotional rather than logical--likes the idea.

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Patricia J.L. πŸ‘»πŸ§ΆπŸ–ŠοΈ's avatar

I'm not sure I'd say it's our subconscious that wants that but our conscious mind that often wants that.

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Chris Johnson's avatar

We have a similar thing in my country. Hang tight, and I’ll post about it for you. :)

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Patricia J.L. πŸ‘»πŸ§ΆπŸ–ŠοΈ's avatar

Cool! I can't wait to read about yours.

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C. Lee McKenzie's avatar

Fascinating and spooky. I'd love find out if someone delves into this mystery and turns up a natural phenomenon explanation, or if it remains in the realm of the mystical.

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C. Lee McKenzie's avatar

Fascinating and spooky. I'd love find out if someone delves into this mystery and turns up a natural phenomenon explanation, or if it remains in the realm of the mystical.

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Patricia J.L. πŸ‘»πŸ§ΆπŸ–ŠοΈ's avatar

I think natural phenomenon are just as interesting as the idea of it being ghostly lights or something supernatural.

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C. Lee McKenzie's avatar

Well, you can disregard my message. I guess my comment was posted after all.

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Shey's avatar

β€œYou do NOT want to say the words gas furnace and fireball in the same sentence. Especially when talking about the house you just bought.” Indeed. Priceless, or rather …really fucking expensive.

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Patricia J.L. πŸ‘»πŸ§ΆπŸ–ŠοΈ's avatar

It was pretty expensive, but when we viewed the house, we knew it had an old furnace that we would end up replacing. We just didn't expect to have to replace it ASAP. At least I got a funny story out of it.

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Shey's avatar

Those fun little surprises make the stories of our lives. We recently had an actual shitstorm in our house. By which I mean…you know those chocolate fondue fountains? It was like that, except it was raw sewage spouting from the downstairs shower drain. I’ll still be telling stories about that long after I have forgotten my own name.

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Patricia J.L. πŸ‘»πŸ§ΆπŸ–ŠοΈ's avatar

Oh no. I recently watched an episode of Dirty Jobs where they had to clean a shitstorm up. Excuse me while I go find some wood to knock on in the hopes of keeping that particular disaster at bay in our home.

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Shey's avatar

Anyway, good piece, and I enjoy your sense of humor throughout.

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Patricia J.L. πŸ‘»πŸ§ΆπŸ–ŠοΈ's avatar

Thank you. I'm glad to hear that as I sometimes shy away from adding humor because I'm never sure if people will get my sense of it.

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Shey's avatar

Oh, you’re good!

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