Wednesday, October 31, 2012
A Hallowe'en UFO Case? The Woodridge Spook Light
A persistent and recurring series of sightings in manitoba is Woodridge Spook Light,
observed
just southeast of the town, and witnessed by many
individuals over the years. The light reached a moderate level of
notoriety in the early 1970s, when news of it reached beyond the district to Winnipeg.
On August 13, 1983, I traveled with some of my
associates to Woodridge, and we waited on a roadway for the
appearance of the light. We were joined by nearly a dozen local
residents. A week earlier, on the 6th, a large group of people, perhaps
twenty in number, were at the Woodridge site to watch for the
lights and
were rewarded for their patience at about 11:45 p.m.
"The wind came up," and the "freight train went
by" at this time, portents of the light's coming, according to tradition. Shortly thereafter, a bright white glow appeared straight
south of their position. The glow seemed to separate into three
pieces, and each chunk "pulsated" slowly. The witnesses' dogs
remained frightened until the end of the display, about a few minutes
later, when the glows faded.
We waited with our posse in the cool night air, and at
11:15 p.m., a white glow appeared somewhere beyond the
railroad crossing, one‑quarter mile distant. The glow appeared
not unlike that of an automobile's headlights shining into the
air as it climbs a hill. In fact, a nearly identical glow was
seen north of our position a few minutes earlier, and it eventually
became the headlights of an approaching car. The local
townspeople point out, however, that the road south ends at the railroad
tracks, where a swamp begins. This swamp is about three miles
deep at this point. The light, therefore, is not a car light,
in their opinion. But a road does exist, running south to
north, ending on the opposite side of the swamp, where it makes a 90‑degree
turn to the east. It is quite possible that cars travelling
on the south side of the swamp shine their lights across the
marsh, to be seen on the north side. This could explain the
glows seen by some witnesses. (Several people with us reported
seeing "ten separate small lights" within the glow. With the
aid of binoculars, we were able to resolve this into the
effects caused by trees in front of the glow.)
It is worth noting here some of the historical
references and traditions of the Woodridge Light. In about 1938, a
local resident reportedly named Emil Wischnicki was at a bar in a hotel
in the area, drinking with his friends. Somehow, as the story
goes, they had a falling‑out, and Emil was left without a ride
home. He began walking down the railroad tracks but soon felt
weary, and collapsed on the tracks. The train came by, and Emil
was decapitated. A few years later, the light was first
seen, most often as a bright glow, but sometimes as a ball of
light floating around the marsh. Tradition says the light is a
lantern held by Emil's ghost as it searches for his head. One person who claims to have seen the Woodridge Light
regularly describes it as a ball, 10 to 12 inches in diameter,
moving silently down the road from the level crossing to
roughly where we were positioned. It is said to disappear suddenly,
without a sound, lending an eerie feeling to its passing. In
about 1975 or 1976, it was seen by one woman as a "blue ball
that hovered on the road." She told us that it was not marsh gas,
because it was much larger and brighter than "will‑o'‑the‑wisp."
There also exist stories about car engines that
wouldn't start when the light appears, and strange noises, like
yells, rumblings, squeakings and hammerings that have been
reported. Most of these have been attributed to the existence of
bats, cougars and woodpeckers in the area.
One persistent rumour is that the light appears about
the time the train goes by, at about 11:45 p.m. daily. Our
observations were at 11:15 p.m., a smidge on the early side, and we
noted that nothing was seen at 11:45 p.m. This was true on the
other occasions when I traveled to the site to watch for
the light.
At least one photograph has been taken of the light
and appeared in an issue of the Steinbach Carillon on October 27,
1971. Also, local townspeople say than an investigating team from
McGill University came to study the light in 1975 or 1976,
though I have been unable to verify this. They were said to have
taken several photographs, of the light not only appearing, but at
one point (so the story goes) perching on the camera itself and
burning the film!
While some of the lights observed are probably car
lights, the appearance of the smaller balls is a mystery. In 1975, local resident Gary Auch was waiting for the light to appear one night, and
happened to look in his read‑view mirror. He was shocked to see it
"sitting on the trunk of the car, moving slowly up and
down." The light was not bright, but coldly illuminated, like day‑glow
paint.
Are "spook lights" related to UFOs? As they are often reported as UFOs and share some of the same characteristics. Or are they a "paranormal" phenomenon (making UFO reports a "normal" phenomenon)?
Labels: Halloween ghost light spook light UFO Manitoba Canada sightings haunting paranormal
# posted by rutkows @ 9:36 AM 
