A Very Unusual Night

The following story was written while I was at WSU then rewritten a couple of years ago as an article in the local newspaper. The story is about a "spook light" in an old farmhouse in Kansas. I witnessed another such phenomenon while going to school in Pittsburg, Kansas. That one is well documented and called The Hornet or Joplin light. If you Goggle "Spook Light", you will pull up many interesting articles and you may, Dear Readers, become a believer.

A Very Unusual Night

If the words "spook light" evoke a "yeah right!" reaction, you probably won't believe what I am about to tell you. If, on the other hand, you have an open mind, then maybe you WILL believe my account of the Potwin, Kansas spook light.

I was fifteen when I first heard of the light in an old abandoned farmhouse in Potwin, Kansas. My friend, Marti, was sixteen and able to drive. Her car was a two-toned green 1953 Plymouth, appropriately nicknamed "The Little Rattler." It was a cranky old hand-me-down, semi-reliable clunker, whose engine guzzled a can of oil every hour or two. We both had an eleven o'clock curfew, and, when we pulled into the drive at the old farmhouse, it was barely dusk. We had hours, if necessary, to sit and wait for SOMETHING to happen. Fortified with a stockpile of sodas and candy bars, we took to our post, ready to be scared out of our wits.

There were many stories of the Kansas spook light but the recurring theme was that a mysterious light would appear after dark in the house and barn. No one knew what cause the light but some speculated that it was caused by head lights from the nearby highway refracted up by water vapors. Other ideas were: ball lightening, swamp gas or UFOs. Articles had been written by journalists and experts in natural phenomenon. It seemed that everyone had an opinion about the unusual sightings.

So, with sodas in hand, we waited for the light show to begin. Seven o'clock came and nothing happened. Eight o'clock rolled around and all was quiet. It was a dark and moonless night. We locked the doors. By nine o'clock we had eaten all the candy and decided that a hamburger and french fries would sure taste good. In other words, there was nothing going on at the farmhouse and we were getting hungry and bored. One of us suggested that we give up and go back to town.

All at once, a light in one of the upstairs windows caught our attention. It stayed on for a few minutes, went out, then reappeared in another window. It was a dim glowing light. Downstairs, a light came on and then dimmed. There was a glow in the barn across the road, on and then off, then back to the house. An upstairs window was, again, illuminated, and then another, then another window downstairs. The sequence was becoming faster, one place to another, the house to the barn, back to the house with lights blinking off and on in room after room. Then the light went out and the night sky cast a black shadow over the house. It was very quiet inside the car. We were holding our breath and sat watching and waiting.

After a few minutes we finally took a breath and decided that the light was gone and we should be heading home. Before we had a chance to start the car, the light appeared again. It seemed to be between the house and the barn. It looked large and menacing. It was coming down the road. It was coming toward the car and toward us!

"Get out of here!" I yelled as Marti turned the key in the ignition.

Just like in a bad horror movie, the car creaked and groaned, then.... the engine died!

"Hurry! Start the car!" I cried, and as Marti tried the key again, I looked out the back window and saw a ball of light suspended in mid air. No person or wire was supporting it. There was no beam. This weird spook light hung there and then moved forward. It was coming after us.

The car engine came on with a roar and , as we jerked out of the drive and onto the road, we were screaming. I watched as the gleaming round ball moved ever closer to the car. Marti pushed the gas pedal to the floor. The little car squealed away and we were still shrieking as the ball of light disappeared in a cloud of dust.

Years later, in college English 101 class, I wrote about the spook light. The assignment was to describe a true incident in my life. The teacher gave me an A minus, noting that if the assignment was supposed to be fiction, I would have received an A. She appreciated by "vivid imagination" but I would still be marked down for not following instructions. It hurt my feelings a little that she didn't believe me.

I called Marti the other day and told her that I was writing about the spook light for the newspaper. We laughed about her beat up old car, then recalled what happened at the farmhouse and how frightened we were that night.

"Good luck with your story. You know they won't believe you!" She said as we hung up.

Well...... did you?