From: "J Owen" (ericowen2000@yahoo.com)
To: obiwan@ghosts.org
Subject: West Point Ghost Light
Date: Sunday, October 26, 2003 10:55 PM
Obiwan,
I ran across your website after doing some searching last night. Myself, my wife and family had an encounter with the West Point Ghost Light late yesterday. I wanted to ask if you knew of any stories or talk about the possibilities of what that thing could be? Do you have any thoughts, ideas, accounts or explanations that aren't on your site? Ever since seeing it I have been trying to find out more. I am a rational and skeptical person, but I can't deny what we all witnessed.
Some explanations sound plausible, but searching the net finds all sorts of the same lore about a deceased railway worker of some kind searching with a lantern for a missing head, etc. These lights seem to all appear near railway beds. I mean, how many deceased & headless railway workers are there in the US. My skeptical and scientific side tells me it has to have something to do with the fact that if you stand on railroad tracks, you can see very far with an unobstructed view. Presumably you can see RR crossings literally miles upon miles away. In the blackness of night, a single car passing across may appear as a slight glimmering light.
All of us went to the Railroad crossing about 10 or so miles past the West Point Paper Mill. We were only there about 45 minutes and we were able to see the light six times. All five of us saw it at the same instant. Everyone gasped in shock at the exact same moment, which tells me it wasn't any kind of figment or our eyes playing tricks on us. That location is so remote from any civilization or traffic that it is pitch black and silent. Just being there is unsettling enough because it is so in the middle of nowhere. I could barely see my own hand in front of my face. It was overcast with very little moonlight. We all sat down and stared down the track and after about 15 minutes the first glimmer appeared. It looked like a welding arc. It was bright and shimmered for about 3 or 4 seconds and vanished. It appeared very far away. The second time it appeared as red, moving from left to right and it illuminated the tops of the rails so it was easy to gauge it's distance. The light appeared to turn into several lights and they again vanished after about 4 seconds. It then appeared randomly four more times, each time moving closer to our location. The last two appearances were in quick succession about 10 seconds apart and they very clearly illuminated the ground underneath. That blew my theory of a distant car crossing the tracks away because it was so much closer. I didn't know what to look for the first time, but after the first couple of times I was able to hone in on where to look. The ground begins to illuminate like the light is shining in the other direction and then points towards you. It was actually quite amazing. My family all bolted to the car on the last time. They were genuinely spooked I guess. I left too but only because they threatened to leave.
I wanted to pass this all on to you for what it's worth and ask your advice on any other accounts, etc.
sincerely,
Eric Owen,
Richmond, VA
This page (http://www.ghosts.org/ghostlights/cohokelight2.html) last updated April 4, 2006.