The Spook Light
Photo by John Schehrer, 1966
    On a warm summer night in August, 1966 I ventured onto this lonely road in far eastern Ottawa County to view and photograph the famous spook light.  This object has been observed at this and several other nearby locations for over a century.  It is located along the Devil's Promenade road running  west from the Missouri state line near the former village of Hornet.  Explanations from UFOs to car lights along old Route 66 west of Quapaw have been given, but nothing has been proved.  This light is said to sometimes come right up to a car and hover over it or fly around it, but I have not observed this.  I have traveled to the sight in the last year and found cars parked all along this road and observation nearly impossible.  In trips after 2 AM, I have not observed the light and I don't think it shows up as good as it used to due to heavy vegetation along the road.

      The picture was taken with a 35 mm camera and a short time exposure.  I flashed my car lights during the exposure in order to light up the surroundings.

     There are several websites devoted to this object and other similar ones and more can be learned from these websites.
4/04/03