Florida’s inexplicable “ghost lights” phenomenon has haunted drivers for six decades and counting — still with no explanation for its cause as motorists prepare for its potential reappearance in the coming winter months.
The “Oviedo Lights” have been reported on Snow Hill Road, a straight shot connecting Chuluota, Fla. to Geneva, Fla. since the 1960s, according to local Florida historian Jason Byrne.
The blue lights appear primarily in the winter, most often around midnight, and always approaching from the south on a bridge over the Econlockhatchee River. The lights make it appear as if there is an oncoming car, except with the brightness of a train headlight, according to a blog post written by the historian.
As terrifying as the image sounds, the “ghost lights” legend has been passed down for decades and is still used today as a rumor for teenagers to spread, similar to the story of “Bloody Mary,” Byrne said.
“You drive out there and sit in the middle of the night — drink beer or whatever teenagers do — and look for these legendary lights,” Byrne told News 6. “So there’s literally generations of people who remember going out there, taking a date or taking some friends in search of these ghost lights.”
Because of the open-ended nature of the legend, many have ascribed their own origin stories to explain the lights.
Some are simple, like one that attributes the lights to a car crash that drowned two boys in the river. Others take more creative liberties, like a story that pins the lights to a Cub Scout that wandered away from his troop with a lone lantern and was never seen again.
The tragedies in the rumors, while specific in some cases, are unconfirmed. Byrnes told News 6 that of all the tall tales told about the lights, only one has ever been verified.
In 1963, 17-year-old Norbert Hyman drove across the bridge with three of his friends to set off some fireworks. When they’d finished, one of the friends returned to the car, while the other three walked back to the main road.
The friend who went to get the car didn’t turn the headlights on and drove down the main road towards the others. Two of the teens managed to dive out of the way, but Hyman was fatally struck and died on the way to the hospital.
“Whether you believe it’s the root of the actual ghost story — and this kid is ‘haunting,’ if that’s your way of believing — or whether you just think that it’s the root ghost story that kicked off all these other stories, that’s, I guess, up to the reader,” he said.
The most likely scientific explanation for the phenomena is tied to the dead vegetation surrounding the lake, which can break down into highly combustible methane that may be the source of the bluish light, or a “will-o’-the-wisp” phenomenon, according to the local outlet.
However, no one has actually tested the “swamp gas” theory, and there haven’t been any reports of the “wisp” in over a century. The only time wisps are ever mentioned during the modern day is, more often than not, in Pokémon discussions, as “will-o-wisp” is a popular status move in the video games.
With no firm explanation, the community has accepted the unsolved mystery, as the folklore surrounding it has provided families with stories to pass on through generations.
