The Gurdon Light
Walk far enough along a railway line in the Arkansas woods at night, people say, and a light comes bobbing towards you.
What was reported
Along a stretch of railway track in the woods outside Gurdon, in south-west Arkansas, people have long reported a light that floats above or beside the tracks at night, usually white or bluish, sometimes orange. It's said to sway like a lantern and to fade when approached.
The light became widely known after the television series Unsolved Mysteries featured it in the 1990s, and walking out to look for it is a local tradition.
Explanations offered
Suggested causes include headlights from a distant highway, though some say the line of sight doesn't fit, and glows from stressed quartz rock underground. Local legend ties it to a railway worker's lantern. No proper scientific study has been made.
- When
- Reported for decades
- Where
- Near Gurdon, Arkansas, USA
- Witnesses
- Local people and visitors walking the tracks
- Status
- Unexplained
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