A US mystery you can see but not touch
By John Scott LewinskiFeatures correspondent
Michigan Tech UniversityA US mystery you can see but not touch (Credit: Michigan Tech University)As night falls in Northern Michigan, crowds gather in a remote spot off US Highway 45. The reason? To see what might be the most punctual ghost in the world.
Whether it's a sea serpent in a Scottish Loch or a woman in white haunting the battlements of a Civil War fortress, denizens of the supernatural realm share a common habit: they remain stubbornly unwilling to reveal themselves at any conveniently scheduled appointments.
That's what makes a spot in Michigan's Upper Peninsula a uniquely chilling attraction for both true believers and travellers with a casual interest in the paranormal. If any of them show up in the pre-set place at the right time, they will see the Paulding Light.
On any given night, from the humid, bug-filled haze of mid-summer to the knee-deep snow of Michigan's endless winter, a crowd of locals and curious sojourners gather in a small patch of open ground off US Highway 45 on Robbins Road.
As the sun sets and dusk negotiates with the black of night, small, shimmering orbs, varying in colour between white, yellow and red (depending on the season and atmospheric conditions) form up a hillside about five miles away. They hover in open air, never growing, shrinking, dancing, advancing or retreating. They blink out as unexpectedly as they come to life, appearing and disappearing randomly, and vanishing if approached or chased.
Michigan Tech UniversityIf travellers show up in the pre-set place at the right time, they will see the Paulding Light (Credit: Michigan Tech University)While seemingly impossible to seize, the lights are unquestionably and unfailingly visible – remaining so in varying amounts and frequencies until sunrise ends the party.
A supernatural sight
WHAT: The Paulding Light
WHERE: Northern Michigan
WHY: To see a reliable paranormal phenomenon
WHEN: Fair weather months, annually
HOW: By car and on foot
CHOICE: To believe or not to believe...
Visitors armed with professional photography equipment have managed to grab murky images of the fading phantasms, but for years, such photos failed to explain the visions they captured.
Local folklore serves up different explanations for the ethereal illumination. The most popular tale claims that the ghost of a railway brakeman killed in a train disaster appears nightly to hold up his lantern and warn future victims away. Unfortunately, there's no record or visual evidence of a railroad in the area.
The other favoured causes of the Paulding Light fall into expected categories. Whether it's cryptozoological will-o'-the-wisps hunting for lost children or extra-terrestrial probes exploring the treetops, visitors cling to the belief that they're watching something from beyond their everyday world.
Michigan Tech UniversityLocal folklore serves up different explanations for the ethereal illumination (Credit: Michigan Tech University)Whatever the story, the Light has put the tiny town of Paulding on the map, and locals and travellers keep coming to see what might be the most punctual ghost in the world, with shops and restaurants keeping them fed, watered and clad in Paulding Light hats and T-shirts.
"I have seen the Paulding Light several times," said Sarah Bakker, an employee at the nearby supply shop Sylvania Outfitters. "I didn't think it was supernatural, but it is cool to see. Some people say they definitely see car headlights, but others swear they see something else that can't be explained."
Eventually, the scientists came along to explain away all the fun. In 2010, Michigan Tech University (MTU) electrical engineering PhD candidate Jeremy Bos led a student expedition. Equipped with everything from cameras to light meters to high-power telescopes, their sole mission was explaining the Paulding Light with supporting proof.
They came away with empirical evidence of what many less-fanciful Paulding visitors already expected. It's cars – distant headlights combining with atmospheric effects to create a shimmering mirage.
Bos earned that PhD and is now an associate professor in Michigan Tech's Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. Despite his team's efforts to offer the community a clear cause of the sightings, the legends persist.
"I ask people who saw the light what they saw and what they think they saw," Bos said. "If they ask me to explain, I do. Most people say they see yellowish or red lights that appear to move. If there is some motion, most of what they are seeing is due to an auto-kinetic effect. I use similar explanations for mirages and hot roads in the summer."
Michael C Roggemann, Michigan Tech Emeritus Professor of Electrical Engineering, was the original faculty advisor on the student expedition. He suggests that scientific explanations of the light can be as interesting as paranormal claims, if people choose to embrace them.
"A 'regular' mirage is really just light that originated from the sky refracted upwards towards your eye due to a sharp temperature gradient in the air close to the surface," Roggemann said. "I ask people who see the lights if they have ever heard of temperature inversions that occur when the temperature of air – as a function of altitude close to the surface of the Earth – decreases and then increases."
Roggemann suggests the geography and local weather around the viewing path supports frequent temperature inversions in the early evening when there's always traffic on the highway. The result is an "upside-down" optical illusion – car headlights from the pole line of view in Paulding lining up with the highway while refracting and bending back toward the ground. The effect happens to be uniquely visible from the spot where fans gather.
Michigan Tech UniversitySome people say they definitely see car headlights, but others swear they see something else that can't be explained (Credit: Michigan Tech University)Bos urges inquisitive ghost hunters to look through a telescope or a telephoto lens, assuring them they will see car headlights and brake lights. Regardless, there remain visitors who simply want to believe and won't be convinced they didn't see the impossible.
"To those that don't spend their lives thinking about the interaction between light and air, a ghost story is just more interesting," Bos admitted. "You can combine that with local people wanting this place – an area most people ignore – to be special because they think it really is special."
Roggemann believes the mythology of the light endures largely because locals managed to create a ghost story that's spooky without being threatening. "I think the lights seem harmless, and people enjoy the local legend because it's completely benign," he said. "Folks enjoy the stories, and – we have to admit – we were not able to disprove the existence of a ghost."
Cyndi Perkins, a Michigan-based senior content specialist, believes the MTU explanation, but visits the site with her daughter for an occasional evening's entertainment. She suggests there are now as many travellers at the site looking to test the scientific explanation as there are devotees to the various supernatural causes.
Michigan Tech UniversitySome argue that what the researchers saw was not the true Paulding Light (Credit: Michigan Tech University)"Folks who believe in the Paulding Light don't believe the mystery is solved," Perkins insisted. "They argue that what the researchers saw was not the true Paulding Light."
Bos marks the Paulding Light's endurance to animism, or the belief in a supernatural power giving an identity or sentience to natural phenomena. "That remains the most ancient of beliefs, and the Paulding Light is a perfect modern example of that very human tendency," he explained.
Bakker plans to revisit the Paulding Light show, despite not buying into any otherworldly origins.
"I did find $20 one of the times I went," she said. "So, if nothing else, I believe the spot is good luck."
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