Article Index
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History
The time frame for the first appearance of the light phenomena varies considerably depending on the source of information. The earliest date recorded so far comes from a notation contained within the diary of an early resident of Scugog Island, which refers to ghostlights occurring on Devil’s Light Island, which dates to the late 1800’s. This notation has been confirmed by e-mail correspondence with the present owner of the diary and may be viewed on these pages. This reference to ghostlights implies a possible connection to some of the light phenomena reported at the Ghost Road location. However, our efforts to find any supporting documents, which contain similar references from the same time period with the generous help of Frank and Joan Young of the Scugog Historical Museum and the librarians of the Toronto reference library did not yield any corroborating information. This in conjunction with the fact that there would be no living witnesses from that time period leaves the possibility of 'ghostlights' occurring on the island during the 19th century as speculative only.
The latest possible date in regards to first reports of the light phenomena is 1979. This date was obtained by a newspaper clipping of an article featured in the Port Perry Star on the mystery lights that we were able to locate at the Port Perry Public Library.
The Legend
We feel that the legend/s surrounding the ghostlights on Ghost Road is simply that, an urban legend. Similar stories accompany the display of spooklights worldwide and suggest a common folklore/myth. In July 1983 Cathy Robb a journalist with the Port Perry Star interviewed retired O.P.P officer Harold Hockins who had policed Scugog Island since 1954. He was able to confirm with her that no motorcycle accidents or otherwise that resulted in a fatality had occurred in the vicinity of Ghost Road during that time period. There are no police records, hospital records, obituaries, nor news clippings that would support the legend as an actual historical event.
Reflecting Car Headlights Hypothesis
We had been informed that the Canadian television program W5 ran an episode on the ˜light phenomena of Ghost Road several years ago and that one theory suggested by the program as a possible explanation for the phenomena was reflecting car headlights from Shirley’s Road and the West Quarter Line. This proved to be false - our email correspondence with W5 resulted in a denial of this segment being fimed nor aired. We have conducted various experiments, detailed in the diary of our visits, involving car headlights, from the highest elevation of the W. Quarter Line, the intersection of Hwy 7A and the W. Quarter Line 4 km to the south, and Ma Browns Road, located 2km. to the south. These experiments involving both high and low beams, and brake lights failed to reproduce the light phenomena seen from Ghost Road during all attempts, with the exception of our last experiment. The monitoring of traffic on these roads by us also proved inconclusive, but is irrelevant at this time.
Earth Lights & Earth Quake Lights
We feel that this unsupported (by our experiments) hypothesis may be relevant to reports of light phenomena other than the consistent 'ghostlight' due to Scugog Island's close proximity to an active geologic fault line and geophysical makeup.
Hoaxes
We have seen hoaxes attempted on Ghost Road and within the field on two separate occasions involving the use of flashlights. These along with our own flashlight failed to reproduce the light display. However, this could potentially account for some reports made by those who make one time visits to the road and are unsure of exactly what the 'ghostlight' appears like.
Other Strange Phenomena Occurring On Ghost Road
Cars being pulled backwards and forwards have been reported on Ghost Road. Compass readings and the use of an emf detector taken at various locations on the road and the edge of the field including underneath the Poltergeist tree have shown nothing out of the norm. However, the vicinity of most of these occurrences was identified as a 'ley line' by our colleagues who are 'sensitives' and whom were not privy to this information beforehand.
A sighting of a possible “being” of some sorts on 'Ghost Road' was made by one of our members, which defies a proper explanation at this point in time. Our member was the sole witness and factors of misidentification, heightened anxiety due to the circumstances cannot be ruled out. However, it is interesting to note that a young woman, whom we interviewed on the road a couple of weeks later, was able to corroborate many of the details of our member's sighting without prior knowledge of the event.
A part of the legend of 'Ghost Road' involves the large infamous rock located on the southeast corner of the road. Legend states that if you sit on the rock, you will be thrown off by unseen hands and/or become violently ill. We have personally tested this out on numerous occasions without incident. Our two 'sensitives' also stated they received no 'feelings' from the rock either - and further stated they felt "it's just a rock."
