Strange Lights
Ghost Lights in America
Some could be owls; some could be pterosaurs
How could a
barn owl glow? I
would ask how any
headless ghost could
glow. Many legends of
ghosts carrying lanterns
to search for lost heads--
those abound across the U.S.
By Jonathan Whitcomb
The Gurdon Light (Arkansas) has been
reportedly seen by many of witnesses, 
75 miles south of Little Rock, along a 
stretch of railroad tracks. It has a story
of a "headless brakeman," seemingly
searching for his head. Car headlights have been
eliminated as the cause of this spooky "ghost light."
What about the ghost light of Chapel Hill, Tennessee? Here, the
story has an old railroad signalman who fell one night, hitting his
head on the tracks. Unconscious, he lay there with his neck across
the line until a train came and . . . well you know the rest: His ghost
still searches for that lost head. Across the United States, these stories
abound, with one important similarity: an apparent wandering lantern.
Owls?
Copyright 2010  Jonathan Whitcomb
If it weren't for the strange glow, how would we explain something that moves across railroad tracks at night, weaving back and forth and bobbing up and down? Does it not resemble the movements of a hunting barn owl? Nothing is strange except for the dim ghostly glow.
 
Lanterns and Owls
Min Mins, Barn Owls, Pterosaurs
A particular strange light, called "Min Min," flies in Australia. I don't mean any light labeled "Min Min." This light flies around like a hunting barn owl, but it
has been seen, yes seen, to be a "great owl," as they
call it. In the United States, we call it "barn owl."
 
Fred Silcock, an expert on birds, has written a book
on this strange phenomenon: The Min Min Light.
Those who have read through it with an open mind
are impressed by the author's compelling case: At
least some barn owls have the capability of intrinsic
bioluminescence. It can be used to catch insects.
 
But the Marfa Lights in Texas--that is another story.
They behave not like hunting barn owls but like the
hunting ropens of Papua New Guinea. The brightness of their flashes, the speed of their flights, and the high
intelligence suggested by the coordinated dances--
these suggest non-owls, even if that suggestion leaves
open the possibility of ropens flying around the United
States. In Papua New Guinea, they have been seen to
be apparent giant Rhamphorhynchoid pterosaurs.
 
 
Ghost Lights on Wikipedia