THE LEGEND OF GHOST ROAD
Updated November 2005: The “spooklights” viewed at this location were proven by verifiable and repeatable experiments on July 24th 2001 to be car headlights with the source being the West quarter Line. Since that time the experiments have been duplicated by numerous groups and individuals with identical results. Our paper detailing our study of the location, photos of the source light, and experiment can be found through the link below.
It is unfortunate that a handful of groups claim otherwise and have used our material
almost verbatim without giving proper credit to their sources. Any group that states that the “spooklights” are anything other than car headlights are either unaware of these experiments or refuse to prove it to themselves.
In the 1950's a young man by the name of
Dan/Dave Sweeny was driving a motorcycle down a desolated road in Scugog Township, Ontario, Canada. He was driving at an excessive speed when he lost control, and was thrown into a field. Tragically poor Dan was killed when his head hit a large rock. Since the time of the accident there has been reports of a phantom headlight which crosses the field, then turns left down the road where it vanishes into the night. It seems Dan is doomed to relive that last ride each night on Ghost
road.....At least that's how one story goes......
Variations include:
A motorcyclist killed while fleeing the father of his girlfriend, and that it was a snowmobile instead of a motorcycle.
Please see update below - March 20th /01
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE POSSIBLE 'PARANORMAL' ACTIVITY
For decades (possibly much longer) people have been reporting strange and inexplicable phenomena occurring on
'ghost road' The most common of these is a mysterious white 'light' (the headlight of a motorcycle
according to legend) and a smaller red 'light' (the taillight). Other anomalous phenomena include the sighting of 'ghostly beings', cars being pulled forward and backwards, electrical anomalies, batteries draining and equipment (i.e: cameras) malfunctioning, ufos, strange sounds, and other assorted odd occurrences.
HISTORY OF THE AREA
In 1827 the town of Lindsay was founded by a Mr.
William Purdy, and his sons Jesse and Hazard. The town was first known as "Purdy's Mills". Purdy built the first dam in the winter of 1827 to power his grist mill. The dam was 10 feet high, and located on the Scugog River, at Lindsay. The dam flooded the area near Port Perry, creating a lake and Scugog Island (location of Ghost rd) was born.
Previous to the formation of
the lake and island the area was inhabited by farmers and traditionally belonged to the Mississauga's native tribe. The area was the location of an ancient native footpath that led to L. Ontario and was the scene of fierce tribal warfare between Ojibwa's and Mohawks. Many historical artifacts including human skeletons have been unearthed in the area.
GEOPHYSICAL INFORMATION
Geology Features - Clay, Loam, Sand, Gravel, minor silt
Geologic Fault Lines - goes directly under Port Perry and Lake
Scugog. Some scientists predict that there could be a major earthquake in the next 50 years. This is still under debate. As can be seen on the maps, the fault runs north-east traveling under lake Ontario, under the Pickering nuclear plant up to Scugog township and splits at Lake Scugog going up both shores.
Update March 20th/01
We recently received an email from a
long-time area resident who remembered a very different ghost story in association with the 'Ghost Road' lights. The story tells of an unsolved murder involving a farmer. The 'lights' in this story are attributed to the spirit of the deceased individual and his lantern.
The above ghost story is also very similar to legends and myths surrounding other known 'spooklight'
locations. However, at least in this case we were able to find some basis in historical fact. A farmer in fact was reportedly murdered - death attributed to gun shot wounds in 1838 on Scugog Island. Is it his ghost than that is the cause of these 'lights' - no - though this does make for a more believable ghost story.
Our personal thanks to our correspondent.
Results Of Our In-depth Investigation - *Includes Photos*
