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The ADVANCE, October 26, 2022/Page 3A
The Quest for a Photo Gets Spooky
Spook Light
By Deborah Clark
Regional Editor
dclarkadvance@gmail. com
Editor’s Note: It’s al
most Halloween, and in
the “spirit," of the season,
I thought about an event
that occurred several years
ago as I went to a nearby
community to “eek” out a
story about an eerie leg
end. It was just meant to
be a tongue and cheek
piece — all in fun— but
my photographer and I
got a little spooked in the
process. Keep in mind that
this is fact, not fiction.
On a cold, blustery
afternoon in late October,
my photographer and I
headed to a community in
Appling County where a
lot of strange activity has
been reported over the
years. We wanted to get the
“definitive” shot of a stretch
of railroad tracks where the
famous Surrency spook
light has been sighted since
the early 1900s. The photo
was to accompany an ar
ticle I had written about
the famous phenomenon.
It was scheduled to appear
in the newspaper around
Halloween.
We had arranged to
meet the Surrency mayor
at City Hall. The photo was
to be shot at dusk with the
mayor posing on the tracks
and pointing in the direc
tion of the area where the
ghostly light has been ob
served. The mayor and her
sons are among those who
have witnessed the odd
light and she still wonders
about its origin.
When we made the
trip to Surrency, Hurri
cane Sandy was pummel-
ing the East Coast and
causing windy conditions
across the state. Dropping
temperatures and gusting
winds made being outside
more and more uncom
fortable. The photographer
snapped several shots of
the mayor on the tracks as
the light began to fade, but
we were all waiting for the
sun to be at just the right
angle for optimum condi
tions. As the sun began
its descent, a rectangu
lar, whitish shape became
more visible near the van
ishing point of the arrow-
straight tracks. When the
glint of sun on metal ap
peared above the shape, we
were assured that we were
seeing the new overpass
east of Surrency and a ve
hicle passing over it. Ironi
cally, the new overpass has
been blamed for the cessa
tion of the spook light.
The overpass became
more and more visible as
the sun dipped lower and
the last rays of light reflect
ed on the surface of the
concrete; but, just when
we were thinking we were
going to have to use flash
lights on tripods to recreate
our own spook light, some
thing amazing occurred.
Almost at dark, a light ap
peared near the tracks.
At first we were not
sure we were really seeing
what we were seeing. I had
left my glasses in the car
and had to squint to make
out the object at such a
distance. I could tell that
the light was definitely not
rectangular in shape and
was not part of the station
ary overpass.
The light was moving,
seeming to appear on one
side of the tracks, then the
other. It was not visible
consistently; it appeared
and disappeared. Even the
mayor, who was very fa
miliar with the activities
around the track, was not
sure about the light’s iden
tity. She suggested it could
be hunters traveling along
side the tracks on four-
wheelers. Perhaps it was
someone with flashlights
moving around the tracks.
Maybe it was a car crossing
the tracks further down the
rail line, since there were
two more crossings from
our vantage point. It might
be activity around an as
phalt plant down the way,
or, it could be the train that
was due about then.
We prided ourselves
that we were basically skep
tical beings in search of
scientific solutions to the
paranormal. There were
several explanations for
the spook light phenom
enon including reflections,
underground anomalies,
even swamp gas, and some
said, a haunting; but even
though we knew there
could be a natural cause,
we grew a little less sure of
ourselves as we watched
the light coming closer.
The light kept edg
ing toward us and grow
ing larger. Once the mayor
thought she detected a vi
bration on the tracks, so it
must be a train. We soon
realized, however, that the
light was moving too slow
ly and was too close to the
ground to be the headlight
of a train. The wind was
blowing hard, but not so
loudly that we could not
have heard a horn or the
diesel engine of a train. Our
excited anticipation grew
and we wondered what we
were observing when a set
of electric crossing arms
further down the tracks did
not activate as the object
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dents competed in their respective grade-level categories. Pageant winners were: Left
to Right: Beckham Brazeau (Little Mr, JDD King); Everleigh Lopez (Little Miss JDD, Pre-K
Queen); Adley Hall (Little Miss JDD, First Grade); Raikarri Kirkland (Little Miss JDD, Kinder
garten Queen); Amelia Aaron ( People's Choice Winner).
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Leesa Hagan and the rest of the Republican
ticket to keep Georgia moving in the RIGHT
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I'm asking for your vote so I can continue
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tarty
voting » s
underway
passed by.
It was past dusk and
we were transfixed as the
light bore down on us. By
this time, we had moved
to the right of way next to
the tracks. As the object
closed in on the crossing
nearest us, again, nothing
happened. The object was
now so close that we could
see its reflection on the
rails ahead of it. It was only
yards away. The light was
shining directly in our eyes
and was so bright it was al
most blinding. We literally
held our breath as the un
known object was almost
on top of us. Amazingly, no
one bolted.
Imagine our surprise
and relief when the object
came into full view. There
were two lights, not one.
They were the headlights
of a rail-based railroad
inspection vehicle glid
ing almost silently along
the tracks. We waved at
the workers inside the ve
hicle as they passed by. No
doubt they wondered what
we were doing so close to
the tracks.
Feeling a little silly
and a little let down, we
laughed at ourselves. It
was funny to think we had
considered ways to create a
“spook light” effect for the
photo, and as fate would
have it, the perfect sce
nario presented itself. In
the process, we had an en
tertaining encounter with
our own “spook light.” We
thanked the mayor for be
ing gracious and producing
the best possible photo
graphic conditions—right
on cue. The wind was still
blowing fiercely and the
night sky was brightened
by a full moon as we made
the drive home. Who knew
taking a “staged” photo
graph could be so exciting?
SUDOKU So,u,lon ■ pa9e 11A
Fun By The
Numbers
Like puzzles?
Then you’ll love
sudoku. This
mind-bending
puzzle will have
you hooked from
the moment you
square off, so
sharpen your
pencil and put
your sudoku
savvy to the test!
Level: Intermediate
Here’s How It Works:
Sudoku puzzles are formatted as a 9x9 grid, broken down into nine
3x3 boxes. To solve a sudoku, the numbers 1 through 9 must fill each
row, column and box. Each number can appear only once in each row,
column and box. You can figure out the order in which the numbers will
appear by using the numeric clues already provided in the boxes. The
more numbers you name, the easier it gets to solve the puzzle!
1
5
3
1
4
9
3
2
8
0
3
5
7
5
4
8
1
2
7
9
8
2
4
Crossword Puzzle
Solution, page 11A
CLUES ACROSS
1. Unhappy
4. Clairvoyance
7. One who works under you
12. What happens there stays there
15. Not ingested
16. Got the picture
18. One thousandth of a gram
19. Breakfast item
20. About
21. Tall deciduous trees
24. Safe keeping receipt
27. Cowardly
30. Pueblo people of New Mexico
31. Herring-like fish
33. A very large body of water
34. Angle (abbr.)
35. Spiritual leader of a Jewish
congregation
CLUES DOWN
1. Fijian capital
2. Assist
3. Elected lord in Venice
4. The capacity of a physical
system to do work
5. People of the wild
6. Parent-teacher groups
7. Midway between south and
southeast
8. Moved quickly on foot
9. Handheld Nintendo console
10. “Top of the Stairs” playwright
11. Electronic data processing
12. “Dog Day Afternoon” director
13. Leaned
14. About aviation
17. Mountain is a popular type
22. Lake along Zambia and
Congo border
23. Heroic tales
24. Soviet Socialist Republic
25. “Star Trek” villain
37. White clergical vestment
39. Cool!
41. Matchstick games
42. Thick piece of something
44. A state that precedes vomiting
47. Burned item residue
48. Jaguarundi
49. Anno Domini (in the year of
Our Lord)
50. The home of “60 Minutes”
52. Dorm official
53. Give cards incorrectly
56. One who is learning the job
61. Popular R.L. Stevenson novel
63. Attentively
64. CNN’s founder
65. Criticize
26. Hand gesture popular on
social media
28. Renters have one
29. Tubular steel column
32. Database management system
36. Similar
38. Providing no shelter/sustenance
40. Death
43. What a sheep did
44. Midcentury Asian battleground
45. Horizontal passage into a mine
46. Mortified
51. Improper word
54. No seats available
55. Financial obligation
56. It can be hot or iced
57. Tough outer skin of a fruit
58. Spumante (Italian wine)
59. Misfortunes
60. Negative
62. Camper