They seem to generally appear in the south and western United States, and are fixed to a specific location. Unlike other forms of strange phenomenon, ghost lights are comparatively reliable in their appearance, and in some places the lights have been the subject of scientific study. Despite this, the source of most such lights remains a mystery. There are many theories and legends surrounding these mysterious lights. Some scientific attempts at explaining the lights include reflections from nearby traffic or towns, ignited gas from marshland, and, where ghost lights exist near faultlines, some sort of sub-atomic particle reactions.
Common folktales told by the locals usually involve ghostly indian braves, phantom trains, or UFOs.
Unfortunately, encroaching development in many communities has seemed to extinguish some of the old reliable ghost lights, indicating that the lights probably do have a natural explanation. For information on individual ghost lights, select a feature below.