The following was printed in the July 23, 1962 edition of The Oklahoman:
Maco, NC (AP)--Old Joe Baldwin defied the ghost hunters Saturday night. He failed to appear.
The mysterious light often seen flashing beside the Atlantic coast line track didn't even flicker. A crew of engineers from a Charlotte radio station (WWOK), armed with an assortment of electronic equipment, kept an all-night vigil. Also on hand were about 150 residents of this area of southeastern North carolina who turned out to see if the ghost hunters would see Old Joe.
The story is told that the mysterious light is the lantern Old Joe is carrying to look for his head.* Joe Baldwin, a railroad man, was struck and decapitated by a trian in the 1860s.
Russ Reardon, project coordinator for the radio station, said his crew would return next Saturday night. He said the ghost hunters are now more ager to catch the ghost, even though "the spirit wasn't willing" Saturday night.
The ghost hunters took along, among other things, a spectroscope** for measuring the light by its wave length and an audio-amplifier for converting the current into sound.
*this is a familiar motif among spooklight tales
** don't often hear about anyone employing this technique in the analysis of spirits or ghost lights
1 comment:
I've seen will o' the wisp or spooklights before. It's interesting to me how people interpret them. Even as a kid, I felt there was no intelligence behind it, simply something odd of nature, but beautiful nonetheless. If they find anything next weekend, I'd love to hear a bout it.
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