The Ghost and the Saint

St. John Bosco (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

Not only does Christianity acknowledge the existence of the spirit world, even great saints sometimes experience encounters with “ghosts.” One such saint was John Bosco (1815 – 1888). While a young man, Bosco made an agreement with his friend Comollo that whichever of them died first would give the other some sign as to the state of his soul. As it happened, Comollo’s death came first, on April 2, 1839. The next evening, following the funeral of his friend, Bosco sat sleepless on his bed in the dorm room he shared with twenty other seminarians. At this point, we take up the story in Bosco’s own words:

“Midnight struck and I then heard a dull rolling sound from the end of the passage, which grew ever more clear, loud and deep, the nearer it came. It sounded as though a heavy dray were being drawn by many horses, like a railway train, almost like the discharge of a cannon…While the noise came nearer the dormitory, the walls, ceiling and floor of the passage re-echoed and trembled behind it…The students in the dormitory awoke, but none of them spoke…Then the door opened violently of its own accord without anybody seeing anything except a dim light of changing colour that seemed to control the sound…Then a voice was clearly heard, ‘Bosco, Bosco, Bosco, I am saved.’… The seminarists leapt out of bed and fled without knowing where to go. Some gathered in a corner of the dormitory and sought to inspire each other with courage, others crowded around the prefect, Don Giuseppe Fiorito di Rivolo; thus they passed the night and waited anxiously for the coming of day. All had heard the noise and some of them the voice without gathering the meaning of the words. I sat upon my bed and told my comrades that they had no cause for alarm. I had clearly understood the words; they were ‘I am saved.’ Some had also understood them clearly as I had done, and for a long time afterwards there was no other subject of conversation in the seminary.”[1]

[1] As quoted in: Abbot Alois Wiesinger, Occult Phenomena in the Light of Theology (London: Burns and Oates, 1957) 228-229.

There’ll be Scary Ghost Stories…

Railroad Convict Labor (Image: http://www.learnnc.org)

There’ll be scary ghost stories

And tales of the glories of

Christmases long, long ago.

Gentle readers, in the “spirit” of the Season, I present my humble contribution of a “scary ghost story.” Turn down the lights, curl up with your computer in that big comfy chair by the fire and enjoy. Don’t worry, that noise outside is just the wind, or Santa, probably…

The metallic tink of a chorus of pick axes striking rock filled the crisp air like a bizarre industrial age symphony. In the best of conditions building a railroad was hard work. In rough terrain it was hell. This was rough terrain. Had it not been for the winter cold, the laborers would have sworn they were in hell.

In 1883, the directors of the Western North Carolina Railroad were determined to build a line linking Bryson City and points west with Dillsboro and the outside world. They’d be damned if trifling things like mountains or even the lives of workers would stand in their way, especially in the case of the men working to complete the Cowee Tunnel near Dillsboro, North Carolina.

These were no ordinary railroad workers. The area was considered so dangerous, few men signed up for the job. The state of North Carolina came to the aid of the railroad by supplying prison convicts, mostly black, for labor.

The prisoners and their guards camped across the Tuckaseegee River near a hairpin bend which Cowee Tunnel was being built to bypass. Each day groups of twenty prisoners were shackled together in ankle irons and ferried across the river in rafts under the watchful eye of a guard.

On that cold fateful winter morning in 1883, tragedy struck. The river was running high and the current swift that morning. Before they even realized what was happening, the angry river capsized one of the rafts and tossed twenty prisoners and their guard into its frigid waters. Weighed down by the heavy chains, nineteen of the prisoners met a horrific death by drowning. Only one prisoner, Anderson Drake, managed to free himself and rescue the guard, Fleet Foster.

Unfortunately, Drake, unwilling or unable to part with his criminal ways, stole Foster’s wallet during the rescue. What should have been a heroic triumph became brutal punishment when the wallet turned up at the bottom of Drake’s duffel bag. The guards whipped Drake and sent him back to work on the tunnel.

The bodies of the nineteen less fortunate convicts were pulled from the river then hastily buried in unmarked graves on the hillside near the mouth of the tunnel. Since no one much cared about the fate of a few prisoners, their unmarked graves were quickly forgotten as work immediately resumed on the tunnel. Even today, the exact location of the graves remains uncertain.

What seems not so uncertain is the restlessness of their spirits. From shortly after the time of the mishap itself to the present, witness after witness near Cowee Tunnel report hearing unexplained sounds of splashing water, clinking chains and axes, and perhaps most disturbing of all, loud, mournful, pitiful wails of anguish. Do the dead still haunt Cowee Tunnel, seeking to remind us of the presence of their nearby, but neglected, graves?

If you’re brave enough to find out for yourself, take a ride on the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad. Their excursion train runs from Bryson City to Dillsboro, passing through the infamous Cowee Tunnel. Just to be safe, you might want to keep the windows of your carriage closed…

Merry Christmas and have a spook-tacular holiday!

Sources:

Baldwin, Juanitta. Smoky Mountain Ghostlore. Virginia Beach, VA: Suntop Press, 2005.

Osment, Timothy N. “Railroads in Western North Carolina.” Learn NC, no date. http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-newsouth/5503.

Taylor, Troy. Down in the Darkness: The Shadowy History of America’s Haunted Mines, Tunnels and Caverns. Alton, IL: Whitechapel Productions Press, 2003.

©2011 S P Schultz, All Rights Reserved

PIA Conference Presentation – On the Nature of Ghosts

White Noise Paranormal Network

Thanks to White Noise Paranormal Network, you can click on the link below to view my presentation, On the Nature of Ghosts, from the 2011 PIA Conference:

http://justin.tv/whitenoise02/b/291569213

You can also access videos of the other presentations through this link:

http://www.ghostshow.net/pia/

Hollywood, US Bishops Spotlight “The Rite”

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Zenit recently ran a two-part interview with Fr. Gary Thomas, the official exorcist of San Jose, California. It provides interesting insight into the life of a real exorcist and real exorcism. The movie, “The Rite,” is based on the book “The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist,” by Matt Baglio – which in turn is based on Fr. Thomas’ experiences as an exorcist.

Part one of the interview is here and part two is here.

Note to Directors and Writers: Gore does not Equal Horror

Nosferatu (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

What happened to the horror genera? While a growing trend for the last few decades, it’s now apparently firmly entrenched in the minds of directors and writers (and, unfortunately, many fans) that horror automatically means gratuitous violence and gore.

However, this is a sophomoric and lazy “cheap thrills” approach. “Slasher” films and books have nothing to do with the reality of ghosts and the paranormal. Instead, they rely on shock produced by violence and gore to elicit a reaction.

Starting roughly in the 1960s, the horror genera became less about the story and more about the violence and gore. With the violence and gore taking center stage, as audiences became accustomed to a certain level of violence and gore, the level kept increasing in order to still produce a “shock” reaction. We see the results in today’s “horror” films which attempt to outdo each other in body counts and means to inflict horrific death. Is this really a good situation?

What happened to the good old fashioned scary movie or book in which the horror was largely psychological? Remember the classic Universal movie monsters? Restricted from showing over-the-top violence and gore, the writers were forced to focus on the story. They didn’t have the lazy option of merely showing someone being sawed to pieces to illicit fear. Nosferatu didn’t even have sound, yet remains a deeply disturbing and scary depiction of vampirism.

One of the best horror films ever was the 1963 version of The Haunting.  Amazingly, there’s no crazed, paranormal psychopathic killer on the loose, slashing apart half-naked teens. Instead we’re treated to a highly realistic depiction of ghostly activity. Yes, one character dies at the end, crashing her car after being driven mad by the ghost. Yet we’re never sure if the ghost actually existed or existed only in the troubled young woman’s mind. This film is the stuff of psychological horror – real horror. For what greater horror is there than to be completely uncertain of the reality of one’s own mind?

Is it possible to leave the violence and gore behind to instead focus on the story? We certainly know it’s been done in the past.

The Christmas Tree Ghost Ship

The Rouse Simmons (Image: Chicago Christmas Ship)

The rats always desert a sinking ship.  The though kept repeating through the mind of sailor Hogan Hoganson as he watched rats fleeing the Rouse Simmons; dropping into the frigid water on that cold November day in 1912 as the ship sat tied to the wharf in Chicago.

The Rouse Simmons was the famous Chicago “Christmas Tree Ship.”  Every year at Christmas time, her captain, Herman Schuenemann, sailed across Lake Michigan to Manistique, Michigan, to pick up a load of Christmas trees.  Returning to Chicago, he’d tie-up near the Clark Street Bridge and sell the trees directly to residents of the Windy City.  Schuenemann also earned the moniker “Captain Santa” through his generously giving trees to needy families.

By the time the Rouse Simmons prepared for that faithful 1912 trip, she’d become fairly long in the tooth.  Built in 1868, she’d plied the Great Lakes lumber trade for around twenty years.  Following her lumber service, she changed hands several times until Herman Schuenemann acquired the ship in 1910 in a partnership with fellow captain Charles Nelson and businessman Mannes Bonner.

Schuenemann had the Rouse Simmons recaulked prior to his 1911 Christmas tree trip, but failed to do so before the 1912 sailing, possibly due to his financial situation in connection with debts owed.  Since the other passages had gone off without a hitch, Schuenemann likely expected no trouble.  Besides, even with a heavy cargo of 5,000 Christmas trees, the only real danger came if the tress got wet and froze.

Ominously, Schuenemann’s brother August had died during one of the Christmas tree runs in November 1898.  August had purchased 3,500 trees in Sturgeon Bay and was heading back to Chicago sailing the S. Thal with a crew of three when the ship was caught in a fierce storm off Glencoe, Illinois.  The S. Thal broke apart and went down with all hands.  Herman likely only missed the trip due to the birth of his twin daughters that October.

Despite the trepidation of some of the crew, including Captain Nelson, who told his sister before the voyage, “I know the Simmons isn’t safe, but I promised to go and I can’t go back on my word,” the ship reached port at Manistique without incident.  There the crew and dock hands began filling the ship with trees.

Already troubled by the vision of fleeing rats, the loading of the trees proved the final straw for sailor Hoganson, who refused to sail on the return trip to Chicago.  As he put it:

“When [the captain] had filled the hold with Christmas trees, we were ordered to pile up a deck load.  The load grew and grew and still they had us pilling more and more trees on top…I protested to Captain Nelson, telling him that if we struck heavy weather, the boat would be too top-heavy to weather it.  But the captain seemed to think he knew more about it than a seaman, and ordered us to pile more trees on deck.”

Captain Schuenemann, center (Image: Chicago Christmas Ship)

Schuenemann’s desire to pack the ship with as many trees as possible was likely due to the fact the unpredictable winter weather discouraged other captains from sailing late in the season, while a major snow storm had covered the tree farms in Michigan and Wisconsin.  With the shortage of trees from other sources, Schuenemann possibly saw the potential to make extra profit and pay off his debts.

The Rouse Simmons set out for Chicago on November 21^st with Schuenemann, Nelson and nine other crewmen.  Despite the Great Lakes’ reputation for ferocious winter storms, the 1912 season on Lake Michigan had so far been relatively quiet with only one major storm.  Unfortunately for the men of the Rouse Simmons another major storm was brewing and they found themselves right in the middle of it.

During the night of the 22^nd, fierce winds and waves battered the ship.  Two men were sent on deck to check the lashings for the trees.  A giant wave washed both men overboard along with several trees and the ship’s small boat (her only life boat).

In desperation, Captain Schuenemann directed the dying schooner towards the safety of Bailey’s Harbor.  The storm worsened and continued to buffet the vessel.  The trees remaining on deck began to cake with ice, adding significant additional weight to the already overloaded ship.

The logs of the Kewaunee Life Saving Station record the crew spotting a ship matching the description of the Rouse Simmons at 2:50 pm on November 23^rd.  She was riding low in the water and flying a distress flag.  The station’s rescue boat was out on another mission, so Keeper Nelson Craite telephoned Keeper George E. Sogge at nearby Two Rivers Life Saving Station, alerting him about a vessel in distress.

Shortly after 3:00 pm, Two Rivers station launched their gas-powered rescue boat Tuscarora in an attempt to assist the ailing Rouse Simmons.  The poor visibility made the task almost impossible.  The rescue boat momentarily spotted the Rouse Simmons riding dangerous low in the water, but quickly lost sight of her in the rapidly deteriorating weather conditions.  After an unsuccessful two-hour search, the storm and coming darkness forced the Tuscarora to return to port.  The Rouse Simmons and her crew were never seen or heard from again, although hope remained that she might have found safe harbor to ride out the storm.

A few days later, all hope was lost as bits of the Rouse Simmons began to wash up on shore, including a note.  The note, found stuffed inside a bottle crocked with a small piece of pine cut from one of the Christmas trees, read:

“Friday…everybody goodbye.  I guess we are all through.  During the night the small boat washed overboard.  Leaking bad.  Invald and Steve lost too.  God help us.”

True to form that the Great Lakes never give up her dead, the body of Captain Schuenemann was never recovered.

In 1924, Captain Schuenemann’s wallet, still wrapped in protective oilskin, was discovered in the net of a fishing boat.  Then in 1971, a salvage diver discovered the remains of the Rouse Simmons, her hold still filled with Christmas trees, resting in 172 feet of water.

Yet, since shortly after her fateful final voyage, Great Lakes sailors have reported seeing the ghost of the Rouse Simmons.  She’s most often spotted on moonlit nights, her sails ripped to tatters and wildly flapping about as if blown by gale winds, as she and her phantom crew continue in desperation to reach safety.  Sailors claim one moment she is there and the next she has vanished…

[© 2010 All rights reserved.  This copyrighted material may not be reposted or reproduced in any form without permission.]

A Glass of Water and a Cursed Town

Hendry County Courthouse (Image: Author)

It all began with a misunderstanding over a request for a glass of water.  On June 3, 1926, Henry Patterson, a black laborer, knocked on the backdoor of a home in LaBelle seeking a glass of water to help combat the hot, sticky Florida summer.  The housewife, seeing a strange black man at the backdoor and fearing the worse, fled screaming in a panic through the front door.

Rumor and hysteria spread like wildfire.  Several men of the town worked themselves into a fever pitch.  Before he even knew what was happening, Henry Patterson was dead, the victim of multiple gunshot wounds.

The sheriff rounded up about a dozen men believed responsible for Patterson’s death.  Not surprisingly for a small town in the 1920s south, evidence during the trial proved contradictory and confusing.  As a result, the judge ruled it was impossible to fix blame and dismissed the case.  No one was ever convicted for the senseless murder of Henry Patterson.

Following the trial, the rain dried up.  With little rain already, farmers looked forlornly towards the sky.  It rained in the counties near LaBelle, but not in or around the town itself, save for a few teasing drops – barely enough to even wet the dust.

Thunder boomed and rolled ominously on the horizon, but this wasn’t unusual for a Florida summer.  Suddenly, the town was jarred by a sharp crack and the sound of a massive explosion.  Residents felt the ground itself rumble.  The smell of ozone filled the air.  Rushing outside, townsfolk discovered a stray lightning bolt had stuck the courthouse clock tower, smashing and setting fire to the clock works.  The lightning strike caused the clock bell to sound and its vibrations lingered as the storm clouds quickly dissipated.

The town fathers said it was simply a freak of nature and quickly ordered the clock repaired.  But then the same thing happened again – and again.  The tower and the clock works were inspected and a lightning rod system installed.  Nothing seemed to help.  The clock was repaired only to be struck by lightning again.

Quiet whisperings began to circulate that Henry Patterson was having his revenge on LaBelle.  Cooler heads dismissed such suggestions as utter nonsense.  Events soon caused even the skeptics to question their off-hand dismissal of an otherworldly explanation.

As the town prepared to celebrate Independence Day on July 4, 1929, storm clouds again formed over LaBelle.  A massive bolt flashed from the clouds with a deafening roar.  It smashed into the clock tower with enough force to break off a large stone which smashed through the courthouse roof.  Venturing inside, residents discovered the stone had crashed into the courtroom where Patterson’s trail was held, nearly crushing the judge’s bench.

Coincidence or not, the town fathers decided to take no more chances.  The clock was dismantled, its works and massive hands stored in the courthouse basement.

Years passed; old residents left or died off, new people arrived.  Over time, people became so used to seeing the clock face without hands, many believed it’d never had any to begin with.  Some outsiders seeing the handless clock even assumed LaBelle was so laid back, the town didn’t bother to keep time.  The old clock bell was removed and given to a local Baptist church.  For years, the clock tower sat as a mute reminder of LaBelle’s shame.

As the years passed, the few remaining old-timers noticed the lightning strikes had stopped.  Hesitatingly, talk began of getting the old clock running once again.  New works were installed and the hands placed back on the clock face.  Finally, at 3 pm on Saturday, February 22, 1975, the clock was started.  It ran perfectly.  It continues to run to this day without incident.  Apparently, Henry Patterson satisfied his revenge.

Sherlock Holmes and the Paranormal

Sherlock Holmes by Sidney Paget (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

Although a fictional character, Sherlock Holmes provides us with solid wisdom when it comes to research and investigation.  What advice did the world’s first consulting detective leave us which might prove useful in our investigations?  Let’s consider some of his sage guidance.

I consider this first bit of counsel the most important:

“It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data.  Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.” – Sherlock Holmes, A Scandal in Bohemia

Not following this edict is the greatest problem plaguing paranormal research today.  We see it time after time with constantly predictable results.  A “researcher” assumes a “UFO” event represents contact by space aliens or another assumes unusual activity is “proof” of a ghost.  Just as Holmes warned, as soon as we approach an event with a pre-formed theory, we begin to twist the facts to match our explanation.  Some purposely twist the facts, while others do so without direct intention, yet the result is the same – data is formed to fit the conclusion instead of a conclusion formed to fit the data.

In exploring the unknown, we claim to be seeking the truth.  Despite this, many seem reluctant to accept the truth if it does not match a preconceived notion.  This seems especially the case when “believers” are confronted with evidence which proves an event has nothing to do with aliens or ghosts or Bigfoot or any other paranormal explanation, but instead has a completely natural explanation.  The truth is what it is.  We might not like the truth, but that does not prevent it from being the truth.

The plethora of “orb” photographs which continue to liter the internet prove a perfect example of this.  So many people want to believe in life after death, despite the overwhelming evidence that 99.99% of “orbs” are photographic artifacts cause by things like dust or insects, they decide “orbs” are “spirits” and steadfastly refuse to be swayed by facts.

The solution?  Follow Holmes’s advice: first collect the data then analyze it to form a conclusion.

We find similar advice here:

“We approached the case, you remember, with an absolutely blank mind, which is always an advantage.  We had formed no theories.  We were simply there to observe and to draw inferences from our observations.” – Sherlock Holmes, The Adventure of the Cardboard Box

Again, Holmes emphasizes the importance of approaching an investigation with a blank mind.  We don’t go charging in with the assumption “the butler did it” and then selectively sift through the data to prove our conclusion.  Instead, we gather evidence and follow the facts to wherever they lead.  This might lead us to conclude an event is of paranormal origin or it might not.  We follow the facts.  We don’t make the facts follow us.

“It is of the highest importance in the art of detection to be able to recognize out of a number of facts which are incidental and which vital.  Otherwise your energy and attention must be dissipated instead of being concentrated.” – Sherlock Holmes, The Reigate Puzzle

This is yet another critical bit of advice for investigators.  We must develop the ability to “separate the wheat from the chaff.”  We must determine what is relevant and what is not.  Background research is one way to develop this ability.  The more we know our subject, the more we gain the ability to recognize the important from the unimportant.

We see this “rule” violated anytime a researcher focuses on an unimportant bit of trivia or attempts to connect unrelated events.  As an example, a MUFON journal article several years ago mentioned the fact a British researcher was claiming he received highly classified information on UFOs from members of GCHQ (the British equivalent of the NSA).  The author tells us following these claims this researcher received a visit from British security personnel.  The author then violates Holmes advice by inappropriately connecting the two events, claiming the visit from the security personnel proved the researcher did in fact have leaked classified information on UFOs.  The article’s author failed to consider the fact the researcher was claiming GCHQ personnel were leaking top-secret information.  Such an assertion would of course prompt an investigation to determine if any information was actually being leaked.  It has nothing to do with claims about the content of the information.  Instead it’s a prime example of how some researchers in their zeal for “evidence” will connect unrelated events in an attempt to “prove” their assertions.

Finally…

“When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” – Sherlock Holmes, The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier

This represents the real task of our investigations.  We must eliminate what cannot be in order to reach what is.  This is not an easy process.  Far too often researchers are content to eliminate only some of the impossible.  Yet, before reaching the conclusion an event was the result of the paranormal or unexplained, we must first eliminate other natural explanations as impossible.  To do otherwise means we’ve done nothing more than perhaps arrived at a possible explanation, but we have certainly not arrived at the truth.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

This is where I have a problem with so-called “alien abductions.”  In nearly every case, “proof” of abduction is based on nothing more than the person’s belief he or she was abducted by aliens.  Mere belief does not prove abduction.  I have no doubt that in their minds many of these people are convinced they were abducted by aliens.  However, there are other possible explanations for these experiences.  Any reasonable person must admit alien abduction is rather improbable.  Therefore to show it’s the truth, we must first eliminate the impossible, which means proving other causes are not the explanation.  Until this happens, the “truth” of alien abduction remains pure conjecture.

What happened to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle when he failed to follow his character’s advice?  Despite being a highly educated and intelligent person, Doyle allowed himself to be drawn into the “believer” camp.  He so wanted the fantastic to be true, he uncritically accepted it as such.  For example, he became so drawn into spiritualism, even when shown solid evidence of fraudulent activity, he continued to believe.  On another occasion, he famously pronounced as genuine photographs of fairies which were later proven nothing more than cardboard cutouts.

Cottingley Fairies (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

In order to conduct valid research and reach truthful conclusions, we must forego the uncritical “belief” of the good Dr. Doyle and instead follow the sage advice of his creation, Mr. Sherlock Holmes.

[© 2010 All rights reserved.  This copyrighted material may not be reposted or reproduced in any form without permission.]

“Strange” Lights over SWFL Update

Hats off to NBC 2 in Ft Myers.  After taking a light-hearted approach to their initial story of people reporting “strange” lights off the southwest Florida coast, the station actually followed up on the story today with more solid investigation.

Homestead Air Reserve Base, which is located near Miami, is taking credit for the light show.  A spokesman for the base says they were conducting flare training exercises, which are required on a quarterly basis.  Homestead Air Reserve Base operates F-16 fighter aircraft, which employ flare counter measures.  Additional witness photos and video give a fuller picture and do seem to show flares.

In order to maintain operational currency, Air Force pilots are required to complete a certain number of training events within certain timeframes which are airframe-specific.  For example, they must log a certain number of instruments approaches in order to maintain instrument currency.  Fighter pilots must additionally complete a certain amount of fighter-specific training events, including training in use of countermeasures.

There are designated Warning Areas off the Florida coast in the area where people reported these lights.  The Air Force prefers to practice with flares over water, particularly after setting a brush fire a few years ago touched off by a flare.

While they’re called “flares,” most people don’t understand the type of flares we’re talking about bear almost no resemblance to the roadside flares with which most people are familiar.  Instead, aircraft use specially-designed, very sophisticated flares as countermeasures against missiles.  Very simply, most missiles are looking for the heat signature given off by an aircraft’s engine(s).  The missile can be “fooled” if another “hotter” heat signature appears.  That’s what flares are designed to do – “trick” the missiles.  As I learned doing some additional research today, in recent years flares have become even more technologically advanced in order to keep up with advances in missile seeker head technology.  In order to defeat newer missiles which employ sensors that can “see” color, today’s flares are “multispectral” flares which change color as they burn.

Finally, the timeframe during which these lights were observed turns out to be much shorter than originally implied.  It’s now reported the people saw the lights around 2120 for only “several minutes.”  This time frame is consistent with fighters ejecting flares in order to “check the box” and complete a quarterly training requirement.

Given all this, I’m very comfortable with the explanation that these lights were in fact flares from F-16s operating in designated military training areas.  Considering the (now obvious) likelihood of people seeing these flares and misidentifying them, Homestead should have notified the media in advance.  I chalk this up to someone not thinking as opposed to some sort of secret squirrel conspiracy.

Case closed.

[© 2010 All rights reserved.  This copyrighted material may not be reposted or reproduced in any form without permission.]

Strange Lights Spotted over SWFL Coast

[Note: In case you came directly to this story instead of through the homepage, my update to this story is here.]

According to a NBC 2 News report this morning (http://www.nbc-2.com/Global/story.asp?S=13156353), residents along the southwest Florida coast from Ft. Myers Beach to Marco Island spotted “strange” lights off the coast Tuesday evening (14 Sep).  The Coast Guard claims the military was conducting “training.”  Viewing the video attached to the story, as a former Air Force pilot, I cannot identify the lights, however it was not of the best quality and shows the lights only briefly.  Warning Area W-168 (which are areas overwater in which the miliary conducts training) is off the coast of Ft. Myers, so it is not at all beyond the realm of possibility that the military was conducting training and that the lights are aircraft position lights or flares — perhaps someone else has seen this pattern and knows what they are for sure?   The news station, in typical fashion, laughs it all off as a joke, but claims they’re going to look into it more today.  Time will tell if they actually follow through.  Interestingly, the area of Tuesday’s reports includes Capri Island, where residents reported seeing mysterious lights earlier this year.

[© 2010 All rights reserved.  This copyrighted material may not be reposted or reproduced in any form without permission.]