The Spooklight, also known as the Hornet Spooklight, Hollis Light, and Joplin Spook Light, is a mysterious light that appears on the border between southwestern Missouri and northeastern Oklahoma, near the small town of Hornet, Missouri. This light is caused by people seeing distant car headlights incorrectly. It is located at 36°56′38.18″N 94°38′34.80″W  /  36.9439389°N 94.6430000°W  /  36.9439389; -94.6430000.

Origin and history

A section of Route 66 that runs from east to west, near Quapaw, Oklahoma, lines up with a farm road named E 50, which is commonly called "Spooklight Road." This road is about ten miles (16 km) east of Route 66, across Spring River. Because of this alignment, headlights from cars traveling east on Route 66 can sometimes be seen from higher ground along E 50. This is how the Spooklight appears. The first person to write about this in a newspaper was AB MacDonald, who mentioned it in the January 1936 issue of the Kansas City Star. Scientists have tested this many times using experiments. For example, fireworks, spotlights, and car headlights placed along Route 66 have been seen by people watching from Spooklight Road. These tests were conducted in 1946 by Thomas Sheard, in 1955 by a group from Kansas City, in 1965 by Robert Gannon, and in 2015 by Allen Rice and his team called "Boomers."

Stories about the Spooklight being a ghost light that existed before cars are not supported by any written records. Research by journalist Paul W. Johns found no references to the Spooklight in newspapers before 1926, the year that section of Route 66 was officially named.

In the 1960s, there was a museum near the eastern end of E 50 that focused on the Spooklight. A writer named Robert Gannon described the museum as a "tourist trap that doesn't quite make it." The museum had a telescope that was three inches wide (76 mm), which visitors could use to see the light for 25 cents. However, the telescope was placed indoors and only allowed light to pass through a small hole in the wall, making it unable to clearly show the light. The owner said this setup was to protect the telescope from rain. Gannon brought a similar telescope and showed that the Spooklight was actually two car headlights, which always appeared together.

For many years, local businesses and groups like chambers of commerce have helped spread the legend of the Spooklight to attract tourists. In 1969, the Missouri Chamber of Commerce published a false statement in newspapers, claiming scientists had not found an explanation for the light. In 1955, the Joplin Chamber of Commerce created a guidebook titled The Tri-State Spook Light, and in 1963, the Neosho Chamber of Commerce made its own tourist booklet. In the 1950s, the Missouri Division of the U.S. Brewers Foundation ran ads in newspapers, hoping the Spooklight would increase beer sales to visitors.

Mythology

Many stories are told about where the Spooklight comes from. Some online stories say that a person named Foster Young wrote a book called "The Ozark Spook Light" in the 1880s. This book was supposed to argue against the idea that the lights are from faraway car headlights. However, no proof has been found that the book or the person who wrote it ever existed.