Joplin Spooklight Investigation 2022

This Spooklight has been seen since 1881 and actually appears in Oklahoma even though several Missouri cities claim this light like; Seneca, Hornet, Neosha and Joplin. This light long precedes the invention of the automobile so the very early sightings could not have been automobile headlights. Modern day investigators have tried to pass off the light as nothing more than car headlights traveling along Interstate 44 which is impossible.

The elevation of E50 (Spooklight Road) is from 895-1067 feet according to topographical maps that were obtained. The elevation of I-44 varies from 813-882 feet which means that the car headlights traveling on I-44 would be below the visible horizon. If those lights were to mysteriously appear on E50, they would have be reflected or refracted due to some abnormal temperature inversion layer and would not be seen every night.

These lights have been seen on the hoods of cars traveling down E50 as well as the back window of a school bus which greatly frightened the students coming home from school.

In 1942, a group of students from the University of Michigan camped for two weeks in the area, testing and experimenting. They even shot at it with high-powered rifles (not too smart of a thing to do if some of the lights could have been real autos driving down E50) and came away with no answer.

The Army Corp of Engineers from Camp Crowder looked into this phenomenon under the direction of Capt. Bob Loftin in 1946. They used every type of experiment known, including the use of signal lights on a road 13 miles away, trying to prove that car lights were the source of the ghost light. They made no definite conclusion.

Capt. R.L. Loftin, later believed the engineers had used the wrong road. He made experiments with spotlights on Hwy 66 (as it was called at the time) and was convinced the car light theory was right. He explained the ghost light’s variable appearance by the double refraction of light. He described a high ridge between the ghost light road and the highways. He believed that the density and rarity of atmosphere as it rises over the ridge causes the light to bend and act spookily as it does. However, that doesn’t explain the sightings well before the invention of automobiles or the extremely phenomenon that he offered above.

When I wrote a letter to the Department of Army, Tulsa District of the Army Corps of Engineers on January 11, 1983 and inquired about Loftin’s investigation, Chief of Public Affairs, John O. Thisler wrote back;

“The Tulsa District of the Corps of Engineers has never made any investigation of the Spooklight near Joplin, Missouri. The Joplin area was, at one time, part of the area included in the Tulsa District’s boundary but no study or investigation of the light was ever made.”

This is very confusing!

In the fall of 1955 a scientific safari from Shawnee Mission, Kansas high school conducted other experiments. They came equipped at the time, with every known type of camera, electronic measuring and communication equipment and camped on the spot. They tested theories of mine gases, atmospheric electricity, car lights and were also baffled in the end.

The Ghost Research Society’s first investigation of this light was on Labor Day weekend in 1982. We observed the light using high-powered binoculars and were amazed at what we saw.

In 2022 there was a total lunar eclipse.

Address: E50 and State Line Road, Joplin, Missouri

Hauntings: During our observations we saw a very bright light off to the left of the road near a barn. It was so bright that we initially thought the barn was on fire. We did not see a “ball of light” but a triangular-shaped object with a hollow center that you could actually see trees and bushes through!! It slowly dipped below a hill and left in its wake, a twinkling almost phosphorescent effect.

We slowly crept up the road in our car when suddenly this object slowly appeared directly in front of us at a distance of about 30 feet! It hovered for a few seconds before disappeared below the hill in our line of sight. Again, it left behind a twinkling effect like hundreds of fireflies. As we topped the hill within 30 seconds, the object was way off in the distance; approximately a mile away! It had moved that quickly in that short space of time. We were all amazed!

That same weekend, as I parked the car and began to walk towards an extremely bright light, I found quite a number of people sitting off the side of the road. They said that this light was rolling down the road, shooting off sparks of electricity. Suddenly when the crunch of gravel from approaching cars were heard, the light rose into the air approximately twelve feet off the ground and then shot off in either direction to the left and right and disappeared!

I also personally experienced a quite unusual phenomenon. As I walked down the road, I came across a dip in the road that I said was a hollow. As I stepped into that area, I suddenly fear an intense feeling of anxiety and a fight or flight experience. As I took a few steps backwards, I felt nothing. As I moved forward again, there was the extreme fear sensation that came over me!

John A. Keel, author of the famous book, The Mothman Prophecies, experience a very similar occurrence while in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. He quotes while near the old TNT factory;

“As I passed a certain point on one of the isolated roads I was suddenly engulfed in fear. I stepped on the gas and after I went a few yards my fear vanished as quickly as it came. I continued to drive, eventually returning again to the same spot. And again a wave of unspeakable fear swept over me. I drove quickly away from the place and then stopped, puzzled. Why would this one stretch of road produce this hair-raising effect? I turned around and slowly headed back, trying to note trees, fence posts, and other landmarks in the dark. Once again, when I reached that particular point the hair tingled on the back of my neck and I became genuinely afraid. When I emerged from the other side of the invisible zone I stopped and got out of my car. The air was perfectly still. There wasn’t any audible sound, not even a bird call.

I walked back to the “zone of fear” slowly, alert for any rustle of bushes, measuring my own breathing and emotions. I was perfectly calm until I took one step too many was back in the zone. I almost panicked and ran, but I forced myself to look around and proceed slowly. By now I had figured out that I was probably walking through a beam of ultrasonic waves and really had nothing to be afraid of.

In daylight I returned to the same spot. The zone of fear was gone. I searched for power transmission lines, telephone microwave towers, and anything that might have radiated energy through the area. There was nothing.”

I had experience the same thing. I have since been back to that exact same area again from year to year and never experienced any weird sensations since. It was an unknown area that caused my fear and reaction. This area was extremely close to where we had observed the triangular-shaped object.

After I had explained to Pat Shenberg, a professional psychic that I had worked with for many years, she told me that our team could have been in extreme danger. She called the object, a portal to other dimension and if by some chance we would have entered into that void, there’s no way of knowing what might have happened to us!

In the past a number of very interesting pictures and videos were taken along this road but unfortunately during our most recent trip in 2022, we did not observe the light at all. Nor was the light seen during a segment for a television show that I was a part of called The Other Side on February 12, 1995.

Equipment setup: Nightshot 4k video camcorders were setup along with a number of pictures that were taken.

Experiments performed: Visual observations were conducted throughout the night but the light never appeared. The “Zone of Fear” wasn’t encountered as well.

Personal experiences:

Charles Williams: Personal Experiences: None; Equipment: 4K cameras, Zoom Recorder

We surveyed the area up and down the road, it was nice being there, and seeing where the Spooklight Museum used to be.

The Spooklight however didn’t make an appearance. We interacted with others who came to view the Spooklight. Dale did Facebook Live.

Dale Kaczmarek: It was a disappointing 10 hour drive to show the area where the light used to appear. We explored the entire road and looked down the road, hoping to see the Spooklight but to no avail. We did meet some very nice people that related some of their Spooklight encounters. I was able to find the locations along the road where we had seen the light from in the past.

Picture taken by Dale Kaczmarek on September 5, 1982

The Ghost Research Society investigated the Joplin Spooklight on May 15, 2022. Team members included: Paul Adams, Charles Williams and Dale Kaczmarek

Evidence collected: None.

Conclusions: The last two times I visited this area, the light did not manifest. I’m wondering if the light is going through a dormant state just like apparitional hauntings do. Considering this light has been around for 141 years, skipping a year or two doesn’t mean that the light won’t be seen again.

If we decide to come down this way again, I would reach out to people I know in the area including local press and television to find out if there have been any recent sightings of the light. Otherwise it’s simply not worth the long trip only to find out that it hasn’t been seen in a while.