Summerville Light

A floating light hovers over old abandoned railroad tracks in Summerville. Most people think it's a woman searching for her husband's head — he was decapitated, and she never stopped looking.

On the old railroad tracks near Summerville, a mysterious floating light has been reported for over a century. Legend holds that a railroad worker was decapitated in a train accident, and his wife took a lantern to the tracks each night searching for his body. She eventually died of grief, but her phantom lantern still bobs along the tracks on dark nights. The light appears as a warm, yellowish glow that moves slowly above the rail bed, sometimes approaching witnesses before vanishing. USGS seismologist Susan Hough has offered a scientific explanation — suggesting the lights may be caused by earthquake activity, as many sightings coincide with periods of seismic stress in the region. However, locals insist the phenomenon is clearly supernatural, as the light sometimes responds to observers, approaching when called to and retreating when chased.