Florida is the epicenter of strange happenings in the country.
A stretch of road has haunted drivers in the Sunshine State.
And one unexplained mystery in Florida has been scaring the hell out of drivers for decades.
Ghost lights haunt drivers on a lonely stretch of road in Florida
For more than 60 years mysterious lights have appeared during the winter along Snow Hill Road in Seminole County, Florida.
The back road runs from the small towns of Chuluota, Florida to Geneva on the outskirts of Orlando.
Florida historian Jason Byrne said that the “Oviedo Lights” have been sighted on Snow Hill Road since the 1960s.
The blue lights often appear around midnight and make it seem like there is an oncoming car on the road.
But the lights are extremely bright like those on a train.
They always appear near a bridge on the Econlockhatchee River.
“From a distance, it resembles an oncoming car, but as it approaches, witnesses say its light is as bright as a freight train and never separates into two lights, as would car lights,” Byrne explained. “Its tint takes on a discernably bluish hue as it starts to wobble slightly and then disappears promptly as it crosses the bridge, never making a sound.”
#Florida – The “Oviedo Lights” have been reported on Snow Hill Road, a straight shot connecting Chuluota, Fla. to Geneva, Fla. since the 1960s, according to local Florida historian Jason Byrne.https://t.co/XNspDPQ4X6 pic.twitter.com/begL4sXa5p
— CurleeQ (@CurleeQS) November 11, 2024
Florida’s ghost lights have haunted generations
Bryne said that stories about the ghost lights have been passed down for decades by teenagers.
“You drive out there and sit in the middle of the night — drink beer or whatever teenagers do — and look for these legendary lights,” Byrne told News 6. “So there’s literally generations of people who remember going out there, taking a date or taking some friends in search of these ghost lights.”
Locals have stories about how the lights started.
Some say the lights are from a car crash where two teenagers drowned in the Econlockhatchee River.
Others claim that they come from a Cub Scout who got lost with a lantern on a trip that was never found.
Byrnes told News 6 that only one backstory about the ghost lights was ever confirmed.
Norbert Hyman, a 17-year-old, went with some of his friends to set off fireworks in 1963.
One of his friends went to get the car but forgot to turn on the headlights.
Hyman was struck by the car and killed while his two friends were able to jump out of the way.
“Whether you believe it’s the root of the actual ghost story — and this kid is ‘haunting,’ if that’s your way of believing — or whether you just think that it’s the root ghost story that kicked off all these other stories, that’s, I guess, up to the reader,” Byrne explained.
The most likely reason for the ghost lights is a phenomenon known as will-o’-the-wisp or swamp gas.
Dead vegetation in the marshes around the Econlockhatchee bridge breaks down into methane gas which spontaneously ignites creating what looks like blue flickering lights at night.
The eerie ghost lights that haunt drivers on the Florida back road could have a natural explanation.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
