Summerville, a small town in South Carolina, is famous for its ghost stories, one of which is the legend of the Summerville Light. According to the tale, a railroad worker’s widow waited for her husband’s return but died of grief after his death. Her spirit is said to haunt the area, and people claim to have seen a flickering light along an old dirt road that follows abandoned railroad tracks.
Seismologist Susan Hough, however, believes that this tale can be explained by natural phenomena. While studying the area’s seismic activity, Hough discovered that the region has a history of earthquakes, including a major event in 1886. She hypothesizes that some reports of paranormal activity might be attributed to the shallow earthquakes that may have occurred in the area.
Hough’s research suggests that the reports of strange lights and noises, as well as the violent shaking of cars, can be explained by the effects of low-level earthquake activity. She also notes that the area is seismically active, with faults that run under the swampy sediments.
The same seismologist has also examined reports of earthquake lights, which are known to occur in areas where the earth is stretched and has a high concentration of iron and magnesium. The Charleston area meets these criteria, making it an appealing explanation for the ghost stories.
Several theories have been proposed to explain earthquake lights, including the release of electrical charges as minerals deform before an earthquake and the buildup of static electricity that can cause gases like methane to combust, producing colored light. The old rail lines and debris in the area could also have provided the spark for the lights, Hough said.
Despite the presence of a highway offramp that now blocks the stretch of Light Road where the lights were reported, the eerie tale of Summerville may still be visited by the ghostly gleams in the pine forest. In the same vein, similar ghost stories can be found near other railroad tracks, including one in Maco, North Carolina, where a railroad worker searches for his lost head.
