On the old Route 66 northeast of Oklahoma City lies a four-mile rural road eerily known as the Devil’s Promenade This is home to a ghostly enigma that has baffled ghost hunters for more than a century.

Since 1881, this area has witnessed the appearance of the strange basketball-sized glowing orb known as the Hornet Spook Light, which bears the name of the former town of Hornet. Nobody is aware of the meaning, origin, or make-up of this strange, smoldering ball of light. The Army Corps of Engineers calls it a “mysterious light of unknown origin.” It is typically seen from inside the Oklahoma border looking west. It moves like a lantern held by a dancing ghost, twirling and bobbing up and down. Vance Randolph, a local, wrote about the phenomenon in his 1947 book “Ozark Magic and Folklore”. “The thing looked yellowish to me, but some observers describe it as red, green, blue, or even purple in color. One man swore that it passed so close to him that he could plainly feel the heat, and a woman saw it burst like a bubble, scattering sparks in all directions.” Locals concur that the Hornet Spook Light indeed exists, although they disagree on its cause. Others claimed it was “the spirit of a Quapaw maiden who drowned herself in the river when her warrior was killed in battle,” while some thought it was the ghost of an assassinated Osage chief. Others believe that swamp gas is to blame for the lights.

Until now, the enigmatic ball has remained what it has always been: a mystery. What could it truly be?