The Surrency Spook Light

[MrRING]

I was preparing to write about An American Haunting in the Bell Witch thread and I got out my book on the subject, which mentioned that one of the early books on the haunting was bundled with details of a similar haunting in Surrency, Georgia. It has been associated with the Surrency Spook Light (an earth light phenomenon), but apparently the bulk of the actual haunting occured in the 1870's.

On Uri Gellar's site, he quotes the Surrency tale from one of the Bell Witch books but doesn't realise it! (You can tell because it mentions the wrong date [1879]and family [Surrency rather than Bell]):

http://www.uri-geller.com/bellextr.htm

Summer 1879

" ‘Mother was of a calm, placid disposition, and not easily aroused by trifles. On this same afternoon that I mention, her attention was attracted by a strange noise from a wash stand in the room. She looked in the direction and saw a pitcher in the bowl on the washstand rocking back and forth.’ "

" ‘She went to see if a string or wire were attached to it, thinking it perhaps a boyish prank; finding none, she resumed her sewing, when she was amazed to see the pitcher lift itself several inches from the bowl, then settle down into it again, with a loud noise.’ "

" ‘Then the pitcher was lifted entirely out of the bowl and placed with deliberate care, beside it on the washstand.’ "

" ‘Immediately after this the bowl was flung from the washstand, and fell in fragments at mother's feet, and in quick succession the smaller pieces of the entire toilet set followed, adding their several little heaps to the debris on the floor. From that day the peace and quiet of the happy old homestead were destroyed.’ "

" ‘The next day, the family was eating dinner, when a door opening on the front gallery, and which was standing open, began to move slowly, and was shut with calm deliberation.’ "

" ‘ "That was done," said mother, quietly, "by the wind." ’ "

" ‘But she had scarcely spoken when the door opened, and was flung back against the wall with great violence. At the same time two windows in the room were raised and lowered many times, breaking the panes into tiny bits.’ "

" ‘These were only small beginnings. Frequently during the meal hour, milk, tea, coffee and soup were flung into the faces of those at the table, several times inflicting painful scalds and burns. Spoons were broken, or suddenly twisted out of shape in their hands.’ "

" ‘At first the demonstrations were confined to the dining room and mother's bedroom, but after a few days they spread until there was not a room in the house free from the frightful phenomenon.’ "

" ‘At all hours of the day and night, the heavy old fashioned furniture would creak and groan, then as if moved by unseen giants, it would rush from its place in a mad dance about the room, and would either move quietly back to its accustomed place or would be dashed to splinters on the floor, with noise like a thunderbolt.’ "

" ‘One of the most singular phases of the phenomenon was the affect that the presence of the young daughter of the house, Miss Clementine Surrency, had upon the strange demonstrations. From the very beginning of the trouble it was noticed that when she was present, the manifestations were more potent and varied.’ "

" ‘Anything she chanced to lay her hands upon seemed drawn to her by some strange law of magnetism, and would follow her movements through the house, floating slowly through the air behind her, several feet from the floor, as if supported by invisible hands.’ "

" ‘Her mere entrance into a room would frequently be cause sufficient to send all the furniture in its spinning around in a mad whirl, lasting several minutes, and would either end suddenly in profound quiet, or in a loud crash, wrecking some favorite heirloom.’ "

An Overview

A 'ghost' put this town on the map. In 1872, Mrs. Welthier Surrency told her 2 boys to go sit and talk with visiting minister in the parlor of their large home.But the minister cut short his visit when a heavy, blazing log flew out of the fireplace and across the room. Later, the Surrency's daughter was pelted with a shower of hot bricks as she walked up the front steps.Once, Mrs. Surrency was sewing in the parlor when her stitching was jerked from her hands and started circling the room.Her thimbles, scissors, and spools of thread joined the anazing aerial procession.Eventually, the 'ghost' broke every bit of glass and pottery in the house.Pots turned over and spilled their contents on the stove,pans of biscuits floated out the oven and through the back door.The case became famous, and thousands of people came to the Surrency house to see moving furniture, broken dishes, and missing windowpanes. Sometimes, the 'ghost' would hurl logs or irons at the visitors.The haunting continued for 5 years, with most of the activity centering around the daughter, Clementine. When the Surrency family relocated, the ghost went along and stated 'its'bothersome behavior all over again. The beleagured family moved back to town and lived with the 'poltergeist' until the summer of 1877, when 'it' suddenly stopped bothering them. But the house was still considered to be possessed of evil and was burned down in 1925. Haunted Places,pp.141-142.

More Spook Light Info

The Surrency Spook Light is located in Surrency, Georgia along the Macon/Brunswick railroad tracks. Surrency, which was incorporated in 1911, is a small town of about 300 people in the southeast portion of Georgia. The light itself is described as a bright yellow ball that dissapears when approached. Sightings of the light began in the early 1900s, and apparently continue to the present day.

Some theorize that the light is a product of a geologic anomaly deep under the town of Surrency. The anomaly, discovered in 1985 during a regional seismic survey, is theorized to be a convex shaped pocket of liquid about nine miles underground, unlike anything else in the world. Scientists are puzzled by the anomaly, since liquid is not supposed to be able to form so far underground. Just to confuse things, this anomaly is also known as the "Surrency Bright Spot" ("Bright" because it reflects a larger than normal amount of radio waves) and is not to be confused with the actual light itself, which is called the "Spook Light."

Others believe the light is connected to the famous Surrency Ghost. The home of town founder A.P. Surrency was known to be haunted from the 1870s until it burned down in 1925. The haunting became well-known after A.P. himself wrote a letter in 1875 to the Savannah Morning News detailing the manifestations. The "haunting" had poltergeist-like qualities to it, such as mysterious noises and objects being thrown about or appearing out of nowhere. Disembodies voices were heard on the property as well.

 

[EnolaGaia]

Here's an article from strangemag.com regarding the Surrency Spook Light.

The Surrency Spook Light
by Curt Rowlett

The Surrency spook light is a classic example of the ghost light phenomena in the best tradition of some of the more famous ones already familiar to most Forteans, such as the Marfa Light in Texas and the Brown Mountain Light in North Carolina.

Theories as to the causes of ghost lights include the usual explanations such as ball lightening, car headlights reflections seen through fog, seismic activity, mirages and the ever popular "swamp gas."

For the greater part, ghost lights seem to appear mostly in and around mountainous areas, in swamps and along train tracks.

The site of the Surrency light (called the "spook light" by locals) is centralized along a stretch of the Macon/Brunswick railway that runs through the small town of Surrency, Georgia.

This Surrency light was first brought to my attention in 1989 by an acquaintance who is a resident of nearby Baxley, Georgia and whom I'll refer to here as "James Joyner."

Throughout his life, Mr. Joyner has lived in Baxley and has witnessed the Surrency light on several occasions, encountering the phenomenon for the first time as a teenager.

He described to me how one night he and some friends went out to the local railway area where others claimed the light could be seen. He was standing on the train track when the light appeared several hundred yards in front of him, hovering silently over the railway. Mr. Joyner's description of the light was "a very bright, golden-yellow light, about the size and shape of a grapefruit." When he tried to approach the light, it began to move toward him until it finally blinked out, only to then reappear behind him! (He describes his other experience as being quite similar to the first).

The Surrency Light has been an observable phenomena since the turn of the century.

Explanations for the causes of the light vary from the local belief that it is somehow connected to the famous Surrency ghost that haunted the hotel/home of a Mr. A. P. Surrency (for whom the town is named) to the discovery of a mysterious geological formation underneath the ground in Surrency, as theorized by Cornell University professor Larry Brown.

The Surrency hauntings were first written about in the Savannah Morning News after the paper received a letter from A. P. Surrency describing what he claimed were supernatural occurrences taking place in his home. (1)

Personal accounts from diaries, as well as from books and magazines, have described instances in the Surrency house where, allegedly, tables flew through the air, mirrors exploded in hallways, clocks began spinning crazily after witnesses reported hearing a mysterious "buzzing" noise, hot bricks fell from the sky, lights flickered in the dark and voices were heard screaming, crying or laughing in and around the premises. The hauntings reportedly continued until the house burned down in 1925. (2)

There may be a more earthly explanation, however.

Geological professor Larry Brown was part of a scientific team that discovered what may be an ancient reservoir of water or other fluid lying nine miles beneath a pine forest in Surrency. Dr. Brown is a director of the Cornell University-based Consortium for Continental Reflective Profiling (COCORP) which developed a detailed picture of the Earth's mantle. Dr. Brown describes this reservoir as "about two miles in diameter and apparently shaped like a contact lens." He also states that "we really don't have a good idea what the formation is composed of. If it is water, it would upset a lot of scientific theories as it is theoretically impossible for water or other fluids to exist at such a great depth due to the intense heat and pressure."

After Surrency Mayor Stanford Tillman was informed of the geologic discovery, he was quoted as saying, "A lot of us suspect that the [Surrency House hauntings] had something to do with the unusual magnetic activities in our area. The discovery of this object formation is very exciting to me." (4) ...

Footnotes

1. Savannah Morning News, Oct. 23, 1872 edition.
2. Footprints in Appling County, Ruth T. Barron, Dallas, Ga., Taylor Publishing, 1981.
3. Surrency Bright Spot, Old IllumiNet computer file: Rbbs/dl bright txt, May, 24, 1987
4. Surrency Bright Spot Under Georgia's Piney Woods, April 2, 2005, Unexplainable.net, www.unexplainable.net/artman/publish/article_1834.shtml

SOURCE: http://www.strangemag.com/surrencyspooklight.html

 

[EnolaGaia]

Here's a 2001 / 2002 article from a defunct Georgia haunts website ...

Surrency Spook Light
Surrency, Georgia

The Surrency Spook Light is located in Surrency, Georgia along the Macon/Brunswick railroad tracks. Surrency, which was incorporated in 1911, is a small town of about 300 people in the southeast portion of Georgia. The light itself is described as a bright yellow ball that disappears when approached. Sightings of the light began in the early 1900s, and apparently continue to the present day.

Some theorize that the light is a product of a geologic anomaly deep under the town of Surrency. The anomaly, discovered in 1985 during a regional seismic survey, is theorized to be a convex shaped pocket of liquid about nine miles underground, unlike anything else in the world. Scientists are puzzled by the anomaly, since liquid is not supposed to be able to form so far underground. Just to confuse things, this anomaly is also known as the "Surrency Bright Spot" ("Bright" because it reflects a larger than normal amount of radio waves) and is not to be confused with the actual light itself, which is called the "Spook Light."

Others believe the light is connected to the famous Surrency Ghost. The home of town founder A.P. Surrency was known to be haunted from the 1870s until it burned down in 1925. The haunting became well-known after A.P. himself wrote a letter in 1875 to the Savannah Morning News detailing the manifestations. The "haunting" had poltergeist-like qualities to it, such as mysterious noises and objects being thrown about or appearing out of nowhere. Disembodies voices were heard on the property as well.

SALVAGED FROM THE WAYBACK MACHINE:
https://web.archive.org/web/2002102....homestead.com/files/Surrency_Spook_Light.htm