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The
Bodan Creek ran through my mother’s family land on its way southwest
to the Neches
River. As a child during the 1930’s and 40’s my parents took me
to visit this 140+ acres about every other weekend of each year. The
Bodan crossed the road I later named Edwards Loop, about 200 yards
from the house. I played in the creek bed when it was dry and tried
to dam it up when it had water.
My Uncle Jack had a battery-powered radio that could pick up The Grande
Ole Opry on Saturday night. He would listen usually while he sat in
his rocking chair on the front porch smoking his pipe of Prince Albert
tobacco. Jack spent his life plowing and I often ran behind, listening
to him talk to the mule. One Saturday night Jack recalled seeing a
glow, in the direction of the Bodan.
Electrical service for this area was still 10 years in the future
so this light must have come from a lantern or some unknown source.
Suspecting the latter, Jack loaded his shotgun and followed a cow
trail he knew would approach the mysterious glow. |
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F inally
reaching a nearby view point, he crouched as the glow moved from behind
a high creek bank that hid the light. Perhaps twenty feet before him
he saw what looked like a dim lamp, maybe one foot in diameter. It
was in the middle of the creek bed unsupported in mid-air about three
feet above water level. Silently the mysterious glow moved slowly
down stream until it disappeared. Jack remained motionless, frozen
in his crouched position and puzzled.
He returned to the porch where he tried to understand what he had
just seen. The night was dark and heavy with humidity, he recalled,
but he never understood what he saw. Over the years before his death,
he told me the story several times but the ending never changed.
Now 70 years later the Bodan still feeds into the Neches
River that flows southeast into Tyler
County. From Woodville
south to Saratoga,
in the Big Thicket, strange lights have been seen in the past on a
regular basis. When electricity began coming to these remote areas
in 1947, mystery light reports reduced. Now when darkness falls, electric
lights come on. This causes naturally occurring fluorescent objects
and unknown glowing phenomena to go unnoticed.
– Ken
Rudine |
Forum:
Subject: Bodan Ghost Light
I
have recently read a story you wrote about the Bodan Ghost Light.
I live in Pollok
on Choppin Rd. as my family has live here for the past one hundred
years. I have seen the ghost light and all I can say is that I thought
I was crazy until I read your story. I saw the light further down
Bodan than the area you described (closer to the Neches) and it appeared
higher for I saw it through the branches of the trees along the creek
bank. At first I thought it may have been a helicopter with a spotlight
hovering over that area; however, there was no sound nor was there
any movement with the light plus the light really needed to be brighter
to be a spotlight. I thought it may be the moon; conversely, I found
the moon seconds later and it was only a sliver in a different area
of the sky. I thought about this for months trying to find an explanation
that would make me feel better (frankly, I was concerned I was seeing
things). Finally, I just decided to let it go and not worry about
it any further. Until I found a story about the ghost light. The light
I saw was not in the same area and it was a little higher, but I believe
it is the same light on the Bodan. Thank you. - Jennifer Aldredge,
28 May, 2012 |
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