Byron Center, Michigan: Glowing Grave - The "Mercury" Effect

We used to visit the glowing grave off Homerich all the time back in the 80's and early 90's. The previous poster mentioned mercury, but mercury doesn't glow. I have seen it glowing from a distance a few times since the barn was torn down, but not like it used to.

One night I stopped the car to check and see if the gravestone was still glowing. The hillside nearby was moving with the lights of 200 candles. It took me a good 45 seconds to realize they were firefly lights. Whew! [Bryan, 05/28/2011]

The glowing grave was located in Winegar Cemetery on Homerich south of 92nd Street. The grave itself is still there; however it did not actually glow. There was an old barn located across the street from the cemetery which stored a small amount of mercury. The mercury would shine onto the headstone of the grave and it could be seen "glowing" at night. The barn was torn down about five years ago, and the headstone no longer glows. It was such an exciting attraction and all of us Byron Center residents miss it greatly. [Holly, 12/14/2003]

Have you ever heard of the glowing grave in Byron Center? I have seen it myself, it has a sort of neon green glow from a distance, but the closer you get the dimmer the glow becomes. There are no street lights anywhere around and when I was out there, the moon was behind the clouds, so it could not have been a reflection. [Desmond Blossom, 12/19/1998]