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Watersmeet, Michigan: The Paulding Light

A barricaded road in the woods marks the prime viewing spot for an eerie nocturnal phenomenon. The legend of the railroad brakeman ghost is acknowledged on an official sign (but with Casper the Friendly Ghost holding a lantern).

Address:
Old US-45, Watersmeet, MI
Directions:
From US-2 in Watersmeet turn north at the blinker light onto US-45. Drive 5.5 miles. Turn west (no stoplight) onto Old US-45 (a dirt road). Follow the power lines a half-mile until the road ends at a dead-end barricade. At night there are usually people there. The light appears in the distance, farther north along the cleared power line path. Just sit and wait.
Hours:
Night only. Local health policies may affect hours and access.
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Visitor Tips and News About The Paulding Light

Reports and tips from RoadsideAmerica.com visitors and Roadside America mobile tipsters. Some tips may not be verified. Submit your own tip.

Paulding Lights

My son and I visited several years ago. Arriving while still light, you could clearly see the road climbing a hill in the distance where car lights would later become "spook lights." Highlight, though, was the woman who pulled up and began to take "readings." She then showed us pictures, including a claw of a "being from another dimension who had arrived through a round purple portal." That alone was worth the excursion.

[Linda, 07/15/2015]
Paulding Lights - Disproven

Paulding Lights disproven by university! This was investigated by Michigan Tech. They used large telescopes with attached cameras and it shows clearly that they are headlights and taillights of cars 6 miles away. They seem to linger and hover because of the long distance and air turbulence. This was so easy to find out, but so many people want to believe crazy stories instead.

[James Platt, 08/30/2011]
Paulding Lights

Headlights schmeadlights! We saw both white and red lights. At one point the white lights turned red and danced around. The only thing that wasn't a mystery that night was where my hundred dollars went in the casino down the road!! :)

[Mike, 08/20/2011]
Paulding Lights

The "mystery lights" of Paulding have been scientifically proven to be car lights. The entire experiment can be duplicated by anyone who wishes to. See the details: http://www.skepticfiles.org/mys3/michigan.htm This one is no longer a mystery.

[Tom Hartman, 12/04/2010]
Paulding Lights - Spook Lights

We turned down Old 45 just north of Robbins Pond, and facing south, saw the orangish/red glow. It then turned into what looked like a strobe light - flashing about 6 times, then vanished. This happened twice. Then we went to Robbins Pond Rd, and witnessed (along with about 30 others) a huge bright light (much like a train - only larger) with a red outer "aura." It would fade into a small red light, then reappear. This happened about 4 or 5 times before we turned and went back to the 1st sight just north of Robbins Pond. After going back, we saw a variety of lights, much smaller, that seemed to dance around each other, and dart in different directions. The lights were bright enough to illuminate the people walking back and forth between the two locations and strangely, none of the walkers saw the lights when they should have been directly in their path or directly underneath. We concluded the location to be in the valley between the vacated connection of Old 45.

We also debunked the car lights theory, as we had plenty of car lights on both sides for comparison, distance and location. We also wonder if the difference in the appearance between the two locations can be explained by seeing the lights - front and back? A mystery indeed...

[Chelle Merrill, 09/15/2007]

Nearby Offbeat Places

Pirates HideawayPirates Hideaway, Eagle River, WI - 28 mi.
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Adventure MineAdventure Mine, Greenland, MI - 30 mi.
In the region:
Hodag Cowboy, Rhinelander, WI - 49 mi.

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