Files From the Edge (13 page)

The “Ghost” of the Reservoir Road

According to local newspapers dated 1899, the phantom lights were not seen until after the cave-in of 1895.
[4]
The number of cases of the “spook light” in my files as of 2009 is thirty-six, all from the locations of Tilly Foster, Reservoir, and Upper Magnetic Mine Roads in Brewster. It’s interesting to note that sightings of the light made before 1950 were called “ghost sightings,” while reports from witnesses after 1960 refer to the phantom lights as UFOs. In December 1995, I received a report from two young people who were out for a Halloween Eve drive, but had a terrifying close encounter with the ghost of Reservoir Road. The two witnesses I identify as Jane and Carl are residents of a nearby town.

The two drove down Reservoir Road at 11 pm. Everything was quiet until Carl mentioned he had just heard a noise that sounded like a voice whispering in his left ear. The voice startled him, and was very deep and sounded like a man trying to talk with a very sore throat. Carl had trouble understanding the voice, but it seemed to be getting clearer. He was sure that the voice told him to “back away and leave this place.” When he told Jane, she laughed and expressed disbelief; she thought he was making up this “voice” because it was Halloween.

Carl insisted that he
did
hear a voice. He abruptly stopped the car and got out to see if anyone was on the road, but neither of them saw anything. Carl walked down the road, away from the car. For some reason, Jane suddenly felt very concerned—a wave of fear rushed through her. At first, Jane attributed the fear to being in a dark, lonely place, but just then she heard a sound in the empty driver’s seat: right before her eyes, a depression formed in the seat as if someone invisible had just sat next to her! Carl returned to the car and when he opened the door, he immediately asked, “Do you smell that?” Jane didn’t smell anything unusual, but felt very uneasy.

Although scared, Jane was still convinced that Carl was trying to play some type of trick on her. Again, Carl pressed in a very shaky voice: “Jane, do you smell that?” At that moment a strong smell both people described later as burning sulfur permeated the car. Now nearly choking, Carl and Jane jumped out into the cool night gasping for fresh air. Jane yelled, “What was that smell?! It must be the Devil!” Then, both of them heard what sounded like chanting in the woods alongside of the road. Carl reported it sounded like Latin and guessed that someone was doing some type of ritual. Carl and Jane were very scared, and they started to pray for help from angels, good spirits, and other positive beings.

The chanting and sulfur smell stopped almost instantly and was replaced by a strong and pleasant fragrance of lilacs. They got back into the car—the smell of lilacs was almost overpowering. They began to drive slowly to the southeast end of the road when suddenly they heard an explosion that vibrated the car. They stopped the car fearing an engine fire, got out, looked around, but saw nothing. Without any sound or warning, a bright globe of blue light the size of a basketball appeared on the north end of the road and with incredible speed, whisked past them, turned, and vanished into the woods. Carl and Jane both reported that as the sphere of light passed by them, it was so close it pushed them both against the car. They also noticed that when the light was at its closest, they felt a prickly feeling like ants were crawling up and down their backs. The feeling faded as soon as the light passed, but now they were pretty spooked—they definitely got more than they bargained for that night. Carl and Jane really wanted to get out of there, but the experience was not over!

As they entered the vehicle, another loud explosion shook everything once again. It seemed to be coming from the woods on top of a hill to the left of the road. They looked toward that direction, and Jane reported that she saw something large (she thought it was a truck) coming down the path. Carl frantically started the car, put it into gear and sped down the road. Jane remembers looking out the back window and seeing a lit object come out of the woods to the road and shoot straight up into the sky. They drove home and never returned to Reservoir Road and the old mine again—at least not after dark.

The entrance of the Croton Magnetic Mine was less than a quarter of a mile from where Carl and Jane had their encounter. From 1992 to 2005, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office investigated reports of strange lights and “weird” little men in that area. Several nights during the summer of 1998, local police chased a small hooded being into the mine entrance. Thinking it was a child, they called in a rescue team but nothing was ever found.

The “Ghost” Light Captured on Film

In the past, many so-called “ghost hunters” have used infrared film to try and capture the image of a ghost. The idea is that infrared (IR) film will pick up an apparition’s energy interacting with the air molecules around it. Attempts to capture such phenomena have met with very limited success; the film detects heat, however, a physical object will lose its infrared trace signatures quickly, especially on cold winter nights. In June 1994, a close friend of mine (at that time adjunct professor of physics at Princeton University) suggested that scientific emulsions should be tried instead of standard films to image paranormal phenomenon. My colleague was very interested in my research and on one July evening, he drove up to Reservoir Road and stayed most of the night with the hope of seeing something. He called me excitedly the next day and said that at approximately 10 pm, he saw a faint sphere of white light approach from the west end of the road. Using his 7×35 wide-angle binoculars, he was able to determine the object was about 35 meters away and about 30 or so centimeters in diameter.

He tried to approach the light but it seemed to keep its distance. He stopped in his tracks and felt compelled to say, “Please, come closer. I am a scientist who is interested in what you are.” After he said this, the light began to approach him. His camera contained only standard film, but he raised it anyway and took five frames before the light vanished. He stayed on Reservoir Road for another hour, then drove along Lower Magnetic Mine Road, and back to Reservoir, but didn’t see anything. Over the next five years, he returned to Reservoir Road with an array of scientific equipment, but never had another sighting. My friend mailed me copies of the prints he took that night proving that the phenomenon, whatever it was, could indeed be captured on film. The images he sent me were very faint and somewhat underwhelming, but there was definitely something with him that night beyond all conventional explanation.

After reading more than two dozen reports and looking at several blurred photographs of the Reservoir Road spook light phenomenon, it was obvious to me that something new had to be tried. Commercial cameras are set to focus on visible light; any attempt to image electromagnetic energy beyond this range would result in a faint, blurry photo or no image at all. I conjectured that the phenomenon may be giving off another form of energy absorbed by the air, resulting in a slight increase in IR radiation when remitted. This could be the reason, I concluded, why images of the spook light look faint even when commercial infrared film is used. I felt this IR signature was only a secondary effect. If I wanted to capture the spook light of Reservoir Road on film, it was clear to me the source of its energy would have to be positively identified. After much consideration, I came to the conclusion that an initial ultraviolet source might be responsible for creating the faint heat signature on infrared film. A UV source would also explain the strange feeling of “ants” crawling on the skin that some people reported.
[5]
So, in the summer of 1994, I began an experiment with the hope of obtaining an image of the spook light using a special type of film once used in astronomy called 103ao-8.
[6]
This film is very hard to acquire and must be kept in cold storage before and after use. It is developed in Kodak D-19 (a special developing chemical) and one must have access to a dark room to process it. Being involved in astronomy, I was lucky to have one 24-exposure roll in the freezer at the observatory. Manufactured by Kodak, the film is blue sensitive. When used with the proper filter, the film has a sensitivity peak around 200 nanometers, well into the ultraviolet range. Using this film would ensure that any other light would be blocked out and the resulting image would be of UV only. I was now prepared to visit the “ghost’s” haunting grounds and attempt to document its existence and perhaps even prove my theory.

My Investigation and Sighting

I arrived at Reservoir Road at about midnight, parked my car alongside the road and got out to take a look. Everything seemed very quiet and I thought that this just might be a waste of time—I would rather be home watching television. The night was clear and since it was late July, it was rather hot and humid. After fifteen minutes or so, my eyes adapted to the dark and I looked toward the northwest section of the road. There, I noticed a blotch of faint light that appeared like a fog illuminated by an external source. I started walking down the road and the closer I got, the less diffuse it appeared. It was still about 75 feet from me and was quite faint, but as I slowly moved closer, the object took shape into something round and about the size of a beach ball. The sphere hovered about 5 feet above the road and as I continued to approach the light, it slowly moved backward trying to keep its distance. I decided to walk back to the car and get the camera and tripod—if this was the famous spook light of Reservoir Road, I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to photograph it. Knowing how fleeting the phenomena was; I thought this might be my only chance.

As I walked back to the car, the light (which was still barely visible) seemed to be coming closer . . . it was moving very slowly and reminded me of a curious but cautious animal. I set up the camera to use a shutter release and a timed exposure of five to thirty seconds. I took a number of photos but really didn’t know what to expect; the light appeared to be a faint nebulous sphere to the eye. Readers who have seen the Ring Nebula through a telescope know what I am describing. After taking ten frames, the object could no longer be seen visually. I continued to take photos, knowing my film would pick up an invisible UV source. As I exposed the last frame, I gently rewound the film and placed it in a cold storage container. Since the night was quite warm and the film was sensitive to heat, I drove home quickly to develop it.

I arrived home and developed the film in my own darkroom. To my surprise, eight frames showed an incredibly bright light source. This was amazing—what I was trying to image on the road appeared like nothing more than a faint blob but on the UV film it was blazing! There was no doubt now that whatever the object was, it emitted energy in the UV spectrum. Since human eyes are not sensitive to this wavelength, it would appear very faint to us if visible at all. The combination of the film and the filter blocked out all other wavelengths of stray light in the area; only a very strong UV source was recorded. When I printed the photographs, I noticed the light appeared to be changing shape and frequency. This proved two things to me: the spook light of Reservoir Road in Brewster really exists and my theory that this phenomenon emits light in the blue end of the visible spectrum was correct. This information is important: I had proven that 103ao-7, 8, or 9 film is perfect for photographing this type of paranormal event. Unfortunately, the film is very hard to find today because most astronomers now use digital imaging; demand has dropped so low that Kodak no longer offers it. However, UV-sensitive films are still out there and it may be possible to create a digital card that can record the blue end of the spectrum.

A Covert Operation

After imaging the spook light, I was determined to find the entrance to the underground tunnels; my first objective was to locate the Croton Magnetic Mine because a great deal of paranormal phenomenon seemed to be associated with it. Local residents also suspected the military was using the old mines for some type of covert operation. I wanted to investigate any possible military involvement and find any evidence that could support these suspicions. So, in late summer of 1994, I began taking a closer look at locations that had a great number of reports of not only government activity but also paranormal phenomena. I decided to take a hike through the woods near the Croton Falls Reservoir in the town of Southeast. This particular location has had more than its fair share of otherworldly events over the past ten years so I thought it would be a good place to start. The land around the reservoir is sparsely populated; if you were going to hide some type of covert operation in an otherwise densely populated area of the United States, this would be the place to do it!

As I walked through the woods and down some of the more established back trails, I noticed tire marks made by small trucks that appeared to have four-wheel drives. The tread marks were wide and deep—typical of military-type vehicles—but I was cautious in my conclusions: they could have been made by hunters driving up to the paths looking for deer. I proceeded down Reservoir Road and came to another blocked-off road. On the map, the road was labeled “Upper Magnetic Mine Road.” I continued to walk and saw quite a few “No Trespassing” signs on the trees posted every 30 feet. I began to walk up the narrow road and noticed fresh tire marks made by a jeep. As I proceeded farther up the road, I noticed large stones containing iron ore scattered around—evidence that the mine entrance was near.

Suddenly, I heard someone behind me. I turned and saw a police office running up the trail yelling, “Stop and go no farther!” I was a little surprised, but stopped. The officer introduced himself as a member of the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department and informed me that I was trespassing on federally owned land and that no one was allowed up the road. When I tried to get more details from the officer, he refused to answer and told me that he only had orders to keep people out of the area. I was then escorted back to my car and was told to follow him. The officer led me to Route 22, a major road in Brewster that led all the way to lower Westchester County, about 20 miles away. I stopped my car as the officer pulled over to the shoulder of the road and got out of his cruiser. He approached me and said in a very serious tone, “Mr. Imbrogno, if you are caught trespassing in that area again the Sheriff’s Department will have to arrest you.” I left, but knew I had to come back and find out what was at the top of that hill.