George Singleton reported seeing 'huge ball of light' in October 1986

George 'Buster' Singleton

(For decades, local historian and paranormal investigator George “Buster” Singleton published a weekly newspaper column called “Somewhere in Time.” The column below, which was titled “Childhood memories of Halloween linger,” was originally published in the Oct. 29, 1987 edition of The Monroe Journal in Monroeville, Ala.)

Much has been written, and much more has been said, about the supernatural. There are those who believe, and there are those who don’t. But somewhere in the spaces of time, certain events happen that we can’t explain or don’t understand.

For many years, when the supernatural was mentioned, the trend was to associate the storyteller with ignorance. The educated and the enlightened turned an eye of suspicion on the person or persons who were relating the happening or event.

It wasn’t until our space program was in full swing that more and more was made public about the events pertaining to the unusual. Our government has reported the sighting of an object that one of our astronauts observed during the first flight to the moon. He reported back to flight control that this object was flying parallel with our spacecraft far beyond the range of any known aircraft. So, you see, there are events that happen that we can’t explain.

Something out there

You could say that I’m the adventurous type of sort. Over the years, I have had the opportunity to witness many events that would raise the eyebrows of the educated and the enlightened. I don’t profess to be smart, but I know that there is something out there – perhaps from another dimension, or however one chooses to address or compare the situation.

Late last October during one of my idle moments, I mounted my trusted trail bike and proceeded northeastward from Monroeville to a spot where I had been told an unusual happening had taken place. The person who told me about this would only say to go there and see for myself. He would not tell me what to expect. This only added wood to the fires of restlessness to go forward and witness this mystery for myself.

I arrived atop the mentioned hill at 11 p.m. sharp. I stopped my trail bike and sat for a few minutes, moving my arms and hands to get the blood circulating again. The night was rather cool.

Reflections in mirror

I had approached the hill in a roundabout way because I had chosen the better roads to travel at night. When I stopped, my bike was headed due southwest. The reflections in my rearview mirror were such that I could see much of the northeastern skyline.

I sat there astride my motorcycle for about 20 minutes, without really giving any thought as to what I might see. I became aware that an unusual amount of light was being reflected in the rearview mirror. My first thought was that someone was out riding around, and a vehicle was coming up the narrow road behind me.

Not wanting to be seen, and not wanting to explain what I was doing there, I gently laid my trail bike over on its side among the small pines and tall grass.

I was a good 30 feet from the narrow road, and I knew that I wouldn’t be seen unless the vehicle stopped and the passengers got out and walked through the tall grass to where I was lying down. I knew that this was unlikely because of most everyone’s fear of rattlesnakes.

It wasn’t a vehicle

As I turned my face toward where I thought the oncoming vehicle should be, I was suddenly aware that it wasn’t a vehicle that I saw, but a huge ball of light moving slowly at treetop level, almost directly over the narrow road that I had traveled up the hill.

Slowly the light ascended the hill, moving up and down as though suspended by a string. Its movement gave the appearance of a slight bouncing action as it moved up the hill.

As it slowly passed over the top of the hill, the reflection in one of the rearview mirrors of my motorcycle shot upward as though some unseen hand had pressed the switch of a powerful flashlight.

The ball of light appeared to be about 12 feet in diameter. The light was bright enough that as it moved, it cast shadows of the small pines and the tall grass.

Seemed to be searching

My breathing stopped; the ball of light moved ever so slowly down the hill to where the narrow road made a sharp westward turn. Then it stopped as if searching for something. Then it left the road and moved in the direction of an abandoned house place that was off to the right of the narrow dirt road. There it stopped; I thought of the old open well that I had seen there months earlier. Also, I remembered the remains of an old stone chimney that had fallen many years ago.

What was the meaning of this phenomenon? Why had this happened? Why had the large ball of light sought out the old homestead? Was I witnessing the return of a spirit from another time, in search of something or someone from another life?

I regained my breathing. I assured myself that if there had been any harm intended, it would have happened as the light passed over my place of hiding.

Without realizing it, I was now standing. I watched the ball of light hover for a while above the old house place. The reflections of the small pines and the tall grass danced to and fro, as though a ghost legion was assembling for a final roll call.

Then it was gone

Then, as though that same unseen hand had again flipped a switch, the light was gone. The darkness covered the area as quickly as before. Only the blood-chilling call of a screech owl broke the silence.

In the past hour or less, I had witnessed more than I had bargained for. I wasn’t aware that I was cold anymore. I quickly got my trail bike up on its wheels and started the engine. I glued my eyes to the narrow dirt road, watching for washouts and rocks, every now and then casting a quick glance across the tops of the young pines. The hair on my neck was standing straight up as my trail bike sped through the young trees and over the road toward home and the safety of my warm bed.

As I slipped beneath the inviting covers, I realized that I had witnessed a very strange phenomenon back there on that distant hill. I had witnessed an event or happening that few would ever believe and none would ever try to understand. And I had added to my collection another event that would be remembered and passed on to my children’s children and even beyond.

(Singleton, the author of the 1991 book “Of Foxfire and Phantom Soldiers,” passed away at the age of 79 on July 19, 2007. A longtime resident of Monroeville, he was born on Dec. 14, 1927 in Marengo County. He is buried in Pineville Cemetery in Monroeville. The column above and all of Singleton’s other columns are available to the public through the microfilm records at the Monroe County Public Library in Monroeville. Singleton’s columns are presented here each week for research and scholarship purposes and as part of an effort to keep his work and memory alive.)