Many claim to see 'ghost lights' in the Franklin, Finchburg communities of Monroe County, Alabama

Old store in 'downtown' Franklin, Alabama.

Last week in this space, I mentioned a tale I’d once heard about a supposed ghost that haunts Flat Creek near Rikard’s Mill. For those of you who missed it, the story goes that many years ago, several young children were fishing on a Sunday in Flat Creek just down from the old mill. They were just enjoying their day when a woman in a pink casket came floating down the creek. The children, shocked by the sight of the woman in the casket, vowed to never fish on Sunday again.

Not long after last week’s edition hit the streets, several people asked me what I knew about the “ghost lights” that are often seen in the Finchburg and Franklin communities. I have to admit that I’ve never seen one of these “ghost lights,” and most of what I know about them comes from the late George Singleton, who wrote a weekly column for The Journal for many years. Many readers will no doubt remember that he would often write about local ghost stories, haunted houses and other supernatural topics.

In one such column from the early 1970s, Singleton wrote that “ghost lights” had been reported for years in the Franklin community. Singleton went on to witness them himself in May of 1971, saying that he saw a “mysterious ball of fire” that was “in and around the area across Flat Creek on the right of Highway 41.” Singleton went on to say that he saw “almost at tree-top level” a “glowing ball of reddish blue flame, floating southward at a lazy pace.” It was about 12 inches in diameter and looked like a “clear, plastic balloon with some type of light inside,” he said.

He later wrote that residents of Finchburg also reported seeing “ghost lights” just like those in the Franklin community. Those of you who are familiar with county geography will know that Finchburg is just a few miles southwest of Franklin. “Downtown” Finchburg is just east of the Alabama River, not far from the Claiborne Lock & Dam.

After last week’s paper came out, Sharon Sullivan said that the “fire ball of light” has not only been seen at Franklin and Finchburg, but also throughout the Red Hills area of Monroe County and as far east as the Old Scotland community. She said that she’d personally witnessed this unusual phenomenon a few times in her younger years.

Sullivan said that she would always get an “eerie feeling” when she saw the “ghost lights.” The first time she saw it, the strange light was “running down the ditch beside the road.” After a bit, the light left the ditch and disappeared into the nearby woods.

Judi House Rodenberry echoed Sullivan’s remarks, saying that the first time she saw it, the light was “bouncing on a fence post.” The light “just played around on the post for a bit and went in the woods,” she said. At first, she thought some of her husband’s hunting buddies were using their flashlights to play a trick on her, but when they were all accounted for, she knew something strange was afoot. “It was eerie,” she said.

In the end, I’d be interested in hearing from anyone else in the reading audience who has seen the unusual “ghost lights” at Franklin, Finchburg or anywhere else in the county. Also, if you know of any other good ghost stories, local legends or Indian lore from anywhere out in the county, please let me know. No doubt if you have seen something unusual, others have too.