The Anson Ghost Lights

Anson, Texas is a small town located 20 miles north of Abilene on Highway 83/84. It is the home of a well known yet unexplained phenomena that has simultaneously delighted, terrified, and baffled visitors for decades––the Anson Ghost Lights.

Hundreds of people have traveled from far and wide to witness these strange illuminations, and the process for conjuring the lights seems to be unanimously agreed upon.

When entering Anson, turn right at the Alsupps and travel until you come upon the graveyard just outside of town. Turn right down the dirt road that travels along the cemetery. At the crossroads, turn your car around so it is facing back towards the main road. Turn off your engine and flash your headlights three times. Within a few minutes you will see the light appear.

Most describe it as a slow moving white light that travels down the road towards your car. Some have seen it swing wildly from side to side, and others have seen it dance among nearby treetops. It is never accompanied by any noise. Sometimes it changes colors––some say that if one disrespects the light by taunting or cursing at it, it turns red. It usually ranges in size from appearing to be a flashlight to being the headlight of a motorcycle. Some have seen it start at its regular size then grow to immense proportions as it travels down the lonely unpaved road. Usually, if one travels towards the light in an attempt to touch it, it fades away and disappears. Sometimes it appears not as one light, but as several small lights.

The lights tend to appear on warm, clear nights. They never appear in the rain and usually do not show up when it is cloudy.

The lights, stories say, are caused by the ghost of a woman who lived in Anson in the 1800’s. She is forever wandering the area, looking for her sons. They had lived together on the road where the lights now appear. The three boys were sent to chop wood one night, and were told that if they encountered any trouble they should flash their lantern three times. They did so, but by the time their mother managed to get to them to find out what the danger in question was, all three boys had been killed. When visitors flash their car lights, the woman’s spirit emerges, carrying her own lantern, hoping to find her boys.