These are stories of unnatural lights witnessed in Piney Woods by my aunt, uncle, and cousin.
Often, I have read stories about strange lights throughout several areas in North Carolina, and those stories are believed by some and doubted by others. Nevertheless, according to many of my relatives, seeing strange lights are a part of my ancestral community called Piney Woods, which is located within Jamesville, North Carolina. Honestly, I can say that I have never seen any strange lights but I know more than a few people who have related stories to me about seeing strange lights floating around in Piney Woods. The purpose of these lights is unknown; however, they are believed to represent tokens (signs) of sad events about to happen.

I am the author of a book titled “Pine Needles” and the purpose of my book is to preserve the heritage and legacy of Piney Woods. “Pine Needles” is a compilation of stories as told to me by citizens of the Piney Woods community. My book is also filled with genealogical research that I collected over a 12-year period. During the interviews I spoke with kinfolks from the ages of 93 thru 12 years old. It is truly amazing how many folks have witness paranormal activity but had keep the occurrence within their heart for fear that other folks would consider them crazy. Since I love paranormal stories, it was right down my line and I thoroughly enjoyed hearing their stories. However, I have heard many paranormal stories from my family members throughout my lifetime and I wanted to share them with others. Aunt Mattie, Uncle Ralph, and Cousin Morris related the following stories to me. There is no doubt in my mind that my aunt, uncle, and cousin are telling the whole truth.

Aunt Mattie said, “When I was growing up it was not abnormal to see strange things in Piney Woods and numerous times I have seen many paranormal things in Piney Woods. My family and I on many occasions have witnessed unusual lights and the lights appeared as large balls of fire. One night during the icy cold winter, my cousin, aunt Fleta and I were walking back to my house from cousin Flowater’s house and it was freezing outside. Even so, just before we got to my house; a giant ball of fire came slowly floating out of my path; it floated across the road and went into the woods. Scared stiff, my cousin and I grabbed aunt Fleta and she grabbed us. We were all scared to death but we pulled ourselves together and made it to the house.

Once we got inside the house, mama sent Nora and me back outside to get some water from the well, meanwhile, papa kept a stack of lumber near the well. Momentarily, forgetting about the stack of limber and forgetting how scared we had been earlier, I said to my cousin, “We forgot to tell mama about that haint we saw.” We called things like that a “haint” but the word is “haunt.” When I said that, my cousin turned around to run and ran right into the pile of lumber and knocked herself out cold. Instantly, I threw the bucket of water down and ran to her aid. Papa was a carpenter but he often got cousin George Keyes to help him build things because George Keyes was a professional builder. After my cousin woke up, she could not walk or stand up straight and I had to help her walk and I had to carry the bucket of water. Once my cousin and I got back inside the house, we told mama about the ball of fire and she did not seem a bit surprised, in fact, mama talked as though she had seen the same thing many times. Mama said, “Yea, that’s not surprising, we always see lights around here!”

Before I left home and moved to New York, High Pocket was my friend and he was truly a very nice fellow. One afternoon he took Sweetning and I to the movies in Washington and as we rode back home, I closed my eyes and laid my head against the seat. Suddenly, High Pocket said, “Look! Look! Look!” We were near uncle Wan’s old house and I looked just in the nick of time to see a great big ball of fire crash into the field near an apple tree. He said, “Did you see it?” I said, “Yes.” We drove on and turned onto the Creek Road where I lived. It was summer time and very hot but I was scared and wanted to roll up the window but he told me not to roll the window up. As we drove along he kept saying, “Do you see anything else?” I said, “No,” but he kept asking me did I see anything else and I was becoming more and more afraid. Again, I wanted to roll

Once we reached my yard, High Pocket parked under the large cedar tree in our yard and he would not let me get out of the car. Mama did not allow us girls to sit in the car with boys and I just knew she would be outside any minute to get me out of the car, however, mama never came outside and every time I tried to get out of the car he grabbed my hand and said, “Wait just a few minutes.” I was nervous because I was expecting mama to come and get me, nevertheless, in a few minutes, he said, “OK, you can get out now!” By that time, I was all to pieces and I asked him to walk me to the door, so, he got out of the car and he walked me to my front door. Ruby, don’t you remember that big cedar tree in our yard? You probably forgot but I thought since you saw the Indians that day; you might remember the cedar tree. Honestly, I believe it was still there when you saw those Indians in the field but maybe you just forgot because you were so fascinated with the Indians.

Anyway, when I got inside and turned up the kerosene lamp, I looked right into mama’s face because she was sitting on the side of her bed, yet, she never said one word. Of course, I knew that the whole ordeal was very strange because mama had a strange look in her eyes but she did not say anything to me about being outside with High Pocket. Sadly, mama died a few days later; then High Pocket told me the reason for all of his strange behavior. He said, “I knew something was going to happen in your family!” He told me that when he turned his car onto my lane that night; a ball of fire came out of the field and floated beside the car next to me. High Pocket said that once we got in the yard he would not let me out of the car because that ball of fire circled my house three times and crashed into the ground. He said that if I had gotten out of his car when I wanted to get out; I would have run right into that ball of fire. A few days after mama’s funeral, I told aunt Ella about the ball of fire and the strange way in which mama acted. Aunt Ella said, “Maudie did not come to the car and get you because the ball of fire you saw was her.” Aunt Ella told me the whole incident was the token of mama’s death."

Uncle Ralph said, “Supernatural activity in Piney Woods is normal, in my opinion, especially on the Creek Road where I was raised. One afternoon, mama and I were sitting on the porch facing our neighbor’s house, which was a short distance across the field. All at once, we saw a ball of light floating over Fleet Brooks’ house. As we watched, the light slowly descended to the roof and then it ascended, while floating above the house to avoid touching the roof. It repeated this pattern several times, as mama and I sit on the porch, meanwhile, we both remained in silence, while we watched the finale of the phantom light. Finally, the ball of light slowly descended and entered the house through the roof. Once the light entered the house, mama said, “Well, Fleet is gone now!” Less than 30 minutes later, we got the news that Fleet had died. Due to mama’s previous statement, neither one of us was surprised. The old people explained such sightings as “haint,” activity!"

Cousin Morris said, “I can also remember two paranormal experiences that I witnessed in Piney Woods. On one instance I was standing on my parent’s back porch, at which time I was about eleven or twelve. Out of the blue, I saw a light, which resembled the mobile on a baby’s crib and with curiosity I watched as that light floated slowly across my backyard. On another occasion, I was driving down Corinth Church, which is a road in Piney Woods that is surrounded by trees. As I approached a thickly, wooded, area, I saw the image of a person, which walked out of the woods and jumped the ditch. The image stopped on the side of the road, looked at me, jumped back across the ditch and went back into the woods. Clearly, I saw those two occurrences with my own eyes.”

About the Author

Ruby is a promising writer who lives along the Roanoke River in North Carolina. She loves nature and animals as well as exciting stories that include paranormal activity. Ruby also loves poetry, children, and indigenous history. Ruby's unique writing ability entails "writing like people talk."