The Mystery Lights of Ellettsville

On Union Valley Road, just outside of Ellettsville, Indiana, is the old Wampler Cemetery. This dilapidated cemetery, consisting of thirteen gravestones from the mid-1800’s, is the site of a curious phenomenon known as the “Mystery Lights.” Quite often, in the darkness of night, mysterious light orbs can be seen moving across the cemetery, bouncing from one ancient gravestone to the next. There is no rhyme or reason to their pattern, and no consistency in their glow. Regardless of whether there’s a full moon, new moon, or overcasted sky, the light orbs simply appear, dance about, then disappear.

There’s no questioning the fact that there are light orbs dancing around the cemetery. Too many people have seen and photographed the phenomenon. The mystery is what causes them. Car lights would be the obvious culprit, but light sightings were reported before the advent of the automobile. Then there’s the matter of geometry. The cemetery lies quite a few yards off a straight and level rural road. The simple act of driving along the road will not cause car lights to flash in the cemetery.

Science-minded people claim the lights are simply a trick of Mother Nature, like electrical atmospheric charges generated by the shifting and grinding of rocks deep below the earth’s surface, or the illumines residue of decaying organic matter also known as the will-o’-the-wisp or swamp gas. However, the cemetery doesn’t lie in a swamp. Of course an innocent critter could be to blame—fireflies, the white plumage of barn owls, or the flipped up tails of deer—but that would be insulting the intelligence of the witnesses.   

Then there’s my favorite explanation, that maybe, just maybe, the lights have a conscious and spiritual intent. Perhaps they are the lost souls of ones long since forgotten, dancing in the moonlight in remembrance of what their lives once were, lighting the way for those whose lives are yet to be, and warning others of what their lives are doomed to become. 

The residents of the area fondly view the Mystery Lights as their very own special enigma. For many years, locals and curious outsiders would flock to the area in hopes of catching a glimpse of this strange wonder. That is, until a cynical descendent of the Wampler family, who was not so romantic about such things, set out to determine the actual scientific cause of the so-called mystery lights.  After spending a night in the family cemetery, he concluded that a small piece of broken glass, embedded in a tree surrounding the site, was reflecting the light of the moon and thus creating the so called mystery lights.  Mystery solved!  Or was it?         

This supposed piece of glass has long since disappeared, the mystery lights have not.

The Girl in the Window

Can spirits and ghosts be photographed? Many believe that yes, they can, if the conditions are right and the spirit is willing. After all, it has been proven that any type of camera, including digital and video, can capture images normally not seen by the naked eye, such as dust falling, normal light distortions, and nearly transparent haze. It stands to reason that if electro-magnetic spirit energies do exist, then cameras should be able to capture these images also. Spiritual photography has been around since 1861, and while there are hundreds of double-exposed, tampered, and ill-taken spook photos, there are quite a few “real” ghost pictures that simply can not be explained away or the image recreated.

In April of 1997, a photographer for the Indianapolis Star took a picture of the historic Nicholson House as it was being moved from its original location in Valley Mills to a safer, less urban location near Southport. Shortly after the picture appeared in the newspaper, the Star received numerous calls from readers who saw the distinct image of a little girl looking out the upper window of the old house, and were certain that it was the photograph of a ghost. Upon reflection, the photographer vaguely remembered seeing a little girl watching the movers from the window, but didn’t pay much attention to her at the time or even think to question why a young girl would be in a moving structure.

The girl in the picture appears to be around 6 or 8 years old, with blond hair, and wearing a simple blue dress. Stories quickly circulated that the little girl must be the ghost of someone who had died in the home. An investigation into the house’s history shows no record of that happening. However, that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. Perhaps during the period from 1870-1903, when the Nicholson family built and lived in the home, or later, when the Rand family and their descendants owned it from 1903-1970’s, an incident happened that was hidden from society. During both those periods, an unwed pregnancy could tarnish and ruin a family’s status, as would a deformed or simple-minded child with special needs. Most of these children were abandoned or secretly handed over to an older married relative in a distant town. In some cases, for whatever reason, a family would chose to hide the child away, raising it in a secure, secret room and away from the judgmental eyes of the community. Unfortunately, in these conditions most of the children didn’t live very long, succumbing to improper medical treatment, negligent, or something more sinister. Is the house hiding a family secret that is trying to make itself known?

Perhaps, the little girl isn’t a family member. The house was abandoned in the 1970’s, and remained vacant until the late 1990’s, when it was rescued by the Historical Landmarks Foundation of Indiana. During those years of neglect, the house suffered from deterioration and abuse, and became the site of break-ins, vandalism, and illicit activities. The girl could very possibly have been a missing child from that period, a victim of foul play or a runaway.

The little girl is not the only unexplained haunt at the Nicholson House. Since the ghostly picture was printed, other stories have surfaced. At one time the house was used as a tenement, and reputedly a resident hung himself in one of the upstairs bedrooms. Paranormal investigators to the house have observed a light fixture moving in circles on its own and uncontrollably spikes on their EMF detectors in an upstairs bedroom. Another story claims the house was a stop on the Underground Railroad, and that a group of slaves had burned to death in the basement after a fire broke out and they were unable to escape. Many visitors claim to have heard muffled screams and sensed the unnerving smell of burnt flesh in the basement. However, there is no evidence to show that the house was ever part of the Underground Railroad system. What other sinister secrets could the house be hiding?

The Nicholson House is now listed as one of the top 10 most haunted places in America, by Haunted America. The house is located just outside of Indianapolis on private property and is not open to the public. However, since it sits along a main road, a very discrete, respectful drive-by shouldn’t disturb the occupants as long as you don’t loiter around and gawk. Ghosts don’t like to be gawked at.

And Then There was Norma

For many years I worked at a locally-owned, community bank in Ellettsville, Indiana. The bank building isn’t particularly old or ornate, just a simple concrete block structure built around 40 years ago, but it does have the interesting history of beginning life as a grocery store before evolving from a bean seller to bean counter. Yet, at this not very old, somewhat but not really interesting building, odd and unexplained incidents do seem to happen on a regular basis, witnessed not just by the employees but also the customers. I used to tease my co-workers that the ghost of a crazed meat cutter, from the building’s grocery days, was haunting the bank in search of his next blue light meat special. But, I soon learned that my silly, made-up ghost was nothing compared to the “real” spirit many believe haunts the building. The fact that Norma*, who passed away in the late 1970’s, had once been an actually employee of the bank with many friends still working there, makes her sad, tragic story even that much more unnerving.

    

This is Norma’s story as explained to me by her family and friends, and deduced from newspaper accounts:

Norma was born and raised in a traditional, middle-class, religious family. Her life was surreally ordinary—she made good grades, was active in the small community, sang in the church choir, and married her childhood sweetheart.

Being young and practical, the couple put off having children until they were able to afford a proper home. Her husband pursued work in construction. Norma got a job as a teller at the local bank.   

Life was good. Things were going as planned, when tragedy struck. First she suffered the loss of her parents when they both suddenly took ill and died within months of each other. Later that same year, her beloved sister moved overseas and out of reach. And then, the most unthinkable happened—Norma’s husband, her great love, died young and unexpectedly. Norma, for the first time in her life, was completely alone.

Desperate to fill the aching void in her heart, Norma fell for the first man to show her kindness, a married co-worker with questionable motives. What began as a friendship quickly turned into an affair, then into obsession. Norma simply could not bear to be left alone. She hounded the man day and night pleading for his time and attentions. It was not long before the man’s wife found out about Norma and gave her husband an ultimatum: end the affair or else. “Or else” meant scandal, divorce, and being cut off from his wife’s considerable fortune. The husband chose his wife and Norma was once again left on her own.

Norma did not go easily. She cried, begged, and stalked her former lover, but to no avail. After one particularly nasty scene at work, Norma was fired, her bank accounts closed, and told never to return.

This final disgrace may have been what pushed Norma over the edge. She felt callously abandoned and betrayed. Even worst, she felt like a whore. She had mistaken sex for love and it had cost her everything. The shame and guilt of what she had done became too great for her to bear. In her mind there was only one way to end the pain. No one knows why she chose Drano®. Perhaps Norma was trying to cleanse her sins away, sanitize her soul. She had betrayed her few friends and shamed her family’s name. But, the greatest hurt of all was that she had betrayed her one true and now lost love. She deserved to suffer. She deserved to die.

It was a cold and snowy February night when Norma went out alone to her husband’s grave at the town cemetery. It pains me to image the scene: The tears, the apologies, perhaps even a kiss to her husband’s gravestone, before finally drinking the toxic cleaner. It was not a quick or easy death. The acid took its time slowly eating away at her stomach and esophagus. Alone in the cemetery, Norma must have suffered agonizing pain for hours before finally dying, her insides having been totally eaten away. Her body was found the next morning by children waiting for the school bus. Norma’s funeral was one of the largest the town had ever seen. She was laid to rest next to her husband. Finally, Norma had found peace. Or had she?

Ghostologists believe that the desperate, extreme act of suicide can damage the soul, trapping it in a mode of unresolved angst where the spirit can’t or won’t cross over to the other side. They become trapped between the two worlds, their ghostly beings wandering aimlessly among what was once familiar to them, searching for answers and redemption. Perhaps this is the case with Norma for she still seems to be very much among us, as a benign spirit.

It was the tellers who first noticed something was amiss. Adding machines would start calculating on their own, lights would turn on and off by themselves, and the security alarm would activate in the middle of the night when no one was there. There are police reports on file attesting to the security alerts and subsequent investigations.

When I worked at the bank as a computer operator, I believe that I actually saw Norma, even talked to her! It happened on an unexceptional morning. My primary responsibly was to perform daily computer updates and distribute the generated reports before the bank opened. Around 7:00am, as I was walking along the back area of the bank, I glanced up the center hallway and saw an attractive middle-aged woman working at the teller stations. I was then a relatively new employee and still not familiar with all the bank tellers and their work schedules. I waved and called out good morning, but she appeared not to hear me. After I finished delivering the reports, I headed up to the teller stations to introduce myself. The woman was still there organizing papers. I said hello again. This time she nodded, but did not look up from her work. That should have been my cue that she wasn’t interested in talking to me, but her snub made me feel self-conscious. I tried to explain who I was and way I was there, but the awkwardness of the situation made me nervous, causing me to talk faster and faster. Nonsensical words gushed out of my mouth. I couldn’t seem to stop rambling. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity but was really only a few minutes, I paused to take a much needed deep breath. It was then that the woman looked up at me and smiled. Never had I seen such sad, distant eyes. The air became instantly colder causing the hair on my arms to stand up. After an uncomfortable silence, I stuttered something to the effect of getting back to work, and quickly headed to the computer room. It was only after I sat down at my desk that I realized the woman had not spoken one word to me.  

The other bank employees started arriving for work at 8:00am. With the comfort of the familiar activity around me, my uneasiness disappeared and I became embarrassed. Surely the woman must have thought I was crazy. I went back up front to apologize, but the woman was gone. I asked the other tellers about her, only to be told that no one was ever scheduled to work at that hour. But someone had been there that morning. Insistently, I tried to describe the woman, but all I could remember were her eyes—her sad, distant eyes. My story was met with nervous giggles. Finally an older employee spoke up. “Oh, that was just Norma. She likes to keep things organized.”   

Mine is not the only close encounter with Norma. An evening bank employee reportedly quit her job over a similar situation. It was around 9:00pm. The only people in the bank at that hour were the night computer clerk and her four-year-old son, whom she had permission to bring with her to work. She was monitoring the nightly update when her son came running into the computer room excitedly. He told his mother about the nice lady he had met in the restroom. Instantly alarmed, she locked them both in the room and called security. No one else was supposed to be in the building at that time. A through search of the building yielded no results. This was not the first incidence that the employee had with Norma, but when the spirit reached out to her young son, it was too much. The employee quit that evening.

No one knows why the gentle spirit of Norma haunts the bank. Is her tragically lonely soul still desperately seeking the companionship she had lost in life? Or is she eternally driven to make amends for her disgraceful behavior? Perhaps it’s simply a case of what paranormalists call post-death amnesia—Norma doesn’t realized she is dead and thus continues to “live” her life as if nothing as happened—going to work day, after day, after day.

*Name changed to protect the privacy of her family and friends.