During 1979, and 1980, the Enigma Project busied itself with the research and investigations of mysterious lights.Often referred to as ghostlights or spooklights, due to the attachment of an invariable death stigma, these nocturnal phenomena became quite a fascination for us.
It was discovered that Maryland's Eastern Shore was the home of several such lights.
Throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s we devoted much attention to the Hebron Light, Hebron, MD, Elsey's Light, Crisfield, MD, and Cal's Light, Andrews, MD.
Having first learned of the now defunct Hebron Light through a mention made, we performed literature searches on the alleged phenomenon and journeyed to Hebron for actual interviews of original witnesses.
We learned that on a hot July night in 1952, members of the Maryland State Police were involved in what might be termed a bizarre cat and mouse encounter with a 10" sphere of yellow light. In their cruiser, both officers closely approached and then chased the luminous ball down a local road before it mysteriously vanished.
Although media coverage of the phenomenon persisted for about 2 weeks beyond the main event, our investigation showed that a mandate was issued to the Salisbury barracks from Maryland State Police Headquarters in Pikesville that a any further confrontations with the light be kept under wraps.
We subsequently discovered that this strange light had made sporadic appearances near the town of Hebron for many years prior to the 1952 encounter, although the Maryland State Police episode has remained the most remarkable case on record. Due to the obvious integrity of the witnesses, this incident remains an outstanding example of Maryland mystery.
Unfortunately, because the phenomenon has been inactive for so many years, locals say since the mid 1960s, Enigma Project investigators were not able to perform a firsthand examination of it.
It was, however, our good fortune to have secured an interview with Robert Burkhardt, one of the officers who chased the light. While Burkhardt, now retired from the police force, was very reluctant to discuss all the details of the 28 year old experience, he made it quite clear that the encounter represented one of the most bizarre and trying episodes of his life.