The Paulding Light

The Paulding Light (also called the Lights of Paulding or the Dog Meadow Light) is a light that appears in a valley that lies outside of Paulding, Michigan, in the Upper Peninsula, near Watersmeet off US Highway 45 (US 45) on Robins Pond Road/Old US 45.  In 2010, Syfy Channel's Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files conducted a paranormal investigation and concluded that the Paulding Light was unexplained. Michigan Tech students conducting a scientific investigation of the light in 2010 were able to see automobile headlights and tail lights when viewing the light through a telescope, and were able to recreate it by driving a car through a specific stretch of on US 45.

The first recorded sighting of the Paulding Light came in 1966 when a group of teenagers reported the light to a local sheriff. Since then, a number of other individuals have reported seeing the mysterious light that is said to appear nearly every night at the site.

Although stories of the light vary, the most popular legend involves the death of a railroad brakeman. The legend states that the valley once contained railroad tracks and the light is the lantern of the brakeman who was killed while attempting to stop an oncoming train from colliding with railway cars stopped on the tracks. Another story claims the light is the ghost of a slain mail courier, while another says that it is the ghost of an Indian dancing on the power lines that run through the valley.