1/3/1988

Newspaper Clipping from The New York Times (page 5)
BLUE LIGHT ENGULFS THE GHOSTWOOD

Blackwater, Washington  // Sunday, January 3, 1988  // Story by Karen McKnight

Thursday evening around 11:45 PM local time, a blinding blue light engulfed The Ghostwood forest, a large swath of woods west of Blackwater, WA across Ross Lake. The Ghostwood forest is a small section of the North Cascades National Park that is noteworthy as Washington locals have all sorts of (unproven) ghost stories and old wives’ tales about the forest. Blackwater is a remote midsized town boasting a population of around 13,000 people born from a failed journey west during the mid-1800s during the California Gold Rush. “Yeah, this huge pillar of light, maybe a few hundred yards across I’d guess,  just fell down from the sky and hit Ghostwood. Ma’am, I’ve never seen anything like it in my life,” says Herschel Walker, 38. Mr. Walker is the night shift Park Ranger for the Blackwater area of the North Cascades National Park. He stated that he was doing his nightly rounds through the park when he spotted the light across Ross Lake. Mr. Walker indicated that it was difficult to judge the distance to the pillar of light, but if he had to guess it was easily a few miles away.

In an effort to corroborate Mr. Walker’s story, I spent some time interviewing some of the residents of Blackwater. There didn’t seem to be many people outside celebrating the new year, as many were inside anxiously awaiting the ball drop being televised in Times Square. However, I spoke with Valerie Dorsette, 22, a bartender at the local watering hole in Blackwater. “I was outside taking a smoke break and saw, like, a flash of bright blue light and then it faded from view. What direction did it come from? I think it was to the west across Ross Lake. If I had a guess, probably somewhere near The Ghostwood. It was definitely unusual, but I was so far away I couldn’t see much. I chalked it up to maybe a spotlight from a helicopter flying in the area or something, or at least I did until you came here asking your questions Ms. McKnight,” she said.

I also spoke with Raymond Baird, 68, a retiree living in Blackwater. “I was sitting inside having a beer with my dog Marcus when a really bright light hit the blinds at the front of my house. I thought it was maybe some kids driving through the neighborhood with their brights on or something, so I grabbed my gun and went to check it out. When I peeked through the blinds all I could see was a fading pillar of light across Ross Lake. I tried calling the police to report it, but the phone was dead. When I called them the next morning, Diane (the operator for the local police department) said they were investigating the situation. I hadn’t given it much thought since then though,” remarked the pensioner. When I contacted the local authorities however, they refused to comment stating that the investigation was ‘ongoing.’ ​​​​​​​