Of Loose Cattle And A Strange Light

27 July 2026

1194

R. Linda:

I tell ya, I live with a superstitious lot in our little patch of New England. There was a fire and a barn burnt down, but the cattle all got away (a good thing). They absconded into the dense woods, and no one could find them for weeks. Suddenly one or two were spotted and rounded up. That left a half dozen or so unaccounted for. Then they all appeared sans one, on a back road, and no one had any clue how to round these cows up. 

They put a cattle loader by the edge of the woods, got a trough and feed bin, and they've been feeding the cattle, who, at the approach of a human, they all moo to the woods, coming out when said humans are no longer visible. 

This is the setup; no wonder the cattle aren't interested. Maybe put the food IN the loader, not outside.

Are there no cowboys in New Hampshire? I know they drive through picking up livestock for transport, so why can't the owners of said loose cattle get a few of these professional cattle wranglers to round up said cows on the run? I don't know, but this situation is going to stay this way until someone finds a way to wrangle cattle.

So after weeks of false sightings of cattle until they made themselves known, people were hiking, some with dogs, some riding the trails on horseback (I'd love to see an English riding equestrian wrangling cattle); this whole cattle thing took on a spooky feel. 

People wondered whether they were still alive or if the coyotes or bobcats had got them. There were a lot of discussions at the Genny where folks said they thought they saw "somethin' in the woods yonder." That is, until the spook light appeared in the forest. Yes, this phenomenon put the lost cow talk on the back burner; it did. 

It seems a strange light was appearing in the woods almost every night. How do we know this? Because the villagers were keeping a quiet vigil for cows, when a light suddenly appeared in the forest. Something that shouldn't be there. 

Rumours began to spread that cattle rustlers might have heard about the lost cows and were out stealing them. But the superstitious villagers outnumbered the cattle-theory villagers and said, "Oh, no. That ain't no cattle stealers, it ain't. That's a ghost."

Suddenly July became October. There was a distinct Halloween atmosphere about our tiny little village. 

The talk at the Genny wasn't about cattle anymore; it was about old legends walking the woods looking for: a. Their head, b. Their house, c. Their family, d. Their wallet. Yes, that last one put your jaw on the floor with a WHAT, banging around in your brain. 

We were at the Genny when me new best bud, Sam, volunteered ME to investigate since he decided me title is Investigative Journalist. New to me. And where to investigate? You got it, that back road behind me house where all sorts of strange stuff happens and I don't go there because of that strange stuff. 

"Sam, the light is up by the highway, not in the back of me abode." I corrected. 

"Well, maybe the cattle are back there." He lamely said.

"Nevah mind cattle, we are chasin' a ghost." Old Albert said, annoyance in his voice at Sam.

I had little choice but to get me butt out on the "highway," which is not what you think. It's a narrow lane with two yellow stripes down the middle. This is rural New Hampshire, not Boston.

So, reluctantly, I get meself out there WITH Sam, since this was his bright idea. For three nights we waited, and nothing happened. Then on the last night there was the light! We saw it at the same time, and like two old ladies, we grabbed each other and whispered excitedly, "Do you see it?"

We were primed for a floaty human form in a white sheet to slowly approach us, with a bright light around it. We let go of each other, embarrassed that we had reacted as we did, but we were far from feeling relaxed and confident about what we were watching slowly make its way toward us. 

We could hear twigs cracking as the thing got closer.

"Ghosts don't make twigs crack," I said. And just as I said that, the thing disappeared. All was quiet.

"What the heck?" Sam whispered, looking in the direction our ghost had been. 

Puzzled, we waited, but nothing else happened. We eventually went home. He to a large glass of scotch and me, back to kiddos with a million questions and theories. 

Sam and I decided to get out there the next night, because as Sam said, "We are close, Gabe."

Yeah, we were. We stood in the cool woods just off the road when we saw a light. But it seemed different than the one the night before. We squinted at it and started to see a form. It just stood on a path along the highway. We inched up as quietly as we could. 

"What on God's little acre?" Sam muttered.

There it was, an illuminated ghost standing on the path before us. We stopped dead, neither of us moving or saying a word. Then, to our sheer horror, the thing started ghost moaning. Then it started laughing.

"Wait a minute," I said, "I know that laugh." 

This is what we saw; Sam clicked off a quick snap:

Yup, this appeared on the pathway down from the road

Not able to contain its laughter, and the laughter of its brother, O'Hare suddenly appeared from under the sheet, and Guido turned the bright camping torch on us. 

"Oh, very funny lads." I said, and then, turning to Sam, "Those two culprits are me eldest and middle boyos."

They had set us up perfectly. Sam was convinced they did this every night, but I knew better. They did this because they wanted to jape their old man, and it was a one-time performance. 

Sam quit the investigation, convinced it was O'Hare and Guido making the village uneasy. But then the next night, we didn't bother with it, and I was home with both miscreants; the light was seen again! It took some talking by the folks at the Genny to both Sam and me to get back out there. Neither of us said what happened two nights prior; only Sam did say, in an offhand way, "Just some kids messing around."

Well, we gave it one more go-round. We were just about to leave the so-called area where the light was seen when suddenly it flashed on, and there it was floating in the air.

"You don't think it's some kind of UFO, do you?" Sam whispered, squinting at the floating orb.

I hadn't thought of that. Geez Louise! I shrugged; I had no clue. 

We crept forward; the thing wasn't moving but seemed to be moving in an arc in the same place. As we approached, we saw the outline of a man in the orb's light. He had his back to us and was holding the orb over his head, moving it around. 

Sam stood up from his crouching position and said out loud, "Barney? Barney, is that you? What are you doing?"

Barney seemed startled at Sam's voice and turned around, his hand turning the orb at us. It was an iPhone.

"Sam, is that you? Who's with you?"

"Sully, we were hunting down the ghost light."

"The what?" 

We explained about the strange light on the side of the road, and Barney started laughing.

"Well … I'm sorry to disappoint you guys, but I came out here to get a signal for my phone."

Here, Sam and I spent nights investigating, only to discover our neighbour trying to find cell service, holding his phone over his head to do it. 

I tell ya, living in the backwoods is anything but dull.

Gabe

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