Hornet Spooklight Viewing Area

For over 150 years, a mysterious orange ball of light has been seen bobbing along a four-mile stretch of gravel road on the Missouri-Oklahoma border near the tiny community of Hornet. The light — the size of a basketball — approaches headlights, circles cars, and retreats. The Army Corps of Engineers investigated in 1942 and called it 'a mystery that defies explanation.' Explanations from swamp gas to piezoelectric effects have been proposed; none account for its behavior in approaching vehicles. It appears nearly every night, drawing visitors from across the country.