// Highway to Halloween: From Spook Light to Shaman's Portal, road trip to eerie Oklahoma destinations - Tulsa World Skip to main content

Highway to Halloween: From Spook Light to Shaman's Portal, road trip to eerie Oklahoma destinations - Tulsa World

Highway to Halloween: From Spook Light to Shaman's Portal, road trip to eerie Oklahoma destinations - Tulsa World


Highway to Halloween: From Spook Light to Shaman's Portal, road trip to eerie Oklahoma destinations - Tulsa World

Posted: 20 Oct 2020 10:01 PM PDT

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Rob Adams once carpooled with pals in search of the Spook Light.

They found it — or did it find them?

"It was a little confusing for a while because of the proximity to Highway 44 with the lights from the traffic," Adams said. "But when we drove down the road and it started dancing on our hood, then appeared behind us, it was pretty freaky."

It's that time of year if you want to pursue freaky and spooky.

Interested in a Halloween season road trip? There are travelok.com pages devoted to the state's spooky urban legends and the top "haunted" places in Oklahoma.

Let's delve into a few of them.

Spook Light

Sightings of the Spook Light occur in the northeastern corner of the state.

Travelok.com said reports of the Spook Light have plagued the area for years without any concrete explanations despite numerous investigations: "Some credit the flickering orbs to gas and mineral deposits and refracted headlight beams, but all have been discredited upon further examination."

Gene Curtis of the Tulsa World wrote about the Spook Light phenomenon in 2007, saying that basketball-sized floating lights bounce up into the treetops in an area where Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri converge. He wrote that sightseers travel E40 in Hornet, Missouri, and E50 in Miami, Oklahoma, near Quapaw to try to catch a glimpse.

Once upon a time, a nearby "Spooksville" museum displayed photographs and a collection of stories about the Spook Light. Closed decades ago, the museum was equipped with a viewing platform.

There are steeped-in-lore legends about what the Spook Light could be. An Army Corps of Engineers unit studied the Spook Light in 1946 and concluded that the phenomenon was "a mysterious light of unknown origin." Popular Mechanics dispatched a journalist team in 1965. A subsequent article said the light was produced by vehicles traveling east on Route 66 about 10 miles away. The magazine said the shimmering effect and the golden hue were caused by layers of air with varying temperature. However, area residents pointed out that sightings occurred long before there were automobiles or highways in the area.

Adams was a college student at Missouri State circa-1989 when he went to investigate. He made the trek so he could write a term paper. He feels fortunate that he witnessed the Spook Light in all its glory. His conclusion? He thinks it's a phenomenon caused by natural gases escaping the Earth.

Mummy's Grave

Elmer McCurdy was fatally wounded in a 1911 shootout near the Kansas-Oklahoma border.

McCurdy was taken to a funeral home in Pawhuska. No one claimed his body. An undertaker embalmed his remains and monetized the situation by charging visitors to see the "mummy."

According to McCurdy lore, a circus representative pretended to be a McCurdy relative and purchased the body. The "mummy" was an attraction at freak shows and carnivals for decades. It was at an amusement park in California and an arm was broken off when an episode of "The Six Million Dollar Man" was filmed there. Hey, this is a real body!

McCurdy's remains were identified, and he was buried at Summit View Cemetery in Guthrie 66 years after his death. There's a tombstone bearing his name at the graveyard.

Magnetic Hill

Wouldn't it be creepy if your vehicle began rolling uphill?

Brace yourself for the experience if you visit Magnetic Hill in Springer.

Said travelok.com: "If you park your car at the bottom of the hill on Pioneer Road and put it in neutral, you'll feel your car being pulled uphill as you let off the brake. Many explanations are given for this fun mystery. Locals think that the ghosts of car crashes past are the ones moving your car away from where they died. There are also tales of a magnetic force in the area strong enough to crash a plane."

Roadsideamerica.com says you can get to Magnetic Hill by taking exit 42 off Interstate 35. Drive west 1½ miles on Oklahoma 53, then turn right onto Pioneer/Pit Road and drive another mile. The site said you'll reach the bottom of the hill when you see gravel washed onto the blacktop. Stop, put your vehicle in neutral and you may get a surprise. Use flashers and be alert for other vehicles.

Bigfoot turf

Honobia (it's 15 miles southeast of Talihina) hosts an annual Bigfoot festival. The 2020 event was canceled due to COVID-19, but it will return in 2021, according to honobiabigfoot.com.

You can still road trip to the area and get all the social distancing you want while looking for Bigfoot-type creatures in this heavily forested area of southeastern Oklahoma. Are you brave enough to go hunting at night? What's that sound?

Shaman's Portal

Oklahoma has its own Bermuda Triangle? That's a label bestowed upon Shaman's Portal (alias Beaver Dunes Park) in the panhandle.

The 520-acre park is blessed with 300 acres of sand hills, which makes it a go-to spot for ATV fun. But "strange occurrences" have taken place there dating to the days of Spanish explorers, according to travelok.com. The site, citing Coronado's journal, said three of his men disappeared into flashes of green light while exploring the area.

What else has vanished into Shaman's Portal? There's another layer of weird here if you want to include the urban legend about it being a UFO crash site.

Stone Lion Inn

This bed and breakfast in Guthrie pops up on lists of "haunted" venues in Oklahoma.

It's allegedly haunted by a ghost child who has been known to squeeze the toes of sleeping guests or even crawl into bed with them, according to travelok.com.

Going with the flow, the Stone Lion Inn offers murder mysteries for guests. For information, go to stonelioninn.com.

Cherokee Strip Museum

Once a hospital, this museum in Alva is alleged to be haunted by patients who were victims of surgeries gone wrong.

Said travelok.com: "From the unwavering gaze of mannequins to the uncomfortable feeling you get while roaming through the Cherokee Strip Museum in Alva, it's hard not to feel like you're being watched. If the otherworldly aspect doesn't have you running for the hills, the creepy displays will, as there is a wide array of vintage medical instruments including an embalming table."

Historic Fort Reno

Spirit tours take place at this ghostly attraction in El Reno. The next tour is Saturday, Oct. 24. Go to fortreno.org/ghosttours for details.

The fort began as a military camp in 1874. German and Italian prisoners of war were housed at an interment camp here during World War II.

Said travelok.com: "Though no specific spirit has been identified, visitors to the fort have encountered a number of strange things, including faces in the windows, water faucets turning on by themselves in the visitor's center and mysterious orbs showing up in photographs."

The Fort Washita Historic Site and Museum in Durant is another "haunted" Oklahoma fort.

Gilcrease Museum and Cain's Ballroom

Both of these historic Tulsa venues are allegedly haunted. Thomas Gilcrease's spirit wanders the grounds of his original rock house and other areas, according to travelok.com. Check out tulsaspirittour.com if you want a tour of local "haunted" sites.

You can feel the ghosts of the past in a good way if you enter tradition-rich Cain's Ballroom. Other allegedly haunted performance venues in Oklahoma are Pawhuska's Constantine Theater and Ponca City's Poncan Theater. Steer clear of the balconies — unless you want to find a ghost.

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Minecraft Beta 1.16.200.52 Patch Notes Include Powder Snow, Goats, And More - Player.One

Posted: 30 Oct 2020 12:28 PM PDT

Mojang Studios, the developer of Minecraft, released a new update for beta testers that adds a new experimental toggle mode along with some new content. The developers have also added goats into Minecraft. You can find the goats on the mountains, but be careful around the goats as you can be pushed off the mountain cliffside.

Powdered snow is also a new addition that can slow down players, but you can use the leather boots to make your journey across the snowy mountains easier.

Minecraft Beta 1.16.200.52 Patch Notes

You can find the patch notes below:

Bug Fixes

Performance and Stability

  • Fixed several crashes that could occur during gameplay
  • Large numbers of scheduled instant updates should no longer crash the game
  • Fixed occasional crash when going through a portal or flying around
  • Fixed a crash that would occasionally occur while flying or moving around the game world

General

  • Only preview items will be shown in crafting screen when auto crafting an item on controller. This prevents rapid updates of the recipe book
  • Fixed a bug where End Portal blocks were not removed after an End Portal Frame block is destroyed. Filled blocks other than end portal blocks will remain in place
  • Fixed paperdoll such that it can now always be rotated with the mouse when in the dressing room

Accessibility

  • Emote wheel now supports the screen reader
  • Fixed a bug where UI screen reader did not read the screen title and shortcut buttons on the Invite to game Screen
  • Fixed an issue where the screen reader was not reading updates often enough on some devices
  • Fixed the screen reader so messages with controller icons in the Chat Screen are read correctly
  • UI Screen Reader now reads the Open Chat Message while Text To Speech For Chat is turned off

Gameplay

  • Double chests no longer lose contents when reloading the world
  • Compass is no longer consumed when used on a Lodestone in creative mode
  • Cocoa Pods generated in jungle now generate in the proper direction
  • Signs no longer replace decorations when attempting to place in the same space as the decoration
  • Right-clicking a snow block with a shovel no longer breaks the snow block
  • Dirt paths (formerly grass path) can now be made by using a shovel on dirt, podzol, mycelium or course dirt (as well as grass)
  • Updated the Netherite leggings texture
  • Twisting Vines can no longer be placed on Composter blocks while sneaking

Mobs

  • Villagers will no longer steal workstations from each other
  • Mobs no longer randomly stop attacking and following their targets
  • Piglins that are close together can no longer pick up the same item if it's dropped between them
  • Mobs no longer spawn in Wither Roses
  • Bees now only exit at the front of Bee Hives and Bee Nests

Commands

  • /playsoundcommands now play the sound correctly for all players in range
  • /effect command duration is now capped at 1,000,000 seconds
  • Add ticking area commands performed in the same tick now disallow adding areas with the same name twice
  • Placeholder text message for the /titleraw command success no longer returns to player
  • FadeOutargument is no longer ignored in /title's times command

Graphics, Textures, and User Interface

  • Update Zombified Piglin texture to remove flickering of loincloth
  • "Classic Controls - Intense" font color now matches the surrounding text in VR Controls menu
  • [X] button in Chat Settings is no longer present when using a controller
  • Profile screen has been improved, now characters will be visible and can be selected or modified as soon as they load
  • Fixed a bug where the visual focus indicator was lost when hovering on tabs
  • Glowsticks no longer use placeholder textures (Education Feature) 
  • Loading screen tips won't display the key "tips.game.62"
  • Avoid purchasing Realm if player cancels out of "Purchase History Needed" dialog

Scripting, Add-Ons, and Technical Changes

  • Change set_block and set_block_at_pos to use BlockDescriptor when specifying block_type
  • Items with the item lock component no longer cause the recipe book to show invalid recipe results

Blocks

  • Added query.cardinal_facing_2d to get a ground plane direction that doesn't return up or down
  • Added the ability to put block models into the models/blocks folder
  • Added the ability for item triggers to send events to the block they are interacting with (when there is one such as on_use_on)
  • Added the ability to query the interacted face for both interactions with blocks and using minecraft:on_use_on in an item. Face can be queried with query.block_face
  • Fixed face occlusion with data driven blocks to properly account for unit cube transparent vs unit cube opaque
  • Fixed a crash caused by heap corruption with entity_collision and pick_collision components
  • Data-driven blocks no longer have their top faces rotated 180 degrees when carried or in inventory
  • Mobs are no longer teleported back and forth outside solid objects if there is not enough space for multiple entities

Event Responses

  • "add_mob_effect" and "remove_mob_effect" no longer throw content errors when valid effect names are passed in
  • Added documentation for "remove_mob_effect" to make creators aware they can use the value "all" in effect to remove all mob effects from a target
  • Fixed items not being placeable in additional horse equipment slots. Does not fix all equippable behaviors
  • Inventory size on the minecraft:inventory component has to be increased to match the equippable slots in order for the server to accept the item placement
  • The tooltip for item with item lock component will no longer show when game rule showtags is disabled

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