Colorado's Documented Ghost Lights
Silver Cliff, CO
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free public access.
Access
Limited Access
Open prairie cemetery, dirt paths, uneven ground
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1880 · Colorado Silver Mining Heritage · National Geographic 1969 Feature
Silver Cliff was founded as a silver mining camp in Custer County, Colorado, during the late 1870s boom that built nearby Rosita and Westcliffe. At its peak the town held several thousand residents, and the cemetery on the open prairie at the western edge of town served the mining community and the agricultural homesteads that followed.
The cemetery's reputation for unexplained lights emerged during the silver era. The earliest accounts attached to the lights involve groups of miners and travelers returning by wagon from Rosita who reported small, glowing spots dancing among the headstones. Subsequent sightings produced enough community interest that residents reportedly arranged a vigil to identify what they assumed must be pranksters; the watch produced more sightings of the lights but no human source.
The lights received national attention in August 1969 when National Geographic writer Edward Linehan visited the cemetery during reporting for a feature on Colorado. Linehan was directed to the cemetery by local guides and described seeing 'dim, round spots of blue-white light' moving across the graves. The Geographic feature embedded the cemetery in dark-tourism literature and prompted scientific interest.
Researchers have proposed several natural explanations. The dominant scientific hypotheses involve phosphorescence on damp grave markers, with mineral content reflecting moonlight or starlight in specific patterns. Other proposals invoke retinal phenomena and phosphenes, brief flashes perceived by the eye that could account for the lights' apparent motion. Local skeptics have argued the lights are reflections of distant town illumination, though a documented town-light-blackout test in the twentieth century reportedly produced the lights again.
The cemetery remains in active community use, managed by the Town of Silver Cliff. Visitors are asked to respect the grounds, the markers, and the descendant families.
Sources
The Silver Cliff ghost lights are among the most documented sustained-witness reports of unexplained phenomena in any American cemetery. The lights are typically described as silver-dollar-sized, round, and a pale blue-white, drifting low among the headstones without apparent source.
The earliest accounts collected by regional historians come from a group of miners returning to Silver Cliff from Rosita by wagon in the late nineteenth century. The witnesses were reportedly intoxicated, and their report was discounted at the time. Subsequent independent sightings by local residents, however, prompted a community vigil that reportedly observed the lights without identifying any human cause.
The August 1969 National Geographic article by Edward Linehan describes Linehan's own observation of the lights during reporting in Custer County. His description has become the standard reference: dim spots, blue-white, glowing among the graves. The article led to a wave of subsequent visits by paranormal investigators, journalists, and amateur enthusiasts, and the cemetery has appeared in regional and national dark-tourism coverage continuously since.
Local accounts include the often-repeated story of a community test in which town lights were extinguished to determine whether the cemetery lights were reflections of street illumination. According to local tradition the cemetery lights continued to appear with the town dark. Proposed natural explanations include phosphorescent moisture on grave markers reflecting ambient light, retinal phosphenes, and minerals in the headstones themselves catching faint sources.
Visitors today report inconsistent results: some sit for hours and see nothing, others report the lights almost immediately. The cemetery is open and free to visit, and the Town of Silver Cliff asks only that visitors respect the grounds and the descendant community.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Walk the open prairie cemetery west of town and, after sunset, watch the headstones for the small blue-white lights that have been reported here since the late nineteenth century. The phenomenon was documented in National Geographic in August 1969. Visitors are advised to respect the cemetery, keep voices low, and avoid disturbing graves.
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