‘Ghost’ Frightens Occupants of Cars Along a Lonely Stretch of Perch Lake Road In 1960
The following article about a ghost sighting by eight individuals on Perch Lake Road was published in the June 22, 1960, edition of the Watertown Daily Times. What’s unusual about it is, there are very few, if any, “supernatural sightings” in that era. More specifically, reports of ghosts and the like were more prominent in the 1870s – 1880s, during the burgeoning spiritualism movement. Even the legend of Tug Hill Annie didn’t receive but a quick mention decades after the fact, first appearing in The Times 33 years after her death. The few other mentions have more to do with the Ed and Lorraine Warren‘s visit to St. Lawrence University in 1979.
Here’s the article, in its entirety:
Apparition on Perch Lake Highway Follows Two Cars – Sheriff’s Deputies Investigate.
Two frightened Watertown girls sent sheriff’s deputies on a ghost hunt today after they reported being pursued by a ghostly apparition on a lonely road north of the city.
Mary Thereult, 16, of 341 High Street, and Lea Benway, 14, of 712 Morrison Street, said a hooded figure in white appeared Tuesday night on the Perch Lake Road and followed their car as it traveled at speeds over 50 miles an hour.
“Eight people saw it happen,” the girls told skeptical authorities.
The girls, who trembled visibly as they told their strange story, said they wanted to report the ghostly appearance before someone gets “hurt.”
According to the girls, they were riding in a car operated by Pfc. Marvin Nash, 21, of Camp Drum. They said another soldier, Arnold Black, was also in the car.
In a second car, they reported, was Pfc. Edward Stephens, 19, of Camp Drum, and two other girls and a boy whose full names they did not know.
The Thereult girl said that she and Private Stephens had previously seen the apparition two or three weeks ago, and on Tuesday night had challenged their six friends to join them in a ghost hunt.
Their story of the hunt was as follows:
It was about 11:15 p.m., and the two cars were headed southwest on the Perch Lake Road traveling at 25 to 30 miles an hour. The car driven by Private Nash was in the lead.
The mysterious figure suddenly appeared at the roadside as they were about a half mile from the Bradley Street road.
The occupants of the second car saw it first and flashed the car head lights in warning as the two cars picked up speed.
The apparition appeared to be a hooded figure in white with no face and three long fingernails in place of a hand on one of its arms. It made no noise.
The Thereult girls said it reminded her of a woman wearing a long white nightgown, but that it moved like someone in an old fashioned movie.Keeping pace with the cars, now traveling 50 miles an hour or more, the ghostly figure moved between the two cars and appeared transparent in the headlights of the car operated by Private Stephens. It seemed to be trying to force the cars off the road, the girls continued.
The Benway girl said it also grabbed the side of the car. As suddenly as it appeared, the figure disappeared as the two cars reached the Bradley Street road.
This was the story told this morning to Sergeant Angel at the sheriff’s office.
“You don’t believe us, do you?” the girls asked after telling of the half mile chase.
The sergeant assured them that the department would investigate the report and attempt to find what had frightened them.
He suggested that someone had possibly used a movie projector to cast an image on the dark roadway.
Sergeant Angel said the other witnesses would be questioned in an attempt to gather more details on the strange appearance.
