that always came in pairs. Belief in the supposed mystery of the Spooklight has for generations been promoted by local chambers of commerce, who see it as an opportunity for tourism revenue. In 1969, the Missouri Chamber of Commerce ran a press release in many newspapers that included the counterfactual statement, "Scientists, however, using various technical devices, have not been successful in determining a theory as to the origin of the light." The Joplin Chamber of Commerce published a visitor guidebook, The Tri-State Spook Light, in 1955, and the Neosho Chamber of Commerce published its own tourist booklet in 1963. The Missouri Division of the U.S. Brewers Foundation ran newspaper ads in the 1950's promoting the Spooklight, suggesting that they thought it would lead to more beer sales to tourists. Mythology Numerous legends exist explaining the origin of the Spooklight: Ghosts of two young Native American lovers looking for each other Ghost of a murdered Osage chief "Spirit of a Quapaw maiden who drowned herself in the river when her warrior was killed in battle" Lantern of the ghost of a miner searching for his children stolen by the Indians In the online lore about the Spooklight, it's often repeated that someone, possibly named Foster Young, published some kind of manuscript entitled The Ozark Spook Light sometime in the 1880s; this is asserted as a rebuttal to the distant headlight explanation, but no evidence has been produced that either the document or the claimed author ever existed. See also Mater and the Ghostlight, a short included with Cars (2006 computer animated film), which references this legend Will-o'-the-wisp Marfa Lights Min Min Lights St. Louis Light Light of Saratoga Bibliography Vance Randolph, Ozark Magic and Folklore, 1947 (Dover, 2003, ) Robert Gannon, "Balls O'Fire – PM Tracks Down Ozark Spooklight", in Popular Mechanics, September 1965, p. 116 References Newton County, Missouri Weather lore Atmospheric ghost lights Ottawa County, Oklahoma UFO-related phenomena