From the Wet Mountain Tribune:

Cryptoscience Society fails to see cemetery lights, but still has fun

Mysterious blue lights dance in the historic Silver Cliff Cemetery.

Legend has it that a group of drunken miners saw the lights several years after the first souls were laid to rest at the site in 1878.

Ever since then many Valley residents have seen the ghostly lights flickering between the gravestones on dark moonless nights.

Last weekend ten members of the Cryptoscience Society at Metro State College in Denver spent the night in the cemetery investigating the lights and hoping to spot them.

Undeterred by the thunder, lightning and wind, the group readied their audio and video recording devices, got out their still cameras and prepared to do a little paranormal inquiry.

"We hope to see anything really. We'd like to get visual confirmation of the lights," said Cryptoscience Society president Jason Cordova.

They split up into two groups so they could cover both the Silver Cliff Cemetery and the Assumption Catholic Cemetery just a little ways further down the road.

The storm passed and the clouds lifted. At about 11 p.m. the just past full moon rose, casting a bright glow over the Valley.

Armed with two-way radios the investigators walked among the tombstones, waiting and watching.

Theoretical mathematics and philosophy major Kevin Harris said, "I try to go into this kind of thing without much of an expectation because a lot of times, as far as paranormal investigation is concerned, it gets blown out of proportion. If you build up too much expectation and nothing happens, then you're very disappointed at the end of the night. I'm just here to collect data."

The sun rose into a bright blue sky the next morning and the bleary-eyed researchers regrouped as meadowlarks greeted the day.

No one reported seeing any lights, although according to Cordova, one of the women members of the society may have captured the image of an orb with her camera.

The group was pretty upbeat about it though, they'd all had a good time and were ready to try again in the future.

Cordova noted that they had quite a bit of data to cull through and hoped that maybe something would still come up. They plan to submit their findings to the town of Silver Cliff.

According to longtime Valley resident and rancher Arlie Riggs it takes a lot of patience to see the lights in the Silver Cliff Cemetery.

"Its really just happenstance," she said, "it seems like it happens when there's almost a mist between the starlight and the tombstones."

She thinks it's something probably caused by some kind of mineral in the ground.

"I don't think there are ghosts, but there are lights. Then again, I've been accused of having a vivid imagination," she said.

- Shanna Lewis