The people of Mapleton have had an incident that smacks a little of the sensational, but as the facts are vouched for by three reputable citizens, we publish the story, and leave our readers to judge of its authenticity by a personal inspection of the premises referred to, or by inquiry of the gentlemen named:
For about twenty-five years, it is said, a peculiar light had been seen near the top of Rocky Ridge, at Bridgeport, a short distance west of Mapleton, which made its appearance more noticeably in the month of January of each year. Those who had seen the light thought nothing of it except that it was a strange place for a light to appear, but never thought it worth while to investigate the cause.
It was left for a party of three gentlemen — A. K. Skipper, Joseph Grove, and Thomas M. Logan, all good and trustworthy citizens of Mapleton — to fit out an expedition in the latter part of the previous month to visit the spot where the light made its appearance, and inquire into the cause.
The three adventurous explorers left Mapleton in the evening, and when nearing the spot they were astonished to see three lights, which had the appearance of rockets. Each one would pop up from the ground and remain for a few minutes about three feet above the surface, and then disappear in succession. These lights were on a line and seemed to point to a larger, brighter light like that from a lantern, which swayed to and fro over a crevice in the rock.
The party were satisfied that it meant something, they knew not what, and as the place where the light was could be better reached in the daytime and when there would be no snow and ice on the rocks, they concluded to visit the spot again, which they did a few days afterwards.
Supposing that there might be something buried beneath the surface where the mysterious light made its appearance, they provided themselves with picks and shovels, and began to dig. After digging into the ground to the depth of six feet they came upon a pile of loose stones, which covered two large flat stones that formed a lid.
Upon lifting it, they discovered what seemed to be the remains of a human body in a hole about three feet long. The remains were decomposed to a blackened powder, and the bones, when exposed to the air, crumbled into dust.
The explorers made a thorough examination, and are of the opinion that some one had been murdered near that place many years ago, and the body had been secreted in this secluded spot — the only thing to mark it being the singular lights, which have disappeared since the discovery was made.
Worth being precise about: Rocky Ridge and Bridgeport are just west of Mapleton, a short way up the Juniata Valley from Mount Union — not literally within Mount Union itself. It's regional Juniata Valley lore rather than a Mount Union story specifically, but it's exactly the kind of tale that got told and retold up and down this stretch of the river, Mount Union included, for generations.
So far as the historical record shows, no follow-up article ever ran identifying the remains, and the light was never reported seen again after 1889.