Farmers outside Blackburn had reported the lantern for twenty years.

It appeared only in dense winter fog.

Cryer dismissed the stories until he saw it himself.

A single yellow light moved slowly across the field.

When he approached, it retreated.

He ran.

The light vanished.

At dawn Cryer found a scorched circle in the grass.

There were no footprints.

The following winter the lantern returned.

This time it appeared at the edge of Cryer's own garden.