New Orleans Cops Solve Spooky Hospital Mystery

People saw 'Christmas tree' high up in abandoned building
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 30, 2015 3:39 AM CST
New Orleans Cops Solve Spooky Hospital Mystery
This June 8, 2006, photo shows Charity Hospital's main entrance.   (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

Police in New Orleans say they've found the source of an eerie light shining from the city's huge, abandoned Charity Hospital—and no ghosts were involved. After photos of the light, which observers thought was a small Christmas tree, went viral, police entered the hospital and removed some 2x4s wrapped in lights that had apparently been placed there by a trespasser, WDSU reports. "It's really pretty and [a] little creepy," a man who photographed the lights tells WWL-TV. "It gave me chills when I saw it and, of course, made me think of my brother, who passed away at Charity Hospital."

Another who spotted it shares a similar sentiment. "I wish the pictures did it justice," writes Lisa Walley Staggs on Facebook. "I don't know how it's lit. I don't know how it's even in there, but it made me smile just a little bit tonight!" Police aren't sure who was behind the stunt at the hospital, which was built in the 1930s and abandoned after Hurricane Katrina, but whoever it was might want to remain anonymous. "We're treating it like a break-in," says a police spokeswoman. (So no ghosts in this case, but those worried about whether their house is haunted now have a resource to check.)

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