Case file · High strangeness
La Luz de Yara
A Cuban legend tells of a light that wanders the countryside around Yara, said to be the spirit of the Taíno chief Hatuey, burned alive there by the Spanish on 2 February 1512.
1512 CE · 20.27, -76.95 · status: legend
The account
Hatuey had fled Hispaniola to warn the people of Cuba. Before his execution he is said to have refused baptism, saying he did not want to go to a heaven with Spaniards. Some versions make the light a guardian of hidden gold. The year is that of his death; the light legend is later.
The sceptical view
Wandering lights over farmland are reported worldwide and usually trace to fires, lamps or headlights seen at a distance.