Guest Author - Kris Baker

This story takes place anywhere between 1930 and 1949 depending on which website you visit or which book you read. The one thing they all seem to agree on is the place, San Antonio, Texas.

This popular Urban Legend is about a school bus, with an undetermined number of students that stalled on railroad tracks. The driver did all he could to get the bus started but all efforts failed. Before he had a chance to evacuate the children from the bus a train smashed into the bus killing all the children and the driver.

The Legend then goes on to say that the city, in remembrance of the students who lost their lives that day, named streets near the accident site after them.

A couple of weeks after the accident some high school students were out for a drive when their car stalled on the railroad tracks exactly where the bus had. The driver put the car in neutral and the kids were getting ready to get out to push the car to safety when the car started to move. At first the car just rocked and then it rolled over the railroad tracks out of harms way. It was as if it was being pushed but the kids did not see anyone around.

The story spread quickly and it was believed that it was the ghosts of the children who passed away in the bus/train accident that pushed the vehicle to safety. It did not take long before people started going to the tracks and putting their car in neutral in hopes that the children would push their car across the tracks. Those that tried this reported that their vehicle was pushed across the tracks by some unseen force.

A skeptical detective wanted to try this for himself to prove that there is no such thing as ghost children. He had the idea of putting powder on the back of his car that way he would be able to tell if anything or anyone touched it. He put his car in neutral on the tracks and sure enough the car started to move and eventually was pushed completely clear of the tracks. The detective got out of his car and could not believe his eyes! There on his bumper were small handprints.

While it is a great story it is not true. Well, some of it is true but the facts are a little off.

The story of an accident appeared in the December 12, 1938 issue of TIME magazine. The story reported that 23 children and a school bus driver lost their life in a train accident. The accident; however, did not take place in San Antonio, Texas. It happened on a snowy, foggy morning in Midvale, Utah on December 1, 1938. The bus did not stall on the tracks but was moving over the tracks after the driver came to a complete stop and looked for any trains. Not seeing a train (most likely due to the fog and snow) he proceeded across the tracks right into the path of an oncoming train.

How do we explain all the people that have experienced being pushed over the railroad tracks by invisible hands? It is an optical illusion; while the road appears to go uphill it is actually a downhill grade. This is very similar to what is known as a gravity hill and there are several located around the world.

Even though there have been several reports of people using powder on the back of their cars to capture the handprints of the ghost children this is also something that can be explained. Our hands contain oils and even after a handprint has faded the oils remain behind. A regular car wash does not remove the oil. When you put the powder on the back of your car the oil from our hands will bleed through the powder making it look like invisible hands were pushing the car.

This is a great example of an Urban Legend that was based on actual events but like most Urban Legends the details and location change depending on where you are.

Is there a gravity hill near you? For more information on gravity hills and to read the actual article that appeared in TIME magazine visit the links below.