The Lantern Left Burning on Shaft Four: A Son's Quiet Reckoning

The Lantern Left Burning on Shaft Four: A Son's Quiet Reckoning A single red signal lantern was found burning on a sealed mine shaft with its kerosene reservoir a quarter full-no tracks, no footprints, just a steady flame that linked a 2019 morning to a rescue thirty-eight years earlier. Who left the lantern, and why did its color and steadiness echo a man’s private memory from deep underground? In this episode, we hear the chain of events from the morning the lantern was found through the notebooks a son discovered years after his father's death, and we follow the question that ties them together: could a light left burning be an answer to a plea from thirty-one hours beneath the earth? Person: Donald Hughes Date: June 11, 2019 Location: Shaft Number Four, Bellamy Creek Mine, eleven miles east of Varna Event: 31-hour mine entrapment in March 1981 Person: Ray Anderson - The lantern found by Donald Hughes at 6:52 AM was a cast-iron railroad signal lantern with a red globe and a quarter-full kerosene reservoir. - The Bellamy Creek Mine’s Shaft Number Four was sealed with a concrete collar and later plugged permanently six weeks after the 1981 rescue. - Rescue foreman Albert Corey’s handwritten log records that Ray Anderson requested a red signal lamp be kept burning during the rescue, and it was lit by 4:10 AM. - Ray Anderson and one other miner were trapped for thirty-one hours in March 1981 and were both brought up alive. - Todd found his father Ray’s handwritten notebooks in spring 2019, two years after Ray’s death in winter 2017 at age sixty-three. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].