The Parker Road Phantom

It’s been almost 40 years since the giant-sized figure of a man spent several weeks floating along the Parker Road at speeds of 20 miles per hour - then disappearing without a trace.

Whatever it was the people saw, it soon became known as the Parker Road Phantom.

Interest in the Phantom caused a big increase in the number of cars that travelled up and down the road. Later, radio and television crews showed up and local, regional and national newspapers published news almost daily on the events on the Parker Road.

It all began on a foggy night in early 1969, when five boys - Billy, Ronny, David and Tom Gates and friend Dickie Taylor - developed a plan to scare their grandparents. They never imagined the havoc the prank would cause.

The boys searched their grandparent’s attic, where they found an old army coat and a round hat. A nylon stocking was used for a face mask. They knocked on the door and gave Mrs. Gates, whose door was four steps from the ground, quite a surprise when she looked into Billy’s disguised face.

The mysteries of the Phantom were many, but the way it disappeared was definitely a team effort. Tom says, while Billy and he were playing the phantom, David, Ronny and Dickie were manning the doors to the nearby barn they hid in. David would shut the barn doors and bar them.

One night, they almost got caught. A car had its lights off and they didn’t see it soon enough. They took off running for the barn, with the car in hot pursuit. They boys manning the doors were also taken by surprise. Four of them ended up in the root cellar in a heap. David did not have time to go to the root cellar, so he kicked the doors shut and hid under a canoe that was upside down near the barn. It was a close call, but they didn’t get caught.

Many exciting things occurred during the weeks of the pranks. One evening, the phantom came face-to-face with four women in a convertible. A lot of screaming followed, until one of them yelled to the driver, “get this thing out of here fast!” Another time, David was hiding when he saw two men with shotguns.

Tom says the hardest thing was to keep quiet. “The Phantom was the main topic in school and, because we lived on the Parker Road, teachers and students would ask us about it everyday.”

In April, 1969, the boys turned themselves in to police. No charges were laid against the spooks since no malicious mischief was intended. “We had a float in the Berwick Gala Day parade that year. It was an old Volkswagon and the Phantom rode on top,” says Tom. “It was a time when people let their imaginations go wild. I’m glad they did. It was the most exciting and memorable time of our lives.”