Some say he is a ghost.  Others say he is a man.

Whether you live in or near Koppel, New Castle or Youngstown, chances are you've heard the legend of the Green Man or Charlie No Face.

But after some digging with historian Thomas White, 21 News has learned that this legend has some truth to it after all.

He appears when darkness cloaks the roadways, stalking teenagers and thrill seekers brave enough to stop their cars in lonely tunnels.

"He's kind of like western Pennsylvania's version of the hook man," said Thomas White, author of Haunted Roads of Western Pennsylvania.

His skin is cold, kissed with a hue of green. His face is disfigured.

"I heard that there was this glowing figure who was either struck by lightning or he'd been disfigured by acid," said White.

Legend is, the man, known in the 50s for walking in the dark trying to hide the black pits of his eyes and nose, still drags his boots down these roadways after death.

"Turn your car off on the bridge, take your keys out, put them on the bridge, put them on the bridge for a few minutes when it's time for you to leave. Your car won't start," said White.

"If you stop and wait, he may approach your car or if you call his name three times, or flash your headlights three times, he will appear and chase you off."

Thomas White, an archivist at Duquesne University, writer of Haunted Roads of Western Pennsylvania and history professor, said there is truth behind the legend.

In fact, the Green man's real name is Ray Robinson.

And his story started in his hometown of Beaver Falls.

"His real story is pretty tragic.  In 1919 when he was 10-years-old in Beaver Falls he was with friends walking to swimming and someone dared him to climb on top of a railroad trestle and count the number of eggs in a birds nest. But there was a live power line running near that area and accidentally grabbed the power line, was horribly electrocuted and mutilated. They thought he would die, but he didn't. He survived," said White

His eyes and nose were burned away. He didn't have much hair on his head, and part of his arm had to be amputated.

Ray found a life living with family in the town of Koppel, and walked through the woods as an escape.

But when the land was used for mining in the 50s, Ray started taking night walks along Koppel-New Galilee Road.

Most reports said he would go walking close to 10 pm. He was blind, so he would walk with one foot on the edge of the road and one foot on the gravel.

"Many people liked him. They'd go visit him. Take him a beer, cigarettes. More and more people would show up, in fact, there were some Saturday nights where 100 cars would be parked along Koppel-Galilee Road hoping to see the green man," White said.

But it wasn't all a good experience for Robinson.

On a few occasions, Robinson would get talked into getting into someone's car and left stranded somewhere. Other times he was beaten up.

He walked the road for 30 years.

Ray lived a quiet life, eventually moving to a nursing home where he passed in 1985.

White believes the legend has grown into Ohio and other parts of Pennsylvania because people who would go to see Ray lived in these areas and shared the story.

But before you flash your headlights to catch a glimpse of Ray's ghost, remember there's one thing the Green man always showed up for, a six-pack of beer and a cigarette.