The Mysterious Brown Mountain Lights

For hundreds of years now, the Brown Mountain Lights have mystified the people around the area of Brown Mountain, near Morganton, North Carolina.

The local Native Americans have told of these lights for centuries. The first recorded sighting by a European settler was made by Geraud de Brahm, a German-born engineer who was exploring the area in 1771.

The lights are neither predictable nor consistently described. They have been described as a ball of light, floating in the air, brightening and fading until no longer visible. At times, they have been described as whirling like pinwheels in the darkness and by others, like quietly exploding fireworks in the air. They have also been described as suddenly darting farther skyward and increasing in intensity before disappearing.

Of course, as with any unexplained phenomenon, legends abound. The Native Americans claim that a great battle occurred here between the Cherokee and the Catawba. The lights are the spirits of young Indian women, each seeking a lover or husband killed in the battle.

Another legend tells of a planter who was visiting the mountains on a hunting expedition. He became lost and his slave went out to search for him. The loyal slave was seen many times, lantern in hand, searching for his master. Legend has it that the lights are the sightings of the slave's lantern, still searching in the darkness.

And yet, another legend has to do with the murder of a woman in 1850. It was believed that the husband killed her and disposed of her body on Brown Mountain. The community organized a search party for the lady and on one dark night, a light appeared. It was the belief by some that the light was the spirit of the lady, returning to haunt her killer and to tell the party to search no more. Many years after that night, bones were found at the bottom of a cliff. These were believed to have been the skeletal remains of the missing lady.

There have been many efforts to provide a scientific explanation for the lights, but none have been successful so far. Some state that the presence of several minerals and gases in the area produce the lights. Others suggest that it is phosphorus.

In 1913, the U.S. Geological Survey declared that the lights are somehow the reflections of automobile or locomotive headlights in the Catawba Valley, located south of Brown Mountain. But, the lights have been occurring since long before locomotives or automobiles existed. In 1916, a huge, very destructive flood occurred, leaving Brown Mountain and the Catawba Valley without power. Railroad bridges and roads were washed out; power lines were down. It was weeks before they could be restored. During those weeks without locomotives, automobiles or electrical lighting, the mysterious lights were still sighted over Brown Mountain. The U.S. Geological Survey then decided it was the spontaneous combustion of marsh gas. There are no marshes in the area of Brown Mountain to produce these gases.

The closer a person is to Brown Mountain, the larger the lights appear. The times that are best to see them is between about 8:00 pm and 2:00 am in the months of September and October. The best places to view them are:

The Brown Mountain Overlook, located about 20 miles north of Morganton, North Carolina on North Carolina Highway 181.

Lost Cove Cliffs Overlook, located at mileage marker 310 on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

To see more photos, go to: http://shadowboxent.brinkster.net/brownphotos.html

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