Brown Mountain Lights

The Brown Mountain Lights are a series of ghost lights reported near Brown Mountain in North Carolina.

History

One early account of the lights dates from September 13, 1913, as reported in the "Charlotte Daily Observer". A fisherman claimed to have seen “mysterious lights seen just above the horizon every night” red in color, with a pronounced circular shape. Rather soon after this account, a United States Geological Survey employee, D.B. Stewart, studied the area in question and determined the witnesses had mistaken train lights for something more mysterious.

Research

Reports of odd lights continued, and a more formal USGS survey began in 1922, under the direction of George Rogers Mansfield. He determined witnesses had misidentified automobile or train lights, fires, or mundane stationary lights. [George Rogers Mansfield (1971) "Origin of the Brown Mountain Light in North Carolina", US Geological Survey, Circular 646.]

Popular culture

The lights are the inspiration for the bluegrass song, Scotty Wiseman’s “Brown Mountain Lights”, later performed by the Kingston Trio, and the Country Gentlemen. The song was also recorded by the progressive bluegrass band Acoustic Syndicate and performed by Yonder Mountain String Band.

The Brown Mountain Lights were the subject of an X-Files episode, called 'Field Trip' from season six, which originally aired on May 9, 1999.

References

ources

*Jerome Clark, "Unexplained! 347 Strange Sightings, Incredible Occurrences, and Puzzling Physical Phenomena", Visible Ink Press, 1993.

External links

* [http://www.dancaton.physics.appstate.edu/BML/index.htm Out-of-date website by faculty and students at Appalachian State]