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. 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 US Geological Survey study began in 1922, which determined that witnesses had misidentified automobile or train lights, fires, or mundane stationary lights. However, according to a marker on the Blue Ridge Parkway, a massive flood struck the area soon after the completion of the USGS study; all electrical power was lost and trains were inoperable for a period of time thereafter. Several automotive bridges were also washed out. The Brown Mountain lights, however, continued to appear.

One of the best vantage points, Wisemans View, is about 4 miles from Linville Falls, NC, and the best time of year to see them is reportedly September through early November.

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. In this version the light is being carried by "a faithful old slave/come back from the grave" who is searching for his lost master. The song was also recorded by the progressive bluegrass band Acoustic Syndicate and performed by Yonder Mountain String Band. This song was also performed and recorded by Sunny James, Roy Orbison and Tommy Faile. Tommy Faile's rendition can be heard at http://btmemories.com/articles/faile/tommy_faile.htm Several other versions of the song can be heard on YouTube.com.

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

1. ^ George Rogers Mansfield (1971) Origin of the Brown Mountain Light in North Carolina , US Geological Survey, Circular 646.

Sources

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

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