thumb|upright=1.5|[[Brown Mountain (North Carolina)|Brown Mountain]]

The Brown Mountain lights are purported ghost lights near Brown Mountain in North Carolina. The earliest published references to strange lights there are from around 1910, at about the same time electric lighting was becoming widespread in the area. In 1922, a USGS scientist, George R. Mansfield, used a map and an alidade telescope to prove that the lights that were being seen were trains, car headlights, and brush fires, which ended widespread public concern. Mansfield's investigation found many locals were unaware of any strange lights until 1910 or later. Joseph Loven, who lived next to Loven's Hotel, said he had first noticed the lights in 1897, but took no interest in them, and didn't hear anyone else talking about them, until his neighbor, C. E. Gregory, began trying to draw public attention to them around 1910. Also, Southern Railway had begun upgrading their locomotive headlamps to 600,000 candlepower systems in 1909, rendering their trains' light output greater than that of some lighthouses that were in operation at the time.

Fate Wiseman's light

thumb|upright=1.5|[[Table Rock (North Carolina)|Table Rock, as seen from Wiseman's View. Table Rock is a popular rock climbing site in North Carolina, complete with its own parking area, and "mystery lights" seen among the trees from this viewpoint are likely to be car headlights or hikers and climbers with flashlights.]]

Josiah Lafayette "Fate" Wiseman (1842–1932) was the great-uncle of Scotty Wiseman, whose song, The Legend of the Brown Mountain Lights (1961), greatly popularized the Brown Mountain lights, making them the most popular ghost story in North Carolina. His is also the oldest report of a strange light near Brown Mountain, though it wasn't well known at the time, and played no role in founding the legend. According to a tradition that was passed down through the Wiseman family, but that wasn't published until 1971, some time "around 1854" young Fate Wiseman was camping at Wiseman's View with his father when he first noticed a flash of light in the distance. Wiseman found that the same momentary flash would appear at the same place on the horizon at about the same time (varying by at most half an hour) each and every night. He would often return to the place and, at the expected time, he would stare into the distance until he saw a glimpse of the light. An inaccurate claim that de Brahm made a reference to Brown Mountain lights in this report is often repeated. and not to be confused for modern day newspapers with similar names, in 1927. 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 Sonny James, Tommy Faile, and Tony Rice.

The 1999 episode "Field Trip" of the paranormal drama show The X-Files centered around a mysterious case of missing hikers that were found dead in the vicinity of the Brown Mountains of North Carolina; the show mentions the Brown Mountain lights (the show's main character Fox Mulder believed it was due to UFOs).

It was featured in episodes of Weird or What?, Ancient Aliens, and Mystery Hunters.

It is described as the basis for the 2014 feature film Alien Abduction.

The mountains and the lights are featured in Speaking in Bones (2015) by Kathy Reichs.

Founded in 2022, the Brown Mountain Lights Festival is an annual festival that highlights local bands and artisans in Morganton, focusing on the more supernatural side of the so-called "ghost lights."

See also

  • Chir Batti
  • Gurdon light
  • Hessdalen lights
  • Invented tradition
  • Longdendale lights
  • Maco light
  • Marfa lights
  • Min Min light
  • Naga fireball
  • Paulding Light

References

Sources

  • Jerome Clark, Unexplained! 347 Strange Sightings, Incredible Occurrences, and Puzzling Physical Phenomena, Visible Ink Press, 1993.
  • Website by faculty and students at Appalachian State