Before my wife and I moved to Tacoma in 2020, we lived in South Carolina and regularly attended the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games in nearby North Carolina. Brown Mountain is less than an hour away from Grandfather Mountain, so it was always a place that piqued my interest as a paranormal researcher. Although I never personally managed to make it to the site itself during the night, my daughter and her husband camped there and got some excellent videos of the phenomenon.
The legend of the Brown Mountain lights goes back at least a century, and if the claims that they are part of Native American lore are true, they go back even farther than that. The lights are usually described as glowing orbs that range in size and color. They are typically white, yellow, or red, but other colors have also been observed. They appear to be floating along the Brown Mountain ridge, although sometimes they can also be seen to rise from the ground to the sky.
The lights have been investigated at least three times by the United States government, and countless times by private groups and often studied by students at Appalachian State University. The lights were even featured in an episode of X-Files in 1999.
The lights only appear sporadically, so people have had a hit-or-miss record of observing them. They do seem to be more frequent during the autumn months. There are numerous videos online, and Appalachian State University frequently posts images on their website.
Theories about the Brown Mountain Lights
There are multiple theories about what the lights might be. The lights were first documented around 1910-1912, at about the same time that electric lighting was first becoming available in the area, which seems a bit suspicious for those who think the lights are the result of a phenomenon called “atmospheric refraction.“
Some local legends suggest that Native Americans also witnessed the lights. In this version, the Cherokee Indians were familiar with these lights as far back as the year 1200. According to this story, a great battle was fought that year between the Cherokee and Catawba Indians near Brown Mountain. The Cherokees believed that the lights were the spirits of Indian maidens who went on searching through the centuries for their husbands and sweethearts who had died in the battle.
Another theory is that they are ghosts of Civil War soldiers. The major problem with this theory is that there was no major Civil War battle anywhere near Brown Mountain or the Linville Gorge. This means that if they’re indeed the ghosts of Civil War soldiers, they must have gotten terribly lost somewhere along the way.
Some scientists think that the lights are caused by the combustion of swamp gases (methane) released from decaying organic material. The major problem with this theory is that there are no swamps anywhere near Brown Mountain, so it would be hard to see how swamp gas could be the culprit.
Another theory is that the lights are caused by electrical discharges resulting from tectonic stress or the release of piezoelectric energy from quartz-rich rocks in the area. While this theory has some scientific basis, it lacks any hard evidence to back it up. Such energy is usually only released after an earthquake or other type of tectonic stress, and there is no known fault line or tectonic pressure in the area. There has never been any serious attempt by scientists to reproduce or document the phenomenon as being caused by electrical discharges. While scientists have reproduced piezoelectric lights in the lab, it has never been observed at Brown Mountain under any scientific scrutiny.
Some believe the lights are reflections of car headlights, campfires, or other man-made sources, distorted by atmospheric conditions. The problem with this theory is that the lights were observed before cars or electric lights were prevalent in the area.
A few theories propose that the lights are related to extraterrestrial activity or UFOs. While this is possibly the most intriguing explanation, it so far lacks any hard evidence to back it up. There have been multiple videos of the lights themselves, but to my knowledge there have never been any credible photos of aliens at or near Brown Mountain. If you know of any, please feel free to leave links in the comments below!
Cultural Impact of the Brown Mountain Lights
Whether or not they are any sort of supernatural or paranormal phenomena, the lights have become a part of local heritage, contributing to the folklore of the Brown Mountain area. The mysterious nature of the lights attracts tourists, hikers, and researchers. This influx of visitors has boosted local tourism and the economy. The area offers several lookout points specifically for viewing the lights, such as Wiseman’s View and Brown Mountain Overlook.
Despite various theories, there is no conclusive explanation for the lights, leading to ongoing debate and skepticism. The phenomenon can sometimes be exploited for profit in ways that detract from its natural and mysterious essence. There have been Brown Mountain t-shirts, coffee mugs, posters, and the usual paraphernalia, leading skeptics to see the lights as just another moneymaking opportunity.
The lack of a definitive explanation has the true believers hoping for a supernatural cause, while skeptics remain focused on finding some sort of scientific explanation for the Brown Mountain Lights.
Watch the video below and tell me if you think this looks like “car headlights,” or “atmospheric refraction,” or “swamp gas.”
What do you think? Let me know in the comments!