They've been seen by thousands of people for over a century. They were first recorded in print in 1913. They have been the subject of a hit folksong, documentaries, an X-Files episode, and many a story told around the campfire. And they are still as much of a mystery today as they ever were.
"They" are the Brown Mountain Lights. Mystically appearing in Burke County, NC, the lights are described as orange-like orbs that bob and weave their way across the mountain. Folks have seen them from several vantage points along the Blue Ridge Parkway plus the Brown Mountain Overlook on NC Hwy 181; others have seen the orbs shoot past within a few feet of them. The U.S. Geological Survey investigated the phenomenon in 1913, determing they were reflections from locomotive or car lights. In 1922, the USGS then determined that the natural combustion of march grasses were causing the Lights.
Most recently, Dan Caton, professor of physics at Appalachian State University, has taken on the challenge of finding the cause. Caton hopes to set up cameras at various sites on the mountain to capture evidence of the orbs. Although he believes that 95 percent of reports have a natural explanation, he also thinks the Lights are worth investigating and may be ball lightning, a rare but naturally occurring phenomenon.
Over the decades, other explanations for the cause of the Lights have included UFOs, U.S. military activity, moonshiner signals, phosphorescence from decaying stumps and logs, chemical reactions, St. Elmo's Fire, radium emanations, and brush fires.
