In 1982 in the small town of Morganton, NC, a man named Tommie Hunter was standing at the Hwy 181 overlook and saw something truly remarkable. A strange white light was hovering from down below, and Tommie reached over to touch it. As he did, Tommie would say he felt a strong energy, like he had stuck his finger in a light source. That day, six other witnesses would see Tommie touch what has become to be known as the Brown Mountain lights.
In this post, we will explore these mysterious Brown Mountain Lights, which appear in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, and are known as a series of lights or orbs emitting from an unknown source. They occur randomly and usually appear as white, but sometimes are red or other colors. Others describe them as fireworks coming off the mountain. There can be one light or up to 12 lights that appear. Truly there is no pattern and at this point, there’s no question that the lights exist, but the question surrounds what is it? As we will soon see, science has tried to solve this mystery many times, but has been unable to put forth a satisfactory explanation.
The Brown Mountain is a low-lying ridge approximately 1.5 miles lying in the Pisgah National Forest in Western NC. This area was inhabited by the native American tribes for centuries and they witnessed the lights. In Cherokee culture, it is said a great battle occurred in 1200 ad between the Catawba and Cherokee Tribes and the lights are from Native American widows searching for their men who died in battle.
While many have seen the lights over the decades, it was in Jules Verne’s 1906 Novel Master of the World book, that the lights began receiving attention. In the book, although it is science fiction, Vernes describes the strange lights to appear on the summit of the mountain. As word spread surrounding the lights, and people found out they actually did exist, there were calls for an investigation.
In 1913 United States Geological employee, D.B. Sterrett, came to the area and stated the lights came from the nearby Southern Railway trains headlights. While this seemed like a possible explanation, especially with the growing electrification in the area, 3 years later in 1916 doubt would begin. As the trains had to be shut down due flooding in the area for several weeks, the lights in the area kept being seen. George Anderson Loven, a hotel owner, along with his guests, would keep seeing the lights during that period. Skeptics argue that Sterrett’s conclusion says not only train lights, but any light source could cause it. We should note though, these lights tended to behave strangely and move in bazaar ways.
In 1922, The USGS would send another man to investigate, George Mansfield. Mansfield would observe and plot several lights linking them to known electrical sources such as the southern railway trains. George Loven would dispute his conclusions and note the lights weren’t true Brown Mountain lights, for several reasons including they weren’t bright enough.
The debate goes on till modern day concerning Sterett and Manfield’s conclusion. Skeptics have attempted to close the book as distant electrical lights. Yet, these conclusions fail to answer many questions.
For one several people have reported seeing orbs come up directly from below. Headlights wouldn’t explain lights moving vertical. Also, there are other sightings of these lights prior to electrification in the area. One concerns Scotty Wiseman who was born in 1842, and as a boy witnessed a strange light pulsating on top of Brown Mountain. Ron Swofford, a retired college dean, recalled how he saw the lights and they split into two. Debbie Glover is another witness to the strange lights. She recalls seeing a yellowish orb rise up and fall back down.
One other question concern if it is lights from trains and cars, why is this only happening at this mountain? It seems that other dark mountainous locations, would experience similar phenomena, but there don’t appear to be any or perhaps a few. It could be atmospheric pressure or something else changing the behavior of the lights, but this is unclear at this time.
There are several theories in modern times as far as what this could be other than headlights. The first is that they are paranormal in nature. This is probably one of the more popular opinions of the lights. Another theory is that these are UFOs. Orbs similar to the Brown Mountain lights have been seen around the world and are often associated with the extraterrestrial. One other theory is that the lights are somehow linked to another dimension. One popular theory is that it is a strange unknown weather phenomenon, one we have not discovered yet.
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While many of the sightings of this strange phenomenon could be due to trains, cars and other light sources, the fact remains something strange is occurring in this area. There’s a variety of theories regarding what that could be, and at this point there doesn’t appear to be a consensus conclusion.
Every year, tourists flock to the Blue Ridge Mountains and many venture out to hopefully get a glimpse of these strange lights.
