North Carolina Ghost Stories And Legends, The Brown Mountain Lights

The Brown Mountain Lights are ghostly lights that appear up in the air over Brown Mountain in Burke County North Carolina. Over the years since the Blue Ridge Parkway was built many people have reported seeing strange dancing lights up in the air over Brown Mountain near the North Carolina city of Morganton.The lights are easiest to view from milepost 310 at the Brown Mountain Overlook and at milepost 181. There are markers at both locations where you can read about the Brown Mountain Lights and know that you're at the right place.

People tell of seeing strange lights that often appear to look like miniature campfires dancing in the air up over Brown Mountain. The Cherokee Indians that once lived in this area told of seeing these strange lights going back hundreds of years. The Cherokee said that it was the camp fires of the little people who lived in the area that they were seeing in the area. Other people tell of a great American Indian battle that was fought hundreds of years ago and that the lights are ghosts from that battle.

Some people who have experienced seeing the lights often report other strange occurrences. Recently one man sent me an email telling of seeing the lights while he was pulled off at Milepost 310 on the Blue Ridge Parkway and he said that all at once his video camera which he had put new batteries in suddenly went dead and that when he tried to crank his car that for a few minutes it would not crank or even turn over. He said that as long as the lights were up in the air that his car would not crank. He said that when the lights vanished he tried to crank his car and that it cranked right up.

His story is only one of many that have been told over the years of strange things happening when people see the Brown Mountain Lights. Many people have told of flashlights and cellular phones that suddenly sent dead. And a lot of people say that flashlights, cellular phones, and even car and truck engines go dead when the lights are up in the air. What is it about the lights that drains the power from batteries. I do know that batteries are often drained where there is paranormal activity. I have often been doing paranormal investigations in some location when a battery operated device is drained of its power suddenly.

Researchers have gone to the area of Brown Mountain on several occasions and they have never been able to find any geological explanation for the Brown Mountain Lights. But as you can see in the photo above the lights are very real and when I have seen them they have appeared at times to be almost living. One light will seem to chase another light and the lights will often appear to suddenly dive down into the tree tops and then seem to chase each other back up into the sky. And another really strange thing is that several times when I knew for a fact that I took a photo of the lights nothing showed up on the film. While at other times I have been able to capture the lights on photographs and video.

Are The Brown Mountain Lights Some Form Of UFO Activity

Some people have made the claim that the Brown Mountain Lights have something to do with UFO activity but the lights that I have seen in the area don't appear to be UFO's of any type. They appear to be to small to be any type of craft. I have however seen the lights appear to travel at great rates of speed. I know that people have made the claims that these lights are reflections from other areas but I just don't think that is possible. The last two lights I observed up over Brown Mountain seemed to have intelligence. The two lights chased each other back and forth across the sky and down into the tree tops. And then suddenly they were gone as quickly as they came. When they disappeared it was like they just suddenly went poof and they were gone.

The Brown Mountain Lights have been reported in the local North Carolina newspapers going back to 1913 and there have been many stories done over the years about the Brown Mountain Lights. Spanish Explorers who were in this area in the 1580's sent written reports back to Spain of seeing strange lights up in the air over the mountains in this area. The Spanish Explorers said that they saw lights that chased each other across the sky and down into the tree tops. It's interesting to note that the lights have been described almost exactly the same way for hundreds of years.

People in the area quite often drive to the pull overs on the Blue Ridge Parkway to try to catch a glimpse of the Brown Mountain Lights. And over the years many paranormal investigators have traveled to the area to try to figure out exactly what the Brown Mountain Lights are. Many people including myself have been able to catch the lights on photographs.There is no doubt about it that the lights are real.

I have stood in several different locations and watched the lights over Brown Mountain and I don't think they are any type of reflection or swamp gas. I have seen the lights appear in various areas up over the mountain and disappear in different locations. I don't see how they could possibly be any type of naturally occurring lights such as swamp gas. There are no swamps in the area and quite often the lights appear and seem to be chasing each other. At times it even seems like the lights are living beings.

Research On American Indian Battles In The Area

It is a historical fact that the Catawba and the Cherokee both lived in this area but mostly at different times. The Cherokee were for the most part a peace loving farming people but the Catawba were known to fight their Iroquois neighbors to the north. So there is a possibility that the Catawba and the Iroquois could have fought a battle at or near Brown Mountain. Farmers in nearby areas have over the years plowed up huge amounts of arrowheads so there is the possibility that a large battle was fought in or near this area. And any where that you have great tragedy you often have paranormal activity. Maybe the Brown Mountain Lights are American Indian spirits chasing each other.

Will We Ever Know For Sure What The Brown Mountain Lights Are?

We may never know for sure what the Brown Mountain Lights are but there is one thing for sure. If you travel up to the pull offs on the Blue Ridge Parkway that overlook Brown Mountain often enough I believe you will eventually see the lights and from that moment on you'll always wonder what you saw. I first saw the lights for the first time when I was 12 years old just about 50 years ago and I have seen them several times since. And I have always wondered what they really are. Why do some people go time and time again and never see the lights while other people will see them almost every time they go to the area.

Brown Mountain Lights Were On The X Files.

Did you know that there was even a X Files episode about the Brown Mountain Lights. The episode about the Brown Mountain Lights was called, " The Field Trip " and it originally aired on May 9, 1999. But not even the X Files were able to explain the Brown Mountain Lights.

I hope you have enjoyed reading my Hub Page on the Brown Mountain lights and I hope you'll post a comment below.