The Brown Mountain Lights
For years efforts have been m»«le by vari¬
ous sources lo explain the reason for these
lights, hut up to the present time the mys¬
tery remains as deep as ever.
M
»
>rx
Rockies, mid wo also possess
Clinguan's Dolin' ami a hundred
other peaks but slightly lower. But
■>iir most fanntii' mount is Brown
Mountain down in Burke, a short
distance from Mnrganton. It is not
much of a mountain, being in truth
but a foothill . . . 2,600 feet in ele¬
vation. hut the mysterious lights hov¬
ering over it nttrneted not only the
attention of the State, but amused
the euriositv of the Nation, to such
an extent that two investigations
were conducted by the United States
(leologie Survey.
The theories to account for the
presence of the lights were many,
ami some w.-rc most ingenuous.
The superstitious saw* in them a su¬
pernatural manifestation: others
thought they indicated deposits of
valuable mineral ores, a theory nega-
lived bv the geologists who said the
lilouiil
( 'rauh
ised of ordinary
Others thought
rislt pranks. Tin-
ring that for a
Iraeteil such at-
ployed in an undertaking to aceount
for the mystery.
Take a position on Rattlesnake
Knob near Morganton. say at S
o'clock ill the evening. look to the
southeast, and suddenly there will
appear a light about the size of a toy
lialloon. Very red in color, it will ri--
over the summit of the mountain,
hover there momentarily, and then
disappear: only to appear again at
another point on the mountain some
minutes later. The lights appeared at
dilt'Tent poiut> around this iiioun-
As usual in such rases, observers
could uot a-roe on what lliev saw
To one observer the light was pale
white, restricted to
и
definite circle,
where it appeared several times in
rapid succession, then faded out for
twenty minutes, only to re-appear in
«»/
It. C. LAWRENCE)
ball of fire, yellowish in color, which
persisted for half a minute then dis-
appeared. To this observer the light
appeared as a bursting skyrocket,
only much brighter. To some the light
seemed stationary ; to others it moved
in different directions. A minister
reported that it appeared to him ns
an incandescent ball of fire.
The will o’ the wisp was suggested
as the cause, but this theory could
not hold, since there were no bogs or
marshes in the neighborhood Others
suggested phosphorus, but as that
element oxidizes rapidly, it Is never
foundin the free state. Others deemed
fox-fire the cause, but its light is so
pale and feeble that this could not bi¬
lbo cause. Still others suggested the
presence of beds of pitchblende ore.
from which radium is derived, but
this theory would not hold, as pitch¬
blende ore was conspicuous by its ab¬
sence. Even though it lunl been pres¬
ent there would have been no light,
since the rays of radium are invisible.
If the rays were visible they would
have been conulanl and not intermit¬
tent in character.
Some Other Theories
Hydrogen sulphide and lead oxide
were reported in the vicinity and tin-
lights attributed to this. Then came
the theory that mooiishiurrs operated
in the neighborhood (this much was
probably fact and not mere theory) :
that they built screens around their
stills to keep the fires from being
seen; and that the lights were but re-
•lections from them- fires. But there
was still the intermittent character
to he accounted for.
St. Elmo's fire was then brought
forward in explanation, this being an
electrical discharge which accom¬
panies a thunderstorm under certain
atmospheric conditions, especially at
sea. But as the lights appeared wlu-n
there was no storm, this had to be
rejected. Then “Andes Lights" were
suggested, this being a phenomenon
of the high Andes, where silent <lis-
charges of electricity pass from the
clouds to the mountain peaks. This
di-charge product* n light with a
circular border visible at a great dis¬
tance. But the Andes Lights ap¬
pear only at very high altitudes
15.000 feet or more — and Brown
Mountain wa- much too low in eleva¬
tion for this phenomenon to occur
there.
Then the mirage of the desert was
brought forward, air currents of dif¬
ferent densities, and inequalities in
temperature producing reflecting
surfaces from which the brighter
stars could he reflected. Various other
theories were advanced.
A government geologist became
speedily convinced that locomotive
headlights were the cause. This ex¬
planation did not satisfy the local
people, who quite pertinently claimed
that a headlight from either a loco¬
motive or an automobile would east a
bfim — a* doe- n marehlight— and
not a ball »Uc|,
».
api-ared over the
mountain. Some years later, in 1922,
the government sent another geolo¬
gist. and this ucnth-nian appeared
with the real tools of his profession,
(dance at his equipment: a lo-ineh
plane table, a telescopic alidade
( whatever that may
1и-).
a barometer,
a
|юске1
and dip needle compass, a
flashlight, a camera, field glasses, and
tojM.graphie map- of the entire sec¬
tion. With outspread maps. land¬
marks sighted and his situation prop-
erly oriented he observed conditions
for two weeks, finally reporting that
17 per cent of the lights were caused
by automobile headlights. .13 percent
from locomotive headlights. 10 per
cent from fixed lights, and 10 per
cent from brush fires. It was con¬
tended that although the lights hov¬
ered over the mountain, they really
originated in a broad valley beyond
it.
The com
•d by the ge-
tutnty)
I