GEOLOGICAL SURVEY CIRCULAR 646 

Origin of the 

Brown Mountain Light 

in North Carolina 

Origin of the 

Brown Mountain Light 

in North Carolina 

By George Rogers Mansfield 

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY CIRCULAR 646 

Washington 1971 
United States Department of the Interior 

ROGERS C. B. MORTON, Secretory 

Geological Survey 

W. A. Radlinski, Acting Director 

Free on application to the U.S. Geological Survey, Washmgton, D.C 20242 
Brown Mountain--in the Blue Ridge 

country of western North Carolina--is 

the stage and setting for the intermittent performances of the "mysterious 

lights" that have provoked legend and 

song since the beginning of the century. 

In 1922, responding t0 a general interest in the lights, tt U.S. Geological 

Survey sent geologist George R. 

Mansfield to Brown Mountain to undertake a thorough investigation of the 

reported phenomenon. Mansfield's method of study and his conclusions were 

released to the press in 1922. Because 

of the present interest in Brown Mountain shown by visitors to this scenic 

area, George R. Mansfield's report to 

the press is reproduced here just as it 

was written a half century ago. 

CONTENTS 

Page 

Government investigations made--- 1 

Aid receiv-ed in this 

investigation------------------ 1 

Topography of Brown Mountain----- 2 

Geologic features---------------- 2 

Records of earlier observations-- 2 

Review of earlier observations--- 5 

Places of observation------------ 6 

Nature and appearance of the 

light-------------------------- 7 

Page 

Proposed explanations------------ 7 

The investigation in 1922-------- 10 

Methods employed------------- 10 

Observations at Loven's------ 12 

Observations at Gingercake 

Mountain------------------- 12 

Observations at Brown 

Mountain------------------- 14 

Conclusions---------------------- 15 

ILLUSTRATION 

Page 

Figure 1. Map of Brown Mountain region, N.C., illustrating or1g1n of 

"Brown Mountain lights"------------------------------------ 3 

v 

Origin of the Brown Mountain light in North Carolina 

By George Rogers Mansfield 1 

GOVERNMENT INVESTIGATIONS MADE 

For many years "mysterious lights" 

have been seen near Brown Mountain, 

in the northern part of Burke County, 

N.C., about 12 miles northwest of 

Morganton. Some have thought that 

these lights were of supernatural 

origin; others have dreamed that they 

might indicate enormous mineral deposits; and many who have not had such 

visions have looked upon them as a 

natural wonder that lent interest to 

all vacation trips to the region. 

In October 1913 at the urgent request of Representative E. Y. Webb, of 

North Carolina, a member of the U.S. 

Geological Survey, D. B. Sterrett, was 

sent to Brown Mountain to observe 

these lights and to determine their 

origin. After a few days investigation 

Mr. Sterrett declared that the lights 

were nothing but locomotive headlights 

seen over the mountain from the neighboring heights. This explanation was 

too simple and prosaic to please anyone who was looking for some supernatural or un4sual cause of the lights, 

and when they were seen after the 

great flood of 1916, while no trains 

were running in the vicinity, even 

some of those who had accepted Mr. 

Sterrett's explanation felt compelled 

to abandon it. 

As time went on, the interest in the 

lights became more general, and as one 

1rssued in 1922 as Press Notice 

14328. 

1 

after another local investigator 

failed to discover their origin, the 

mystery seemed to grow deeper. Finally Senators Simmons and Overman prevailed upon the Geological Survey to 

make a second and more thorough investigation of these puzzling lights. 

The present writer, to whom the task 

of making this investigation was assigned, spent 2 weeks near Brown 

Mountain in March and April 1922 and 

took observations on seven evenings, 

on four of them until after midnight, 

from hillsides that afforded favorable views of the lights. The results 

of the work are reported here. 

AID RECEIVED IN THIS INVESTIGATION 

The writer gratefully acknowledges 

his indebtedness to Messrs. R. T. 

Claywell, A. M. and Charles Kistler, 

and H. L. Millner, of Morganton, who 

gave him much information and assisted him in many ways in his investigation. Joseph Loven, of Cold Spring, 

and H. C. Martin, of Lenoir, accompanied him on some of the evenings of 

observation. G. E. Moore, of Lenoir, 

furnished valuable information. F. H. 

May, of Lenoir, organized a party to 

accompany him to the summit of Brown 

Mountain and generously rendered much 

valuable aid. Monroe Coffey and 

Theodore Crump, of the U.S. Forest 

Service, extended to him the hospitality of their camp on Brown 

Mountain and joined in the 

investigation. 
Drs. W. J. Humphreys and Herbert 

Lyman and Mr. C. F. Talman, of the 

U.S. Weather Bureau, obligingly furnished correspondence and unpublished 

manuscript relating to the Brown 

Mountain light, and W. W. Scott, of 

Washington, kindly lent a scrapbook 

containing copies of his own and 

other published articles relating to 

Brown Mountain. 

The writer is also indebted to his 

colleagues of the Geological Survey 

for helpful suggestions and discussions, particularly to Arthur Keith 

for information about the geology of 

the Brown Mountain region and to R. H. 

Sargent, J. B. Mertie, Jr., and A. C. 

Spencer for aid in the interpretation 

of instrumental observations. 

TOPOGRAPHY OF BROWN MOUNTAIN 

The shape and general elevation of 

Brown Mountain are shown on the accompanying map. Its eastern ridge 

forms part of the boundary between 

Burke and Caldwell Counties. Its top 

is plateaulike and reaches a maximum 

elevation of about 2,600 feet. It is 

partly cut away by southward-flowing 

branches of Johns River and is separated from more intricately carved 

uplands on the northwest, north, and 

northeast by Upper and Wilson Creeks 

and their tributaries. Seen from a 

distance from almost any direction, 

Brown Mountain appears as a ridge 

having a nearly even skyline. (See 

map , fig • 1. ) 

GEOLOGIC FEATURES 

The geologic features of the Brown 

Mountain region are the southward 

extension of the features seen farther north, which are described and 

mapped in the Cranberry-folio, No. 90 

of the series of folios of the Geologic Atlas of the United States. 

There is nothing unique or unusual in 

t~e geology of Brown Mountain. Most 

2 

of the mountain is composed of the 

Cranberry Granite, a rock which also 

underlies many square miles on the 

north side of the Blue Ridge. 

The Caldwell Power Co. has drilled 

a series of holes, 50 to nearly 100 

feet deep, along the lower part of 

the east slope of Brown Mountain preliminary to the location of a tunnel. 

Through the kindness of H. L. Millne~ 

an officer of the company; the writer 

was permitted to examine the cores 

taken from these holes. Most of them 

consisted of ordinary granite,· though 

a few included masses of rock of 

other kinds. The men who surveyed the 

line for the tunnel reported local 

magnetic attraction amounting to a 

deflection of about 6°, but though 

representative pieces of all the different kinds of cores were presented 

to the compass needle, they produced 

no noticeable effect. Dip-needle 

tests made to determine magnetic conditions at Brown Mountain gave readings of 41~ , which is slightly 

greater than those made at Loven's or 

at Gingercake Mountain (40°) but less 

than those made at Blowing Rock (43°) 

and at the Perkins place, near Adako 

(45°). 

RECORDS OF EARLIER OBSERVATIONS 

So far as the writer is aware the 

first published account of the light 

was given in a dispatch from Linville 

Falls to the Charlotte Daily Observer, 

dated September 23, 1913, in which 

its discovery is credited to members 

of the Morganton Fishing Club, who 

saw.it "more than two years ago" but 

who were "laughed at and accused of 

seeing things at night." This account 

is quoted in part below: 

· .. The mysterious light that is seen 

just above the horizon almost every 

night from Rattlesnake Knob, near 

Cold Spring, on the Morganton road 

* * * is still baffling all investigators * * * With punctual regular-
w 

N 

0 Z 4 6 8 10 MILES 

l__.l......i---dd----4 

i 

.PROFILE FROM STA. B ON UNE IS, SHOWING METHOD OF 

LOCATION OF LIGHT BY USE OF A VERTICAL ANGLE.. 

~ 

~ i ELEVAT..t:lo\!. VERT1CA/.. ANISLC,. ANO CVRVAnJRE ~!EO 4 T/Ma!;. 

~1 SKETCH OF BROWN MOUNTAIN FROM STA.A NEAR LOVENS. 

NOT~ hOW' THE VIEW AT THE' RltSHT IS CUT OFF. 

---------~~~~6~: - ~~"-4- ------------

Figure 1.--Map of Brown Mountain region, N.C., illustrating origin of 11Brown Mountain lights. 11 
ity the light rises in a southeasterly 

direction from the point of observation just over the lower slope of 

Brown Mountain, first about 7:30 p.m. 

and again at 10 o'clock. It looks much 

like a toy fire balloon, a distinct 

ball, with no atmosphere about it. 

* * * It is much smaller than the 

full moon, much larger than any star 

and very red. It rises in the far 

distance from beyond Brown Mountain, 

which is about 6 miles from Rattlesnake Knob, and after going up a short 

distance, wavers and goes out in less 

than 1 minute * * *· It does not always appear in exactly the same place, 

but varies what must amount in the 

distance to several miles. The light 

is visible at all seasons, so Mr. 

Anderson Loven, an old and reliable 

resident testifies * * *· There seems 

to be no d6ubt that the light rises 

from some point in the wide, level 

country between Brown Mountain and the 

South Mountains, a distance of about 

12 miles, though it is possible that 

it rises at a still greater distance." 

In this article in the Charlotte 

Daily Observer, the discovery of the 

lights is assigned to a date "more 

than 2 years ago," but conversation 

with B. S. Gaither, of Morganton, who 

participated in the fishing party 

mentioned, and who was the one who 

first saw the lights, elicited the 

fact that they were observed in 1908 

or 1909. Rev. C. E. Gregory, who in 

1910 built a cottage on the little 

knoll near Loven's Hotel at Cold 

Spring, presumably the Rattlesnake 

Knob referred to, was, according to 

local oral accounts, the first to give 

much attention to the lights and to 

bring them to public notice. 

H. L. Millner, an engineer living at 

Morganton, states that he did railroad 

surveying all through the mountains 

north of Brown Mountain in 1897, 1899 

to 1903, and in 1905. He afterward 

spent many summer vacations in those 

mountains but says that he never saw 

4 

the lights and never heard of them 

until 1910. Similar testimony is 

given by Rev. Albert Sherrill, who 

served two churches in the country 

about Brown Mountain. In a letter to 

Dr. W. J. Humphreys dated January 25, 

1922 he says: 

"For 4 years I traveled the roads to 

these churches and visited in the 

homes of the people all about this 

mountain. I held revival services day 

and night, which gave me a chance of 

observation at night. This was from 

1909 to 1912, inclusive. At no time 

in all these years did I see a light 

or hear of one * * * Two years 

after I left there was the first I 

ever heard of it." 

On the other hand, Col. Wade H. 

Harris, editor of the Charlotte Daily 

Observer, from which the first description of the light, quoted above, 

was taken, states in a letter dated 

October 2, 1921, addressed to Senator 

Simmons~ that "there is a record that 

it (the light) has puzzled the people 

since and before the days of the 

Civil War." R. T. Claywell, of 

Morganton, says that people used to 

come to Burke County 60 years ago to 

see the lights. Joseph Loven, of Cold 

Spring, says that he noticed the 

lights as early as 1897, when he 

moved to his present home by Loven's 

Hotel, but that he had heard nothing 

about them and paid no attention to 

them until Mr. Gregory came, in 1910. 

In October 1913, Mr. Sterrett of 

the U.S. Geological Survey made his 

investigation, as a result of which 

he decided that the lights were locomotive headlights. He did not visit 

Rattlesnake Knob but went unaccompanied to the Brown Mountain region, 

where he made his observations. 

A newspaper article on the lights, 

by W. W. Scott, published November 

10, 1915, aroused much local interest 

and started newspaper discussions, as 

a result of which several expeditions, 

made up of local observers, visited 
Brown Mountain early in the winter of' 

1915, and in the spring of 1916 and 

attempted to determine the character 

and source of the lights. The members 

of these expeditions made some interesting observations but did not satisfactorily achieve their object. 

Mr. H. C. Martin, of Lenoir, states 

that on April 11, 1916, he and Dr. 

L. H. Coffey organized an expedition 

to study the Brown Mountain light. 

Mr. Martin's party went to Adams 

Mountain. Dr. Coffey's party went to 

Brown Mountain. Each party subdivided 

into several groups and signals were 

arranged that whichever group first 

saw the light should. fire a pistol. 

Dr. Coffey's party saw the light over 

the summit of Adams Mountain at 8:10 

and again at 9:45, over a point somewhat farther south. About 5:10 a.m. 

they saw the light again over the 

south end of Adams Mountain. None of 

these appearances was seen by Mr. 

Martin's party, but about 11:52 his 

party saw two lights (floating 

globes), "apparently about the size 

of ordinary street lamps of Lenoir 

seen from the distance of about 1 

mile," flash out among the trees on 

the east side of Brown Mountain about 

one-eighth of the distance down from 

the summit. These lights moved horizontally southeastward, floating in 

and out of the ravines, along the 

mountainside past a dead pine tree in 

Mr. Martin's line of sight for a distance estimated at 2 miles. Then they 

returned northwestward about half 

that distance, again passing the line 

of the dead tree. At 12:13 the lights 

disappeared as suddenly as they came. 

These lights were not seen by Dr. 

Coffey's party. 

In the summer of 1916, a great 

flood swept down the valley of 

Catawba River, washing out bridges 

and railroad tracks and suspending 

all railroad traffic in and about 

Morganton, so that for several weeks 

no trains came within 40 or 50 miles 

5 

of Rattlesnake Knob, yet during that 

period the lights were reported to be 

seen as usual. This fact showed that 

the Brown Mountain lights could not 

be ascribed solely to locomotive 

headlights. 

Late in 1919 the question of the 

origin of the Brown Mountain light 

was brought to the attention of the 

Smithsonian Institution and referred 

to the U.S. Weather Bureau. Descriptions given in letters from trustworthy observers led Dr. W. J. 

Humphreys, of that Bureau, to decide 

that the light was an electrical discharge analogous to the "Andes light" 

of South America. This Andes lig~t 

and its possible ~elation to the 

Brown Mountain light became the subject of a paper presented by Dr. 

Herbert Lyman before a meeting of the 

American Meteorological Society held 

at the Weather Bureau in Washington 

in April 1921. Soon thereafter the 

suggestions of the physicists of the 

Weather Bureau were embodied in a 

bulletin on the Brown Mountain light 

issued by the National Geographic 

Society, in which this light was represented as a manifestation of the 

Andes light. Neither the Weather 

Bureau nor the National Geographic 

Society, however, had sent an investigator to Brown Mountain to observe 

the lights. 

.. REVIEW OF EARLIER OBSERVATIONS 

Those who have -seen the lights from 

the.south or east may with justice 

contend that no locomotive headlights 

can be seen to the north and northwest. A good topographic map, howeve~ 

shows many roads on which an automobile headlight might intervene 

between an observer and Brown Mountain in such a way as to give much 

the same effect that one would get in 

viewing it over the mountain from 

Loven's or Blowing Rock. 

There are two buildings on the sum- 1 

mit of Brown Mountain. One of these 
is owned by the Brown Mountain Club 

and the other is a Forest Service 

station. Lights in these and the 

fires of campers are the only lights 

known to originate on Brown Mountain 

and are the only lights that have 

been seen on the mountain by observers on the mountain. There are also 

some buildings on the southern spurs 

of Brown and Adams Mountains. Seen 

from favorable viewpoints these might 

furnish lights that could be interpreted as manifestations of the Brown 

Mountain light. 

For some years there have been lumber camps in Upper Creek west of 

Brown Mountain. Some of the buildings 

at these camps are on the sides of 

the valley or on Ripshin Ridge. 

Viewed from favorable positions 

lights in these buildings might be 

ascribed to the Brown Mountain light. 

Rare electrical discharges similar 

to those reported from western Virginia may take place on Brown Mountain or on other ridges on the Blue 

Ridge front, but they could have 

nothing in common with the ordinary 

Brown Mountain light either in 

appearance or in regularity of 

occurrence. 

The lights seen by Mr. Martin from 

Adams Mountain can probably not be 

satisfactorily explained after so 

long a lapse of time. There is no 

reason to attribute to them supernatural or unusual origin, and they 

cannot be explained as due to mirage, 

which is Mr. Martin's idea. The suggestion that they might have been 

caused by moonshiners carrying lanterns has been rejected because of 

the roughness of the east side of 

Brown Mountain and because of the 

distance that the lights seemed to 

travel in 20 minutes. They might be 

due to fireflies flying relatively 

near Mr. Martin yet appearing unduly 

large because his eyes were focused 

on the distant hillside, the appearance of going in and out of ravines 

6 

being due to intermittence in the 

lights, but H. S. Barber, an entomologist of the Division of Insects 

of the National Museum, to whom the 

matter was referred, states that this 

explanation, though possible, is 

improbable, chiefly because of the 

lateness of the hour of observation. 

.PLACES OF OBSERVATION 

In the article published in the 

Charlotte Daily Observer in September 

1913, it was stated that the lights 

were first observed from a place near 

Loven's Hotel, at Cold Spring, and as 

late as November 1915, Mr. Scott, in 

his newspaper article cited above, 

states that "Mr. Loven's is the only 

place from which has been seen the 

mysterious light that rises over 

Brown Mountain." By the spring of 

1916, however, the lights were being 

observed from several places near 

Lenoi~. More recently they were seen 

from Blowing Rock, which is visited 

by many tourists, who find accommodations at several flourishing hotels. 

The lights furnish one of the many 

attractions afforded by this remarkably well situated and delightful 

little town. Among the other localities from ~hich the Brown Mountain 

lights are said to have been seen 

are the slopes of Gingercake Mountain, 

about a mile and a half southwest of 

Cold Spring, and the toll gate on the 

Yonahlossee road, on the south slope 

of Grandfather Mountain. It is also 

reported that they have been seen 

from Morganton and from other points 

in the valley southeast of Brown 

Mountain. 

It is significant that, though many 

persons have from time to time camped 

on Brown Mountain and have spent 

nights watching for the lights, yet, 

so far as the writer has been able to 

ascertain, no one has actually 

observed the light on Brown Mountain 

when he himself was on that mountain, 
but, as in Dr. Coffey's observation, 

it has been seen from Brown Mountain 

as apparently over Adams Mountain or 

some hills farther south. Monroe 

Coffey and Theodore Crump, of the 

U.S. Forest Service, have spent many 

nights in and about Brown Mountain 

and have built a fire-control station 

on the summit of the mountain near 

the cabin of the Brown Mountain club, 

but at the time of the writer's visit 

neither of them had ever seen the 

Brown Mountain light. 

NATURE AND APPEARANCE OF THE LIGHT 

In his letter to Senator Simmons 

already cited, Colonel Harris writes 

as follows concerning the light: 

"It is a pale white light, as one 

seen through a ground glass globe, 

and there is a faint, irregularly 

shaped halo around it. It is confined 

to a prescribed circle, appearing 

three or four times in quick succession, then disappearing for 20 minutes or half an hour, when it repeats 

within the same circle." 

Prof. W. G. Perry, of the Georgia 

School of Technology, in a letter 

dated December 15, 1919, addressed to 

Dr. C. G. Abbot, of the Smithsonian 

Institution, describes the light as 

seen from the Cold Spring locality as 

follows: 

"We occupied a position on a high 

ridge. Across several intervening 

ridges rose Brown Mountain, some 8 

miles away. After sunset we began to 

watch the Brown Mountain direction. 

Suddenly there blazed in the sky, 

apparently above the mountain, near 

one end of it, a steadily glowing 

ball of light. It appeared to be 

about 10° above the upper line of the 

mountain, blazed with a slightly 

yellow light, lasted about half a 

minute, and then abruptly disappeared. 

It was not unlike the "star" from a 

bursting sky rocket or Roman candle, 

though brighter * * * 

7 

"We were impressed with the following facts: The region about Brown 

Mountain and between our location and 

the mountain is a wild, practically 

uninhabited mountain region--a confusion of mountain peaks, ridges, and 

valleys. Viewing the lights from a 

fixed position our estimate of their 

location was most inexact; the varying color (almost a white, yellowish, 

reddish) may have been due to mist in 

the atmosphere; the view of the lights 

was a direct one and not a reflection; 

there seemed to be no regularity in 

their time of appearance; they came 

suddenly into being, blazed steadily, 

and as suddenly disappeared; they 

appeared against the sky and not 

against the side of the mountain. 

"Others who have seen this phenomenon make very different reports of 

their observation; and some who have 

seen it several times report that 

they have seen it in varying fashion; 

sometimes the light appears stationary (as was uniformly the case when 

I saw it); sometimes it appears to 

move rapidly--upward, downward, 

horizontally." 

Rev. C. E. Gregory is reported to 

have noted upon one occasion that the 

light appeared like a ball of incandescent gas, in which a seething 

motion could be observed. 

PROPOSED EXPLANATIONS 

Many explanations of the Brown 

Mountain lights have been offered. 

The principal ones that have come to 

the notice of the writer are briefly 

outlined below. 

1. Will-o'-the-wisp: A light called 

will-o'-the-wisp is sometimes 

seen over marshy places and is 

supposed to be due to the spontaneous combustion of marsh gas. 

There are, however, no marshy 

places on or about Brown Mountain, and the lights seen by the 
writer could not be ascribed to 

such a cause. 

2. Phosphorus: It has been suggested 

that the lights may be caused in 

some way by the element phosphorus. Phosphorus, however, is so 

easily oxidized that it does not 

occur in the free state. It is 

usually locked up in stable and 

relatively insoluble chemical 

compounds and therefore cannot 

be a cause of the Brown Mountain 

light. 

3. Phosphorescence (fox fire): Some 

organic bodies, such as stumps 

or logs, become luminous or 

phosphorescent by slow oxidation 

and combustion in the course of 

their decay. Such lights are too 

feeble to be seen at a distance 

of several miles and are unlike 

the lights seen by the writer. 

4. Radium emanations: The late F. H. 

Hossfield is reported to have 

found a piece of pitchblende, an 

ore of radium, near the southwest end of Brown Mountain, and 

some therefore think that Brown 

Mountain may contain a large 

body of radium ore, which might 

by emanation produce the observed lights. So far as the 

writer has been able to learn, 

the material that was supposed 

to be pitchblende was never so 

identified by actual tests, and 

the place where it was found is 

not accurately known. The specimen itself has been lost; but 

pitchblende, even if it occurred 

in large deposits, could not 

give rise to lights like those 

seen over Brown Mountain. No 

known r~dium ore shows that kind 

of luminosity. 

5. Chemical reaction between hydrogen 

sulfide aad lead oxide: In a 

letter received from Mr. E. C. 

Ivey, of Hickory, it is suggested 

that the lights may be so caused, 

and it is stated that both 

8 

hydrogen sulfide and lead oxide 

occur in Brown Mountain and that 

hydrogen sulfide will ignite in 

th~ presence of lead oxide. Sulphur springs occur on the west 

side of Brown Mountain and lead 

prospects are reported on the 

east side, but the possibility 

that there is any direct relation between them is so slight 

as to be highly improbable. 

6. "Blockade" (illicit) stills: Many 

stills have been operated by 

"moonshiners" in the vicinity of 

Brown Mountain. A man who claims 

to have been an eyewitness 

states that screens are placed 

about these stills to shut off 

the light from the fires but 

that from time to time the fires 

are raked out and the covers of 

the stills removed, so that the 

clouds of steam which arise from 

them are illuminated by the 

fires below. The "moonshiners" 

are also said to use lights for 

signaling. It is possible that 

the light with "seething motion" 

seen by Mr. Gregory may have 

been of this origin, but there 

are not enough such stills and 

they probably would not be in 

sufficiently continuous operation to produce lights in the 

number and in the regularity of 

appearance of those seen at 

Brown Mountain. 

7. St. Elmo's fire: St. Elmo's fire 

is a brushlike, luminous, electrical discharge that sometimes 

takes place from masts, lightning conductors, and other 

pointed objects, especially 

during thunderstorms. In his 

correspondence with Messrs. 

Clark and Perry, the trustworthy 

observers already mentioned, Dr. 

C. G. Abbot, of the Smithsonian 

Institution, suggested that the 

Bro'ln Mountain light may be due 

to St. Elmo's fire, but there 
seems to be little in common between the lights seen by the 

writer and St. Elmo's fire as 

usually described. In a second 

letter to Dr. Abbot, dated 

January 9, 1920, Professor Perry 

states the case clearly when he 

says, "My own impression of St. 

Elmo's fire and similar phenomena was that it occurred at the 

extremity of some solid conductor instead of occurring, as in 

the case of the Brown Mountain 

lights, in the air, at a great 

distance from any object." 

8. Andes light: The name "Andes 

light," according to information 

furnished to the writer by Dr. 

Herbert Lyman, of the U.S. 

Weather Bureau, is given to a 

very striking luminous discharge 

of electricity seen over the 

crest of the Andes in Chile, 

where ordinary thunderstorms are 

almost unknown. The mountain 

peaks appear to act as gigantic 

lightning rods, between which 

and the clouds silent discharges 

take place on a vast scale. 

The principal writer on the 

Andes light is Dr. Walter 

Knoche, who was for several 

years director of the Central 

Meteorological and Geophysical 

Institute at Santiago, Chile, 

and who says that he has seen 

this light at distances greater 

than 300 miles. Most of the discharges appear to produce glimmering lights that have circular 

borders. The flashes are bright 

at their starting points but 

diminish rapidly in intensity 

and then slowly disappear. The 

area of this silent discharge is 

at first small and lies over the 

main cordillera, but it soon extends far over the zenith and 

sometimes reaches over the coast 

cordillera and out to sea. The 

phenomena is best seen in a 

9 

clear sky. 

Dr. Guy Hinsdale, in the 

Scientific Monthly for September 

1919, reports that in western 

Virginia, where there are "numerous parallel ridges with 

intervening deep and narrow valleys, it occasionally happens 

that an electric discharge takes 

place from the summits of these 

ridges into the atmosphere. 

There is nothing audible, but 

merely the sudden glow of the 

higher clouds in the dark. night:' 

The appearance of the Andes 

light, as shown in illustrations 

given by Dr. Knoche and in the 

accounts of it already cited, is 

totally different from that of 

the Brown Mountain light as seen 

by the writer during his investigation or as described by 

others, and there appear to be 

no geologic conditions at or 

near Brown Mountain that would 

produce electrical discharges 

there rather than at Blowing 

Rock or Grandfather Mountain or 

any other prominent point in 

this region. 

9. Mirage: Mr. H. C. Martin, in the 

Lenoir Topic for April 19, 1916, 

and afterward in conversation 

with the writer, has suggested 

that the lights may be due to 

mirage. He thinks that air currents of different temperature 

and density may produce between 

them reflecting surfaces, from 

which bright stars or other 

lights might be reflected in 

such a way as to produce the 

effects commonly seen. According 

to this explanation the wavering 

of the reflecting surface would 

cause the sudden appearance, 

wavering, and disappearance of 

the light. 

A mirage is a phenomenon of 

the daytime rather than of the 

night. The requisite conditions 
are that the air must be still 

and that the lower layers, heated by radiation from the underlying surface, must become less 

dense than the overlying layers 

and yet be unable to escape. 

With the least disturbance of 

these unstable conditions the 

overheated air suddenly "spills" 

upward and mirage disappears. 

The conditions in a mountain 

gorge such as that of Wilson 

Creek east of Brown Mountain are 

entirely unfavorable to mirage, 

for as soon as the lower air 

becomes warmed it may escape up 

the surface slopes, and at evening there is likely to be a 

downward draft of cool air from 

the neighboring uplands. Yet Mr. 

Martin, in seeking in air currents of different temperature 

and density an explanation of 

the light, has hit upon what the 

writer believes to be a fundamental element in the problem, 

as will be more fully explained 

below. 

10. Locomotive headlights: D. B. 

Sterrett, of the U.S. Geological 

Survey, who investigated the 

light on October 11, 1913, noted 

that the headlights of westbound 

Southern Railway locomotives 

could be observed from Brown 

Mountain and that they were 

brilliant enough to be seen in 

the same straight line from 

Loven's place, 6 miles beyond. 

He checked on the train schedules and concluded that locomotive headlights were "beyond 

doubt" the cause of the Brown 

Mountain light. Objection to 

this view has been raised on the 

ground that a locomotive headlight casts a beam, which, like 

that of a searchlight as frequently seen, can be readily 

identified. This objection is 

considered under the heading 

10 

"Conclusions." 

11. Automobile headlights: Powerful 

headlights on automobiles have 

been suggested as a source of 

the Brown Mountain light. The 

objection made to this suggestion is similar to that made to 

the suggestion that they are 

caused by locomotive headlights, 

and it fails for the same reasons. When seen at long distances the two kinds of headlights behave in a similar manner. Of the 23 lights recorded 

by instrumental observation in 

the investigation here reported 

11 were probably automobile 

headlights. 

THE INVESTIGATION IN 1922 

METHODS EMPLOYED 

After a conference in Morganton 

with men who are familiar with the 

lights the writer set out to take observations at the place near Loven's 

Hotel and at other places from which, 

according to reports, the lights 

could be seen, Brown Mountain itself 

being one of the places. The instruments used consisted of a 15-inch 

planetable (a square board mounted on 

three legs), a telescopic alidade, 

pocket and dip-needle compasses, a 

barometer for measuring elevations, a 

fieldglass, a flashlight, and a camera, besides topographic maps of the 

region. 

In making the observations a topographic map was fastened flat on the 

board, which was leveled and the map 

turned to a position in which the 

directions north, south, east, and 

west on the map correspond with the 

same directions on the ground. Sights 

were then taken to known landmarks 

with the alidade, which is essentially a ruler fitted with a sighting 

telescope, and corresponding lines 

were drawn along the ruler on the 
map. The meeting point of the lines 

thus drawn marked the location of the 

observer's instrument on the map. 

From this location, which was determined in the daytime, sights were 

taken at night with the alidade on 

the map. The telescope of the alidade 

swings in a vertical as well as in a 

horizontal plane and can therefore be 

used for measuring vertical angles 

along the lines of sight. The dipneedle compass is so arranged that 

the needle swings in a vertical instead of in a horizontal plane. It is 

used to detect differences in magnetic 

attraction. 

Three stations were occupied--one 

on the knoll by the cottage formerly 

occupied by Rev. C. E. Gregory, near 

Loven's Hotel; one in a field on the 

east slope of Gingercake Mountain; 

and one on the terrace in front of 

the summer residence of Miss Cannon, 

at Blowing Rock. These stations are 

marked on the map (fig. 1) by the 

letters A, B, and C, respectively. 

Two nights were spent on Brown Mountain, but the conditions were so unfavorable that no station was occupied there. At each station at which 

observations were made, vertical 

angles to parts of Brown Mountain 

were noted, dip-needle readings were 

made, and photographs were taken. 

Vertical angles were also measured 

when practicable from each station to 

each light seen. The procedure adopted was first to get a line of sight 

to the light and then to note its 

time of appearance and measure its 

vertical angle, but occasionally a 

light remained visible for so short a 

time that it had disappeared before 1 the telescope could be trained upon 

it and a line drawn to fix its direction. Few records were kept of lights 

for which lines of directions were 

not drawn, but the total number ~een 

may have been nearly twice the number 

recorded. The atmosphere proved too 

11 

hazy for satisfactory photographs. 

The train registers at Connelly 

Springs and at Hickory were examined, 

and subsequently train schedules for 

the evenings of observation were obtained from many station agents 

throughout the region. 

The observations obtained in the 

field were afterward adjusted on the 

map. Many profiles along lines of 

sight were constructed, the vertical 

angles were plotted, and corrections 

for the curvature of the earth's surface and for refraction were made. In 

this way the sources of some of the 

lights were approximately determined. 

The inset profile (fig. 1) illustrates 

the method of locating a source of 

light by means of a profile and vertical angle drawn from station B 

along line 15. 

Space does not permit a detailed 

statement of the individual observations made and of the inference drawn 

from them. The geographic positions 

of the sources of light as determined 

by instrumental observations are only 

approximate because of the difficulties attending the use of the 

instruments in darkness. The stations 

were from 1,000 to 1,500 feet higher 

than the summit of Brown Mountain, so 

that the lines of sight to the lights 

seen all passed several hundred feet 

above the top of the mountain as 

shown in inset profile (fig. 1). This 

fact caused the lights to appear over 

the mountain rather than on or below 

its crest, a feature noted both in 

the first published description of 

the lights, in the Charlotte Observer, 

and in Professor Perry's description, 

·already quoted. The appearance of the 

lights as described in these two 

accounts, especially in that given by 

Professor Perry, agrees so closely 

with their appearance as observed by 

the writer that no additional description of them need be given here. 
OBSERVATIONS AT LOVEN'S 

At station A (elev. 3,550 ft), near 

Loven's Hotel, which is the place 

from which the light was first seen, 

the outlook is restricted on the south 

by a projecting ridge (see inset 

sketch, fig. 1), which cuts off the 

view of the region west of the eastern part of Morganton, approximately 

the region southwest of line 3 on the 

map. Northward from Lenoir the country becomes rougher, and few lights 

from areas north of that place may be 

seen from Loven's, so that practically 

all the lights that originate beyond 

Brown Mountain and are seen from 

station A lie in an arc between Lenoir 

and line 3 and are therefore seen over 

Brown Mountain. This fact accounts for 

the original association of the observed lights with Brown Hountain and 

hence for the name "Brown Mountain 

light." It also probably accounts for 

the "prescribed circle" of appearance 

of the light noted in Colonel Harris' 

letter to Senator Simmons. 

On the evening of March 29, the 

writer was accompanied to station A 

by Joseph Robert and Earl Loven, of 

Cold Spring, and Robert Ward, of 

Morganton. The light on line 1, when 

viewed in the telescope of the alidade, was accompanied by one or two 

subordinate lights. Its position was 

unchanged throughout the evening, but 

it varied in brightness. At some 

times, for long periods, it was so 

dim that it was practically invisible 

to the naked eye, though it was faintly shown in the telescope. At other 

times it flared brightly, so that 

Joseph Loven pronounced it a true 

manifestation of the Brown Mountain 

light. Its position and its relation 

to the accompanying lights were not 

affected by the flaring. Two of the 

observers said that they could see it 

waver or move, but as seen through 

the telescope each time this statement 

was made its position was found to be 

unchanged. 

12 

At about 8:40 lights appeared successively and nearly in the same line 

over the middle of the mountain. The 

directions of those lights are shown 

in lines 2a and 2b. Line 2a is tangent to a curve in the track of the 

Southern Railway about a mile and a 

half northwest of Conover. From train 

schedules it was determined that a 

~estbound freight train passed this 

curve at the time noted. Line 2b is 

probably a poorer sight at the same 

light and may represent an error of 

observation due to the writer's inability in the darkness to use the 

crosshairs of the instrument. It may, 

however, point to an automobile 

headlight. 

The light at 10:45 on line 2a appears from its vertical angle to have 

originated about a mile and a half 

east of Conover. It is not accounted 

for by the train schedule for that 

evening and was probably an automobile headlight. 

Lines 3 and 4 are credited to automobiles. Line 5 represents a locomotive headlight near-Connelly 

Springs. 

The flares seen from station A all 

looked much alike and corresponded 

closely with the description ·quoted 

from Professor Perry's letter. Robert 

Loven said that the lights as he had 

usually seen them were so much brighter than these that he did not think 

the party had actually seen the Brown 

Mountain light. Joseph Loven, however, 

said that he had seen the lights both 

when they were brighter and when they 

were not so bright, and he was satisfied that the lights observed were·a 

fair average exhibition of the Brown 

Mountain light. 

OBSERVATIONS AT GINGERCAKE MOUNTAIN 

Station B, on Gingercake Mountain, 

is about 500 feet higher than station 

A, and the arc over which the lights 

are visible is correspondingly increased. Brown Mountain covers about 
half of this arc. The fellow observers 

at station B were Joseph Loven and 

Robert Ward. On the evening of April 

1, the mist in the valley was so 

dense that only one observation could 

be made--the one on line 6, which is 

ascribed to an automobile on the 

State highway near Drexel. The highway runs for some distance nearly 

parallel with the railroad. 

The conditions for observation on 

the night of April 2, though poor, 

were more favorable than on the preceding night, and sights 7 to 16, inclusive, were recorded on the corresponding lines. At 7:35 a light appeared over Brown Mountain on line 7. 

This line, when extended, coincides 

practically with the track of the 

Southern Railway about half a mile 

west of Catawba station. The station 

agent reports that on April 2 a westbound train left Catawba at 7:32 p.m. 

It is therefore clear that the source 

of this light was a locomotive headlight. At 7:45 and 8:55 lights flared 

out over the south end of Brown Mountain on lines 8 and 12, respectively. 

When corrected these observations fell 

on the same line, near the station 

Drexel. A report from the station 

agent shows that westbound freight 

trains on the Southern Railway left 

Drexel at the times specified. Lights 

9, 10, 11, 14, and 15 are ascribed to 

automobiles • 

Throughout the evening a light, one 

of a small group, was seen on line 13. 

Its position remained the same, but 

it flared at longer or shorter intervals. Be'tween the flares it could be 

dimly seen with the naked eye. As 

corrected, the position of this source 

of light seemed to fall near the dam 

at the foot of the big reservoir on 

Linville River, not shown on the map. 

Train No. 35, a westbound passenger 

train on the Southern Railway, is due 

at Connelly Springs at 12:25·a.m. The 

writer decided to remain on watch 

until the time for that train in 

13 

order to get answers to two questions: 

First, could the headlight at 

Connelly Springs be seen from the 

Gingercake Mountain station over 

Brown Mountain, and second, if the 

headlight could be seen, would it 

look like the true Brown Mountain 

light? Accordingly, about 10 minutes 

before train time the telescopic alidade was directed toward the curved 

track about a mile east of Connelly 

Springs. All observers then waited 

for the train. At 12:33 a light 

flared over Brown Mountain and was 

seen in the telescope on line 16. 

Though the train was 8 minutes behind 

its schedule all observers were convinced that the light seen was the 

headlight of train No. 35. To the 

writer it looked much like the other 

lights that Mr. Loven had called the 

Brown Mountain light on this and on 

preceding evenings. Mr. Loven himself 

declared that it looked like the 

Brown Mountain light, though he 

thought it had a slightly more bluish 

tint. Upon later examination of the 

train register at Connelly Springs it 

was found that train No. 35 had arrived at the station at 12:35. Allowing for the time required for the 

train to run from the curve to the 

station at Connelly Springs the train 

register may be confidently regarded 

as verifying the observation. 

On this night, as on the first 

night, all the lights seen looked 

much alike, though some of the flares 

were brighter than others. Mr. Loven 

was asked several times if he felt 

satisfied that the lights seen by the 

party were actually the Brown Mountain light. He replied that he was 

satisfied and that it was a fair average exhibition. 

On April 3 station C was established 

at Blowing Rock, at an elevation of 

about 3,700 feet. Although not so 

high as the station on Gingercake 

Mountain, this station commands a 

wide, sweeping view of the country 
to the south, a view through nearly a 

quarter of a circle, but Brown Mountain occupies only a small part of 

this space. The moon was shining 

brightly, but a heavy mist overhung 

the valley and completely obscured 

Brown Mountain. H. C. Martin, of 

Lenoir, was present during part of 

the time of observation and Robert 

Ward, of Morganton, during the whole 

time. 

A steady group of lights was dimly 

visible most of the evening on lines 

17 and 18. These lights were reddish 

and were accompanied by what appeared 

to be smoke. These lights appeared to 

originate on a ridge north of 

Mulberry Creek. Their smoky appearance suggests that they came from 

brush fires. 

At 8:35 a reddish light appeared on 

line 19. It flared brightly twice and 

then, as seen by the unaided eye, 

apparently went out, but it continued for a time to show dimly in the 

telescope. The line of sight corrected for curvature and refraction 

clears by a short distance the mountain mass at the county line and 

falls near a curve of the Carolina, 

Clinchfield & Ohio Railway about a 

mile southeast of Sprucepine. No 

agent is on duty at Sprucepine at 

night, and thus far the writer has 

been unable to learn whether or not 

there was a southbound train on the 

track there at the time noted. 

Mr. Martin said that the light on 

line 19 looked very much like the 

Brown Mountain light but that it was 

too far to the right. When questioned 

as to wherein the two differed, he 

replied that in the first place the 

light was not seen over Brown Mountain and second, it did not trail off 

laterally or obliquely as the Brown 

Mountain light usually did. 

At 9:05 a light flared on line 20. 

The source of the light was determined to be in the streets of Lenoir. 

There were no northbound trains that 

14 

night; so the light probably came 

from an automobile headlight. 

On the night of April 4, on account 

of unfavorable conditions, only one 

observation (No. 21) was obtained. 

This was ascribed to a locomotive 

headlight. 

With the exception of lights 17 and 

18, ascribed to brush fires, the 

lights seen from Blowing Rock were 

practically indistinguishable in general character and appearance from 

those that were seen at Loven's and 

at Gingercake Mountain and that were 

said by Mr. Loven to be the Brown 

Mountain light. A lady at Blowing 

Rock declared that on a clear evening 

"you could go out on the hill and see 

lights popping out all over the valley, all looking as much alike as so 

many peas in a pod." Mr. Martin, on 

the other hand, said that the Brown 

Mountain light had distinctive features and that the party had not seen 

it on either even,ing. The principal 

distinctive feature indicated appears 

to be the lateral or oblique motion 

above referred to. 

OBSERVATIONS AT BROWN MOUNTAIN 

On April 5 the writer ascended 

Brown Mountain with a party organized 

by F. H. May, of Lenoir. Theodore 

Crump, of the Forest Service, kindly 

placed at the disposal of the party 

his station on the summit of the 

mountain. Rain and fog interfered 

with the observations, but watch was 

kept from about 8 to 10:30 p.m. and 

again from 12:15 to 12:45 a.m. No 

lights were seen. On the following 

day, April 6, several members left 

the party, but Monroe Coffey, of the 

Forest Service, joined it. That evening there was no rain, but fog prevented any extended view from the 

summit of the mountain. Somewhat below the summit, however, the fog was 

less dense, and it was possible to 

have seen any lights that might arise 
over the Brown Mountain mass. About 

9:30 the party made a circuit from 

the summit to the hill above Parke 

Creek, in the south-central part of 

the mountain, returning to the summit 

shortly before midnight. Had any 

lights arisen over the mountain mass 

some member of the party would probably have seen them, but none 

appeared. 

CONCLUSIONS 

The writer feels confident that the 

lights he saw were actually a fair 

average display of the so-called 

Brown Mountain light. He not only has 

Mr. Loven's word to sustain this conclusion, but he is certain that the 

lights he saw agree closely in appearance and behavior with those 

originally described in the Charlotte 

Daily Observer and by Professor Perry. 

The lights observed have nothing in 

common with the Andes light or with 

St. Elmo's fire. There is no geologic 

basis for the idea that the lights 

seen are natural wonders of any sort, 

but there are certain interesting 

surface features and atmospheric conditions that are effective in producing some of the appearances of the 

light. 

By reference to the map it will be 

noted that the Catawba Valley east of 

Marion is a basinlike area--an area 

nearly surrounded by mountains, of 

which the Blue Ridge on the north, 

with its fringe of southward-projecting spurs, is the highest and most 

rugged part. After sunset cool air 

begins to creep down the tributary 

valleys into the basin, but the air 

currents come from different sources 

and are of different temperature and 

density. The atmospheric conditions 

in the basin are therefore very unstable, especially in the earlier 

part of the evening, before any welldefined circulatory system becomes 

established. At any given place in 

the basin the air varies in density 

15 

during the evening and hence in refractiveness. The denser the air, the 

more it refracts light or bends waves 

of light emanating from any source. 

The humidity of the air affects its 

density and hence its refractive power. Mist, dust, and other fine particles tend to obscure and scatter the 

light refracted and to impart to it 

the reddish or yellowish tints so 

frequently observed. Thus it is that 

the light is most active in a clearing spell after a rain, as noted by 

many observers. When the mist is very 

dense, the light is completely 

obscured. 

Lights that arise from any source 

in the basin are viewed at low angles. 

Even those observed from altitudes of 

3,500 or 4,000 feet, the heights of 

the stations on Gingercake or on 

Blowing Rock Mountain, had vertical 

angles of less than 3°. Thus, the refractive effect of the atmosphere 

through which the light waves must 

travel is at a maximum. 

The effect of variations in the 

density of the atmosphere between the 

observer and the source of light is 

at one time to increase and at another 

time to diminish the intensity of the 

light. This fact accounts for the 

flares on lines 1 and 13. The diminution of a light after such a flare is 

so marked that to the casual observer 

or to one without a fieldglass the 

light may seem to be completely extinguished. In the telescope, however, 

it still appears in the same relative 

position, though it is somewhat 

fainter. Lights that are in view for 

brief periods, such as the headlights 

of automobiles or locomotives, which 

show only when they are turned 

toward the observer, produce similar 

flares; but when they are turned in 

other directions, they become extinguished so far as the observer at a 

given station is concerned. 

Probably few if any basins on the 

Blue Ridge front are so favorably 
located as to show as well as this 

one the atmospheric phenomena described, and the opportunities here 

for the observation of such phenomena 

are perhaps no less exceptional. 

Loven's Hotel and Blowing Rock, which 

are resorts that attract fishermen or 

tourists, are among the most favorable places of observation. The valley 

is fairly well settled and has a network of roads, three railroads, and 

several large towns, so that the 

possible sources of light are very 

numerous. 

As the basin and its atmospheric 

conditions antedate the earliest 

settlement of the region, it is possible that even among the first settlers some favorably situated light 

may have attracted attention by 

seeming to flare and then diminish or 

go out. As the country became more 

thickly settled the number of chances 

for such observations would increase. 

Before the advent of electric lights, 

however, it is doubtful whether such 

observations could have been sufficiently numerous to cause much comment, though some persons may have 

noted and remarked upon them. 

According to local estimates electric lights have been in use in the 

larger towns of the region for about 

30 years. Lights from those towns 

viewed from the locality near Loven's, 

which for a long time was the only 

locality from which the lights were 

observed, are, with the exception of 

those from Morganton and Blowing Rock, 

all seen over Brown Mountain; hence 

the "prescribed circle" mentioned by 

Colonel Harris. 

The use of powerful electric headlights on railway locomotives, which 

began about 1909, furnished new 

sources of strong lights in the valley and introduced an element of regularity in their appearance, which 

may account for the "punctual regularity" noted in the first description. After Rev. C. E. Gregory took 

16 

up his summer residence near Loven's 

Hotel, in 1910, the Brown Mountain 

light began to acquire notoriety. 

Meanwhile, automobiles were coming 

into use throughout the country, and 

many of them were equipped with powerful headlights. Within the last few 

years their number has been greatly 

increased, and this fact is in keeping with the general deduction already made--that on a favorable evening the lights are seen more frequently now than formerly. 

During the flood of 1916, when 

train service was temporarily discontinued, the basin east of Marion, 

where the atmospheric conditions are 

disturbed, was still the scene of the 

intermittent flare of favorably situated lights. Automobiles were then 

in use in the larger towns and on 

some of the intervening roads, and 

their headlights were doubtless visible from Loven's over Brown Mountain. 

One need only remember the network of 

roads in the valley region (see topographic maps of the Morganton and 

Hickory quadrangles) to realize the 

almost infinite number of possibilities for automobile headlights to be 

pointed toward Brown Mountain and 

stations of observation beyond. It 

should be emphasized, too, that automobile headlights and locomotive 

headlights, when seen at distances 

and under atmospheric conditions such 

as those which prevail in this region, 

possess no characteristic that clearly distinguishes them from other 

lights. On the contrary, as stated by 

the lady at Blowing Rock, they look 

"as much alike as so many peas in a 

pod," though this statement should 

not be understood to mean that some 

may not be brighter than others. 

Col. Wade H. Harris, in his letter 

to Senator Simmons already cited, 

says: "A locomotive headlight is easily and unmistakably distinguished as 

such, not only by the rays it shoots 

forth, but from its movements * * *· 
It [the Brown Mountain ligh~ is as 

distinct in characteristics from a 

locomotive headlight as a candle 

flame is to a naked arc light." Again, 

in an article in the Charlotte Observer for March 27, 1922, the same 

writer adds that "a headlight has 

characteristics that distinctly and 

unmistakably identify it as such." 

The writer's observations, made in 

company with persons long familiar 

with the light, failed to substantiate 

these statements. Of the 23 lights 

noted by instrumental observation and 

recorded on lines 1 to 21, seven 

proved to originate from locomotive 

headlights, and an eighth (No. 19) is 

probably of similar origin, though 

the data are insufficient to establish that fact, but none of these 

seven lights cast a beam or possessed 

any special quality that distinguished it from the other lights observed, and only one of them (No. 16) 

was known at the time of observation 

to be a locomotive headlight. The 

other six were identified as such 

only after the lines and angles of 

the record had been plotted, profiles 

had been drawn, and train schedules 

had been checked some days after the 

observations were made. A locomotive 

headlight seen at distances such as 

those from which the Brown Mountain 

light is observed has no visible motion and emits no "rays." When its 

line of direction coincides with the 

line of observation, the light flashes 

on or, if the air is misty, it flares, 

much as an incandescent electric 

light flares when it is turned on. 

When its line of direction leaves the 

line of observation, the light dis-

~ppears just as suddenly as it ·came. 

The behavior of headlights in the 

Brown Mountain region in this respect 

is comparable to that of the lights 

in the lighthouses on the Atlantic 

Coast. From the seawall at Gloucester, 

Mass., the writer has repeatedly seen 

the light at Minots Ledge, southeast 

17 

of Boston, nearly 25 miles away in a 

direct line. This light is identified 

by a series of flashes that may be 

represented by the numerals 1-4-3. 

There is no beam and there are no 

rays. The light cannot be seen unless 

the air is fairly clear. Then it 

simply flashes once, four times, 

three times, and it has much the same 

appearance as the Brown Mountain 

light. 

The supposed motion of the light at 

times may be due to errors of observation. Reference has already been 

made here to the fact that two observers who were present with the 

writer at station A thought they saw 

the light move when it was actually 

motionless as seen in the telescope. 

Some years ago McNeilly Du Bose, an 

engineer then employed near Morganton, 

tested observations made by himself 

and others by tying a cord across the 

fork of a tree in a place where he 

could see the light across the cord 

and was surprised to find that the 

light was stationary with respect to 

the cord. Professor Perry, whose letter has been quoted, notes that the 

light was uniformly stationary when 

he saw it. The eye is easily deceived 

at night as to the stability or motion of an object, and an observer's 

impressions are to a considerable extent affected by his mental and physical condition at the time of observation. It is not surprising that 

under the circumstances different 

eyewitnesses give quite different 

accounts of the light, especially as 

the light may appear suddenly against 

a dark background with nothing nearby that can be used as a scale to 

determine its size or its possible 

motion. 

There remains the question of the 

identity of the Brown Mountain light 

as seen from Blowing Rock. Mr. Martin 

specified two requirements: namely, 

the light must be seen over Brown 

Mountain and it must have motion. The 
element of motion has already been 

considered. 

The arc of view intercepted by 

Brown Mountain is a little greater 

than the arc between the lines D and 

F on the accompanying map (fig. 1). 

Line D is drawn to a road that seems 

to be a thoroughfare near Brindletown. 

Line E is drawn tangent to the Southern Railway near Thermal City. Just 

east of this line is a thoroughfare, 

and a short distance farther east is 

the track of the Carolina, Clinchfield 

& Ohio Railway. Line F is drawn to 

the same road and railroads a few 

miles farther northwest. 

Automobile headlights on any of the 

numerous roads that point toward 

Blowing Rock within the area designated and south of Catawba River 

would be visible from Blowing Rock 

over Brown Mountain. 

The writer was told at Blowing Rock 

that a good time to see the light was 

from 9:30 p.m. to 10 or a little later. The agent of the Southern Railway 

at Thermal City states that a northbound train on that railway passes 

that station at 9:30p.m., maintaining approximately the same schedule 

the year round. The agent at Glenwood 

on the same railway reports that a 

train is due there at 9:53 the year 

round. Data for the other railroad 

are not available, but doubtless 

there are some northbound evening 

freight trains on it. The agreement 

of the train schedule with the above 

statement about the time to see the 

18 

lights is certainly more than a 

coincidence. 

It may be questioned whether a 

locomotive headlight could be seen 

for a distance so great as that between Blowing Rock and Thermal City, 

which is about 45 miles. The Minots 

Ledge light, already mentioned, is 

rated at 75,000 candlepower by the 

Bureau of Lighthouses and is visible 

for distances greater than 25 miles. 

The writer was told by Mr. Chadwick, 

of the Engineering Department of the 

Southern Railway, that the headlights 

in common use on that system are incandescent nitrogen lamps rated at 250 

watts and 32 volts. Fitted with 16-

inch silvered-copper parabolic reflectors, these lights yield about 

600,000 candlepower. There is therefore no reason to doubt that the 

headlights would be visible at a distance of 45 miles. 

The high power of these lights accounts for the brilliancy ascribed to 

the Brown Mountain light by observers 

who have seen it when the air was 

exceptionally clear, and it also accounts for the fact that some of the 

lights seen are brighter than others. 

In summary it may be said that the 

Brown Mountain lights are clearly not 

of unusual nature or origin. About 47 

percent of the lights that the writer 

was able to study instrumentally were 

due to automobile headlights, 33 percent to locomotive headlights, 10 

percent to stationary lights, and 10 

percent to brush fires. 

1t U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1971 0- 440-354