The Chesterfield advertiser. [volume] (Chesterfield C.H., S.C.) 1884-1978, 1921-12-29
MOUNTAIN LIGHT
is like AURORA
Curious Electrical Display in
North Carolina Excites In. /.
terest of Scientists.
ONCE THOUGHT TO BE PHANTOM
Suddenly and Without Warning Light
Sometimes eiazes Out on Crest of
Mountain, Moves Down Side
and Fades Out.

Washington, d. C.-"Tired profes-
sors and business men who sought
surcease from their sorrows in the
mountainous regions Of western North
Carolina have during the past few
summers given up some Of their much
needed hours of sleep to chase what
most of them believed to be nothing
more than phantom, or the witch
fires Of some maker of mountain dew
but the Brown mountain light Is now
coming into Its own as an accredited
electrical phenomenon" says a bulle-
tin Of the National Geographic so
ciety, issued from its Washington, D.
c., headquarters.
Brown mountain lies II miles from
Blowing Rock In the Blue mountains
in the western part Of the state, and,
though plainly visible from the resort,
Is in an uninhabited and sparsel"
wooded section. Suddenly and with
out warning light sometimes blazes
out on the crest of the mountain, slow
ly moves down It's side and then faces
out; sometimes 1: seems to rise from
the top of the mountain and hang sus-
pended In the air where it fades.
A Wrath of l1finite Variety.
at has as many whims and moods
as temperamental artist sometin es
appearing several times during
one night, now stationary, now 81 ~,
again swift lii it's flight, cld
sometimes it cannot be seen fo.
comparatively long period of time, U
i usually is most active w',an ne
sky is clear hs,, a. -cr
who have sIuuI =
say that II Crt
star fr.., sting =,
though much .... =" a~1 tina, 's
sometimes red and 81, yel
due probably to the CO, ..on Of tL
atmosphere.
"Sci"ntiSts were at urst prone to
cavi At the stories which came ou OF
the mountains with the tourists, tn nix
ing perhaps that locomotive head.
lights or willy mountaineers were play
ing tricks on active imaginations, but
today Or. w. j. lIumphr physicist
of the United States VIC = bureau
and other meteorologists OF note. be-
lieve That there occurs Ounh the
mountains crest hru,h diS"harrr N
lightning, similar 70 Tie famous .\n, s
lightning, or the ST. E!mo's fire, which
ga > rise among tne ancient Greeks
to the myth of Castor and Poluv.
Thut glow which accompanies the
slow discharge of e ,tricity 10 the
earth from the atmosphere, in south
ern climates, during thunderstorms.
seen IN the tops Of masts, spires. or
other pointed objects was named s.
Elmo's fire by. sailors aftrr one or
their patron saints, because they frrt
that when the sign appeared they
hn4 no,hing further 70 fear from the
storm.
Compared to Andes Display.
perhaps the most remarkable fcn-
turc of the electrical discharge whicl
| takes place either from the earth to
the clouds or from the clouds to the
earth around Brown mountain is that
| 1t is silent. The same thing is true
Of the electrical displays in the Andes,
/ wnich nave long been known TO scien-
! lists and travellers In the South Amer.
4 lean continent as the Andes lightning.
| 1t appears as a silent ba very lumi.
nous discharge of electricity alon, I've
crest Of the Cordillera Real In Chile,
In a region where thunderstorms are
| practically unknown.
''Hs visibility Is sometimes very
marked. having been noted by ihe for
mer director of the Meteorological
and Geophysical Institute of Chile
while he was out al sea, moe than
300 miles from the head cOrdillera
The actual discharge, in which the
mountain acts rs lightning rod be-
tween the clouds and the earth, re-
sembles a glimmer, but sometimes the
flashes which take place at the point
Of origin are strong and powerful,
then gradually diminish in intensity
and finally disappear into the night,
| The light flashes over the mountain
! from late spring to fall, and the dis.
! plays grow less brilliant as one goes
farther south.
"The enm" phenomenon has ESQ
been not n the Swiss alps. ne
I Observer after long period Of ,ot
and dry weather. reported that he
seen succession of semi circ, la,
'".- '"'' shot up from nc m
taia J. "rE
siOpaIly i!ghtiu.
Sunh displays 40
likeness zee to tl ,ri
except t."u tAuy 10 no reach n