The Brown Mountain Lights

Mysterious nighttime lights near Brown Mountain in North Carolina’s Pisgah National Forest have intrigued locals and visitors for more than a century. The lights have inspired a number of myths and folktales about their origin, with speculations ranging from extraterrestrial UFOs to apparitions. 

While there is ample subjective evidence of the elusive lights, this book presents the first in-depth study of them. Following a three year investigation, it identifies both manmade and natural light sources—including some unexpected ones—behind North Carolina’s famous mystery. With evidence from 600,000 photographs, it is clear that history, science and human nature each play a role in the understanding and interpretation of the Brown Mountain lights.

Geologist Wade Edward Speer retired as a field expert in evaluating copper, gold, silver, diamond and emerald deposits in the U.S., Canada, South Africa, and South America. He lives in Marion, North Carolina.

Wade Edward Speer
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 264
Bibliographic Info: 101 photos, appendices, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2017
pISBN: 978-1-4766-6676-1
eISBN: 978-1-4766-2620-8
Imprint: McFarland
Series: Contributions to Southern Appalachian Studies

Acknowledgments xi

Preface 1

Introduction 3

1. The Research Team, Methods Used and Data Collected 17

2. Historical Overview of the BML Phenomenon 21

3. Lack of Sightings Before Electricity 25

4. Legends, Myths and Folklore 32

5. First Sightings and Birth of the Legend 36

6. The Events of 1916 43

7. Government Investigations: 1913, 1919 and 1922 48

8. Early Photographers of the Lights 57

9. Paul Rose’s 1962 Tower on Brown Mountain 63

10. Ralph Lael’s 1962 Alleged Alien Encounters 69

11. Other Scientific Investigations, 1915–2011 74

12. Lack of BML Sightings from the South and East 79

13. Ghosts, Aliens, Spirits and UFOs 81

14. Pseudoscientific Explanations 83

15. Possibly Misidentified Natural Lights 96

16. Possibly Misidentified ­Man-Made Lights 120

17. Staged Light Tests 153

18. Appalachian State University Nightly Cameras 167

19. Morphing of the Legend 171

20. Unclassified Lights 174

21. Reality or Delusion 176

Concluding Remarks 179

Appendix A. BML Research by the Author 183

Appendix B. Light Sighting Report Form and Annotated Panoramas 197

Appendix C. Annotated Chronological List of Selected References 201

Bibliography and List of References 237

Index 245

“Speer reports the findings of a three-year study of mysterious nighttime lights in the Brown Mountain area of North Carolina”—ProtoView.