Brown Mountain

Out there in the deep timber, the modern world feels very, very far away.

And nowhere does that modern world feel more fragile than on the rim of Linville Gorge, staring out across the jagged expanse toward Brown Mountain.

Let's revisit Brown Mountain for just a bit.

Because when the sepia tone twilight finally gives way to pitch black of an Appalachian night, the mountain wakes up, and it opens its eyes.

Now, folks have been seeing the Brown Mountain lights for as long as there have been folks in North Carolina to look at them.

I've ventured over there to see 'em myself many times.

Now, we aren't talking about a modern phenomena.

The first written accounts date back to the late seventeen hundreds, recorded by European settlers who were pushing their wagons up into the high country.

A man named Christian, described as 25 when his account was recorded, recalled the experience from 1998 when he was approximately six years old.

His family lived in a fairly large North Carolina home near Brown Mountain.

His parents and grandparents slept downstairs.

Christian's bedroom was upstairs.

As I mentioned before, the Appalachian Mountains are ancient, worn down by millions of years of wind, rain, and ice, until they look less like jagged peaks and more like the rolling backs of sleeping giants.

And on one particular giant, a long, low ridge known as Brown Mountain, the darkness just doesn't stay dark.

For centuries, long before the first asphalt was poured or the first electric bulb was strung up, the locals have watched something impossible happen on that ridge.

As the sun dips below the horizon and the deep indigo of the night sky settles over the valley, the mountain comes alive.

They are known simply as the Brown Mountain Lights.

Now, if you stand on Wiseman's View, a rocky overlook on the edge of the Linville Gorge, you can look directly across the valley of Brown Mountain.

I've done this myself on several occasions, and the lights never disappoint.

But when the conditions are right, usually on crisp, clear autumn nights when the air is sharp enough to cut glass, the lights begin their silent performance.

Out there in the deep timber, the modern world feels very, very far away.

And nowhere does that modern world feel more fragile than on the rim of Linville Gorge, staring out across the jagged expanse toward Brown Mountain.

Let's revisit Brown Mountain for just a bit.

Because when the sepia-toned twilight finally gives way to pitch black of an Appalachian night, the mountain wakes up, and it opens its eyes.

Now, folks have been seeing the Brown Mountain lights for as long as there have been folks in North Carolina to look at them.

I've ventured over there to see them myself many times.

Now, we aren't talking about a modern phenomena.

The first written accounts date back to the late seventeen hundreds, recorded by European settlers who were pushing their wagons up into the high country.

When you look at how long the story has endured and how many people have put forth theories, doctors, lawyers, and preachers back in the day signed eyewitness manuscripts saying they witnessed these things, says Fitzhugh, it makes it more than just your standard folk tale.

And now, the Brown Mountain Lights.

The Brown Mountain Lights in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina have long been a fascinating Appalachian Mountain enigma.

Visitors and locals alike have witnessed unusual glowing orbs in shades of blue, white, orange, and red hovering about 15 feet above the ground in Brown Mountain near Morganton, North Carolina.

According to legend, a fierce fight between Cherokee and Catawba Braves on Brown Mountain resulted in numerous casualties.

After the battle, Catawba women would search for their lost family members at night, using torches to light their way.

Some people believe that the lights observed today are the spirits of these Catawba women, who were still looking for their lost loved ones.

In 1771, German engineer John William Gerhard de Brom saw and recorded the Brown Mountain Lights in his journal.

When you look at how long the story has endured and how many people have put forth theories, doctors, lawyers, and preachers back in the day signed eyewitness manuscripts saying they witnessed these things, says Fitzhugh, it makes it more than just your standard folk tale.

And now, the Brown Mountain Lights.

The Brown Mountain Lights in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina have long been a fascinating Appalachian Mountain enigma.

Visitors and locals alike have witnessed unusual glowing orbs in shades of blue, white, orange, and red hovering about 15 feet above the ground in Brown Mountain near Morganton, North Carolina.

According to legend, a fierce fight between Cherokee and Catawba Braves on Brown Mountain resulted in numerous casualties.

After the battle, Catawba women would search for their lost family members at night, using torches to light their way.

Some people believe that the lights observed today are the spirits of these Catawba women, who were still looking for their lost loved ones.

In 1771, German engineer John William Gerhard de Brom saw and recorded the Brown Mountain Lights in his journal.

When you look at how long the story has endured and how many people have put forth theories, doctors, lawyers, and preachers back in the day signed eyewitness manuscripts saying they witnessed these things, says Fitzhugh, it makes it more than just your standard folktale.

And now, the Brown Mountain Lights.

The Brown Mountain Lights in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina have long been a fascinating Appalachian Mountain enigma.

Visitors and locals alike have witnessed unusual glowing orbs in shades of blue, white, orange, and red hovering about 15 feet above the ground in Brown Mountain near Morganton, North Carolina.

According to legend, a fierce fight between Cherokee and Catawba Braves on Brown Mountain resulted in numerous casualties.

After the battle, Catawba women would search for their lost family members at night, using torches to light their way.

Some people believe that the lights observed today are the spirits of these Catawba women, who were still looking for their lost loved ones.

In 1771, German engineer John William Gerhard de Brom saw and recorded the Brown Mountain Lights in his journal.