Daniel Cayton:
Prof of Physics at Appalacian State University, submitted a research grant to study the lights in 1998. catondb@appstate.edu... 1997-98 University Research Council Competitive Grants Program A Scientific Investigation of the Brown Mountain Lights Final Summary Report October 1, 1998 Daniel B. Caton Introduction The Brown Mountain Lights have been reported for at over a century. The individual reports vary in nature, but all share a description of colored, moving lights sighted over the Linville Gorge, seen from various overlooks. The only serious investigation of this phenomenon was made 70 years ago by members of the U.S. Geological Survey, who investigated it from a geologist's perspective, only. Results were inconclusive, with the report only listing a number of natural and manmade light sources that could be the origin. It has never been carefully checked out using modern instrumentation, or by an astronomer-a person experienced in the study of stellar images. In this project we are using modern detectors to investigate the phenomenon, to determine the source of the lights and lay rest rumors of UFO's, etc. In this first phase of the study the lights are being imaged and recorded using several different camera setups. We intend to eventually obtain spectra to allow discrimination among a variety of different sources of light. However, since we were not fully funded we have delayed the attempts to do simple spectroscopy using an objective prism placed in front of the lens of various cameras. Instead, we are concentrating on characterization of the light sources first. Spectroscopy also requires a knowledge of the motions and appearances of the lights, in order to provide tracking. The System Developed In this project a system has been assembled for providing image acquisition using VCRs and cameras powered by a DC battery and AC power inverter. Mounted on a hand truck, the equipment is easily transported to the observation site. The setup assembled is shown below: The equipment includes a modern, scientific quality (color) digital camera (not shown here since it was used to take the photo!) and a high-quality VCR (black, in the aluminum slide-in rack). A 12-volt battery is shown at the bottom-left, in a custom-built swivel bracket to keep it upright when the cart is tilted down for transport. The blue device is a DC-to-AC power inverter, and below it is the battery charger. All fabrication and assembly operations were done in the College of Arts & Sciences machine shop, by instrument maker Robert Miller. Equipment already on hand included a low-light level (but monochrome) CCD video camera and an image intensifier ("night vision" device). A wide-angle lens was obtained to use with an existing 35-mm camera. An existing camcorder is also used, as well as computers and software for image analysis. The proposed audio equipment was not acquired due to partial funding of the project, and was considered the least likely needed equipment proposed, at least in the initial stages. Project Status Because the project was only partly funded, it was decided to wait a few months before purchasing the digital camera, allowing prices to fall to where most of the needed equipment could be purchased. During this period the components for the cart were assembled, with some additional delays due to preparations under way to move the shop to the new science building. The system is now ready for use, and we intend to use it regularly over this fall, winter, and spring-the periods when the Brown Mountain Lights are reported seen most frequently (cool, clear, moonless nights). Budget All allocated funds were expended, with only slight changes from the Proposal. We indeed acquired the digital camera specified, the wide angle lens, S-VHS VCR, and components for the power system and cart. We have delayed spectral and acoustic investigation and thus did not acquire the parabolic microphone system or wedge prism. Dissemination We anticipate publishing results in the journal Skeptical Inquirer, as well as in the popular press. Indeed, in order to show that science does investigate so-called paranormal phenomena, the PI has mentioned this project in a column to run in the Charlotte Observer on October 6, 1998. Images and results will be posted on a Web site that was set up for this project, located at http://www.acs.appstate.edu/dept/physics/caton/BML/BML.htm which now contains a copy of this report. In addition, the PI has met an amateur astronomer from the Atlanta area who has done some work on the Lights, and we will continue to collaborate during the study. (http://www.acs.appstate.edu/dept/physics/caton/BML/BML-URC.htm)
Shepherd M. Dugger
:The Start of a Legend: The most popular legend came from Shepherd M. Dugger, author of "The Balsam Groves of Grandfather Mountain" in 1937, when at the age of 83 he related the following story and description of the "lights": "I'll tell you a story I heard many years ago about those lights. I don't say that it's true, although there are a lot of people who believe it's so. "Over on, Jonas Ridge, near Linville Falls a man killed his wife about sixty years ago. (ca 1887) That is, she disappeared and everybody thought he killed her. The whole community helped to search the mountain sides, but they couldn't find the body of the woman.Dr. Herbert Lyman
The Andes light and its possible relation to the Brown Mountain Lights became the subject of a paper read before the American Meteorological Society in April 1941. In this report Dr. Herbert Lyman represented the lights as a manifestation of the Andes light. (http://www.busprod.com/michael/spooklight/BrnMtn.htm)
Hobart A. Whitman
In a 1940 report, Hobart A. Whitman concluded that the lights were not the result of natural ground sources. He analyzed rocks and soil from Brown Mountain and the surrounding area for any unusual elements. The rocks and soil didn't differ from rocks and soil across the entire western region of North Carolina. (http://www.invink.com/x308.html)The Guide to the Old North State
, prepared by the W.P.A. in the 1930s, states that the Brown Mountain Lights have "puzzled scientists for fifty years." (ca 1890s) The same story reports sightings of the lights in the days before the Civil War. (http://www.busprod.com/michael/spooklight/BrnMtn.htm)Margaret Jordan
of the Davenport Weekly Record of Lenoir, North Carolina, wrote in April of 1922 that "the mysterious light on Brown Mountain . . . has again been seen by the Burke County people." She went on to recount one of the first attempts to explain the lights, noting that on June 8, 1908, "a body of men was immediately dispatched from Morganton to learn the cause of the light, but the expedition was a failure." Those curious men from Morganton shouldn't have felt too badly, even though they trooped over to Brown Mountain again three nights later when the light was spotted once more. Every scientific attempt since then to explain the appearance of the ghostly Brown Mountain Lights has failed. http://www.invink.com/x308.html)
Dr. W.J. Humphries
of the Weather Bureau Late in 1919 the question of the Brown Mountain Lights was brought to the attention of the Smithsonian Institution and the United States Weather Bureau. Dr. W.J. Humphries of the Weather Bureau investigated and reported that the Brown Mountain Lights were similar to the Andes light of South America. (http://www.busprod.com/michael/spooklight/BrnMtn.htm) Dr. W.J. Humphries, of the United States Weather Bureau presented a paper before the American Meteorological Society in April 1941, which concluded that the Brown Mountain Lights were similar to the Andes light of South America. While not exactly an explanation, Humphries findings did let folks know that Brown Mountain had a cousin to the South. (http://pa.essortment.com/mysteriouslight_rgks.htm)Geraud de Brahm
The lights are mentioned in local Native American mythology, and by Geraud de Brahm, a German engineer and the first white man to explore the region, in 1771. The lights have been described in many ways from being a glowing ball of fire, to being a bursting skyrocket, or a pale almost white light. The fact that they never seem the same is as fantastic as the lights themselves. (http://www.westernncattractions.com/BMLights.htm)Copyright (C) 2001 Dr. Sten Odenwald