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Brown Mountain Lights Research Paper

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The Brown Mountain Lights

Nestled in the Pisgah National Forest is Brown Mountain. Located in Western North Carolina, this mysterious location, which lies on the borders of Caldwell and Burke counties, has been the place of many sightings of a phantom light since the 1200’s. The story behind the lights was first told to me by my mother. As it went, a plantation owner went out hunting one night but never returned. He was a kind man and treated his slaves very well. Because of this, one of his slaves set out to search for him carrying a lantern. The light seen is said to be the slave with his lantern going out every night, even into death, combing the mountain searching for his master. After some investigation, I found other accounts of what the lights may represent. The earliest accounts of the Brown Mountain Lights were by Indian Tribes. The Cherokee and the Catawba believed the lights to be the torches of Indian women searching for their men following a ferocious battle between the two tribes. There was so much death and carnage, that their souls still haunt the mountain searching for their warriors. Another story tells …show more content…

While some say the event can only be observed during clear weather, the night I saw the lights it was fairly cool, misting rain and very foggy. It was quite amazing to see. We had been sitting at Wisemans View for almost 4 hours and had almost given up when a faint glow appeared on the side of the mountain. We watched it move slowly down the mountain then a second light appeared. They both descended down until reaching the river at the bottom. The lights disappeared completely and after a few seconds reappeared on the other side of the river. The hairs on my arms and on the back of my neck stood up. We continued to watch the pair of lights move along the ridge until they just

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