The Brown Mountain Lights: History, Science and Human Nature Explain an Appalachian Mystery

by Wade Edward Speer

Overview

Mysterious nighttime lights near Brown Mountain in North Carolina's Pisgah National Forest have intrigued locals and visitors for more than a century. The result of a three year investigation, this book identifies both manmade and natural light sources—including some unexpected ones—behind North Carolina's most famous ghost story. History, science and human nature are each found to play a role in the understanding and interpretation of the lights people see.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476666761
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	04/21/2017
Series:	Contributions to Southern Appalachian Studies , #40
Pages:	264
Product dimensions:	6.90(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

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.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Preface
Introduction
 1. The Research Team, Methods Used and Data Collected
 2. Historical Overview of the BML Phenomenon
 3. Lack of Sightings Before Electricity
 4. Legends, Myths and Folklore
 5. First Sightings and Birth of the Legend
 6. The Events of 1916
 7. Government Investigations: 1913, 1919 and 1922
 8. Early Photographers of the Lights
 9. Paul Rose’s 1962 Tower on Brown Mountain
10. Ralph Lael’s 1962 Alleged Alien Encounters
11. Other Scientific Investigations, 1915–2011
12. Lack of BML Sightings from the South and East
13. Ghosts, Aliens, Spirits and UFOs
14. Pseudoscientific Explanations
15. Possibly Misidentified Natural Lights
16. Possibly Misidentified ­Man-Made Lights
17. Staged Light Tests
18. Appalachian State University Nightly Cameras
19. Morphing of the Legend
20. Unclassified Lights
21. Reality or Delusion
Concluding Remarks
Appendix A. BML Research by the Author
Appendix B. Light Sighting Report Form and Annotated Panoramas
Appendix C. Annotated Chronological List of Selected References
Bibliography and List of References
Index

Editorial Reviews

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

From the Publisher