Monday, April 2, 2012

Brown Mountain Lights

This month Minnie is exploring the alphabet by digging out the unusual, often unexplained and alternative way of thinking. Stories of creatures, places and mysteries that have been passed down to us through centuries tease our imagination, live in our dreams and dare us to explore the impossible. Join Minnie each day as she discovers something unusual in the alphabet.

 
“How do we know that the sky is not green and we are all color-blind?”


For over 800 years, a famous spectacle of strange lights has been reported to decorate the sky at Brown Mountain in North Carolina, USA. The native Cherokees thought them to be the spirits of slain warriors.
The Brown Mountain Lights are balls of illumination that move in groups often near the sides of the ridge. They are mostly white in color but have been seen to turn red, green, blue, yellow and other colors. In the year 2000 Brian Irish of L.E.M.U.R Paranormal Investigations managed to capture the lights on film for the first time.

It is not fully understood what causes the lights to appear. One theory is that the lights are being caused by swamp gas released by dying plant and animal matter however the lack of swampland in the area would seem to rule this out. Other theories put forward include ball lightning, electrically charged plasma and big surprise, even extraterrestrial visitation. Joshua P. Warren who has studied these lights said "they seem to line up into troop formation and march across the ridge, disappearing over the top." The best time for viewing this light show is in the Fall. 

 The photo above was taken from night vision video by Dean Warsing (www.UFOnightShift.com) on October 13, 2009, and enhanced by Brian Irish and Christopher McCollum.

Hope to see you again soon for another trip into the mystic.



23 comments:

Unknown said...

Definitely the spirits of slain warriors. Tsk, how could anyone think otherwise?

liz young said...

Oo-er! Aliens, of course - they're coming to get us!

Jaye Robin Brown said...

I live about 30 minutes from the overview where you can look out on the Brown Mountain lights. It's pretty cool and unexplainable.

Sally said...

The wonders of world never cease to amaze - one day we will learn why.

farawayeyes said...

Do they play music,like five or six distinct notes a la 'Close Encounters'?

Michael Di Gesu said...

Eery and amazing... So interesting.

How are you Sis?

S. L. Hennessy said...

Swamp gas released from dying plants...sounds like a Men in Black cover-up.
Great post and happy A-Z blogging!

alberta ross said...

great post - yup one day we will know and then a little bit more magic will vanish:(

nutschell said...

How interesting! Sure is a great prompt for a story.
great A-Z post!
Nutschell
www.thewritingnut.com

Lynn Proctor said...

maybe these lights are what is responsible for the "headless train engineer" story in west point va.---great story

Fairview said...

How interesting. How do you find these things? Love it and will be checking back to see what other interesting mystic things are out there.

Julie Flanders said...

How fascinating. I've never heard of this, very cool!

Gossip_Grl said...

Love the posting and although it gave me goosebumps (not the good kind I'm a chicken at stuff like that) was very a interesting topic to learn about thanks for sharing.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

I might have to go see if those are for real!

Horst Peters said...

I've never heard of them - thanks for sharing

Tara Tyler said...

aliens sounds better!

Anonymous said...

If you have ever seen the Northern Lights they do a similar little dance. I find these interesting.

Susan Kane said...

Those are amazing, and that they are baffling scientifically--that's truly cool.

Debra Harris-Johnson said...

So beautiful! It's got to be spirits as a matter of fact good spirits. Why else would these lights be so beautiful.
dreamweaver

Alleged Author said...

I would absolutely LOVE to see something like that. Amazing!

Sarah Tokeley said...

Sometimes we don't need explanations :-)

T. Powell Coltrin said...

Oh, I feel another story coming on with Swamp Gas in the picture.

Great post!

Teresa

Anonymous said...

When I viewed the lights it was like a warm feeling of love and peace... They had a look of little fairies.