If you’re driving through Western North Carolina on a clear night and you find yourself near Brown Mountain, you may find the darkness is lit by lights with no discernible source. This phenomenon is known as the Brown Mountain Lights.

The lights have been sighted all the way back to pre-colonial times by the Cherokee and Catawba tribes, later by settlers, and then by war soldiers.

As one of the biggest local phenomena, the lights have been featured on various paranormal shows, in many books and have even been discussed by popular YouTubers such as Wendigoon.

Based on the numerous videos and pictures of these lights, they are very similar to the Northern Lights. However, they are close to the mountain and localized within a small region.

There have been explanations for the lights since they have been there, from Cherokee legends of women looking for their lovers after a great fight between the Cherokee and Catawba, to scientists telling of vapors that cause them, to couples who were murdered and lit up the sky to lead viewers to their bodies. No one knows the true story or true cause and asking anyone will lead to differences, not just in oral stories, but in causes and beliefs.

Interestingly enough, one skeptic by the name of Joe Nickel who wrote for Skeptical Inquirer did his own research into the lights and claims that they are caused by refractions of light and vehicles. He writes off sightings prior to the invention of vehicles, saying there is little research into the truth of these claims.

The problem writing off those sightings is that, in this area, almost all our stories were at one point communicated only by word of mouth and had no backing other than the experiences of those who passed and those telling their stories. Were we to write off all human experiences, life would be very boring, and I wouldn’t have half the fun I do in writing these articles.

Other stories explaining the lights, include the story of a man who got lost in the mountains and was followed by his slave with a light, the second man also becoming lost. This version shortly became the most popular due to a duo from the area singing a song about it.

As one of my favorite pieces of lore of the area, no one knows exactly what causes the lights, but the lights are definitely there and distinct from the lights we see caused by electricity. You can still see the lights occasionally near Brown Mountain.