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

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.

List 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

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.

Product details

• Authors: Wade Edward Speer, Speer Wade Edward
• Publisher: Ingram Publishers Services
• Languages: English
• Age Recommendation: from age 18
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 21.04.2017
• EAN: 9781476666761
• ISBN: 978-1-4766-6676-1
• No. of pages: 264
• Dimensions: 178 mm x 254 mm x 13 mm
• Weight: 481 g
• Illustrations: Raster,schwarz-weiss
• Series: Contributions to Southern Appalachian Studies
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Sociology > Sociological theories; North Carolina, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Folklore & Mythology, HISTORY / Social History, Social & cultural history, Folklore, myths & legends, Social and cultural history, History of the Americas, Folklore studies / Study of myth (mythology), north carolina, paranormal