Brown Mountain Lights (1922)

The Brown Mountain lights are purported ghost lights near Brown Mountain in North Carolina. The earliest published references to strange lights there are from around 1910, at about the same time electric lighting was becoming widespread in the area. In 1922, a USGS scientist, George R.

Mansfield, used a map and an alidade telescope to prove that the lights that were being seen were trains, car headlights, and brush fires, which ended widespread public concern. With the original sightings of the early 20th century having been explained, storytellers have been creating imaginary pre-electrification histories of the lights ever since, and the nature of claimed encounters with the lights appears to have changed over the years to suit changing cultural expectations.

Source Title

Wikipedia: Brown Mountain lights

Source URL

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_Mountain_lights

Source Notes

Imported from Wikipedia REST, MediaWiki, and Wikidata sources on 2026-07-12. Review article citations and edit details before saving. Wikimedia image source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/Brown_Mountain%2C_North_Carolina_viewed_from_Beacon_Heights%2C_October_2016.jpg. Coordinates inferred from location context using OpenStreetMap Nominatim query: Brown Mountain, United States. Date note: Only a year was found; the event date defaults to January 1 at 12:00. Coordinates inferred from location context using OpenStreetMap Nominatim query: Brown Mountain, North Carolina, United States.

1. Occurred Jan 1, 1922 12:00 PM UTC
2. Submitted Jul 12, 2026 9:46 PM Historical Archive created
3. Approved Jul 12, 2026 9:46 PM Moderator reviewed
4. Media Uploaded Jul 12, 2026 9:46 PM 1 media file