Dashboards and Saddlebags the Destination Magazine™ Issue 009 December 2011 | Page 12

Continued from page 11
Mountain. The report also states
that the lights from foxfire would
be too feeble to be seen at a distance of several miles.
The report rules out the
possibility that the lights are
a re f l e c t i on of m ou nt ai n
moonshine stills. “There are
not enough such stills and
they probably would not be in
sufficiently continuous operation
to produce lights in the number
and regularity of those seen at
Brown Mountain.”
St. Elmo’s Fire, that electrical
phenomenon familiar to sea
voyagers, was dismissed by a
scientist from the Smithsonian
Institution. He stated that St.
Elmo’s Fire and similar phenom-

ena occurred at the extremity of
some solid conductor and never
in midair as in the case of the
Brown Mountain Lights.
Some scientists have advanced
the theory that the lights are a
mirage. Through some peculiar
atmospheric condition they
believe the glowing balls are
reflections from Hickory, Lenoir,
and other towns in the area. The
only drawback to this theory
is that the lights were clearly
seen before the War between the
States, long before electricity was
used to produce light.
– www.ibiblio.org
For Directions where to view the Brown
Mountain Lights go to DashboardsandSaddlebags.com and select the Destinations Map tab

Map provided by the City of Morganton

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Dashboards and Saddlebags The Destination Magazine