Dashboards and Saddlebags the Destination Magazine™ Issue 020 November 2012 | Page 15

Paranormal investigator Joshua
Warren has been visiting Brown
Mountain since his family took him
camping there as a kid. On one such
camping trip, Joshua says, he saw a
ball of light climbing up through the
trees and ascending into the sky. He’s
been returning with equipment and
other investigators ever since.

Where to see the lights: The best
viewing location is probably Brown
Mountain Overlook, on Highway
181 between mile marker 20 and
21. Wiseman’s View is another good
viewing location but it’s a little harder
to get to. It’s located on a gravel road
about 5 miles south of Linville Falls
on State Road 1238.

As professor Caton says, what happens at Brown Mountain is up to
your own interpretation. “All we have
here are lights on a mountain. There
are very few places on this earth
where you can still go and explore
these types of mysteries.”

When to go: The best time to see
them is at night. More reports also
happen right after it rains. Although
the lights have been reported at
all times of the year, most believe
October and November to be the
best times.

One local story recounts that in 1982
Morganton resident Tommie Hunter
said he actually touched the lights at
the Hwy.181 overlook. He had looked
over the edge and saw a ball of light
that was hovering, and he touched it.
Tommie said it felt like he had stuck
his finger in a light socket. Six other
people were with Tommie that night
and all corroborated his story.

This article originally appeared in
Carolina Country Magazine.
Sherry Jackson is a travel writer based
in Greenville, South Carolina. For more
great southern destinations, please visit
www.seethesouth.com .

So are the lights real? Joshua Warren
and professor Caton say that’s not
even the question anymore. The
question now is: What are they? For
now, at least, they are simply one of
North Carolina’s greatest mysteries.

Seeing the Brown Mountain Lights
Plan your visit: The town of Morganton
is the starting point to view the lights.
Check Burke County’s tourism website
(www.discoverburkecounty.com) and
www.brownmountainlights.com for
travel information and special Brown
Mountain Light events (including tours
led by Joshua Warren, where you can
be certified as a “Brown Mountain
Investigator”).

Learn more about
the North Carolina
Yadkin Valley
Wineries or Plan
a Day Trip to
South Carolina’s
Dark Corner?

Uniquely Southern destination information.
SeeTheSouTh.com

DashboardsandSaddlebags.com 704-706-2365

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