Dr. Dan Caton, Professor and Director of Observatories, Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Appalachian State University (Boone, NC) installed and operates the camera as part of an on-going research project. Dr. Caton also installed and operates another research camera (BML Cam2) located at the southern end of Linville Gorge. The images from both cameras are compiled into nightly videos and posted on YouTube---just search "Brown Mountain Lights Camera 1" (or Camera 2) for the individual nightly videos. Both cameras are modified highly light-sensitive comet-hunting cameras.
To date, numerous lights have been recorded by Cam1, including: town/city/rural lights in the valleys beyond Brown Mountain, fireworks, communication tower lights, airplanes and helicopters, highway-vehicle lights, off-highway vehicle lights, stadium lights, and back-country user lights. Natural lights captured by the camera include stars, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, the moon, lightning and fireflies. Disappointingly, Cam1 has yet to record any support for mysterious or unknown lights in the Brown Mountain area.
BML Cam1 recorded 147 hours of nocturnal observation time on 20 nights during July 2014, resulting in 16,546 individual 30-second time-exposure images. This brings the totals over the past 18 months since start up in Feb 2013 to 2,335 hours of nocturnal observation time on 263 different nights resulting in 279,106 individual time-exposure images.
The following images are selected to show some significant features. Note that the camera position does not change during this sequence of images. Blurry or out-of-focus distant lights are caused by rising heat currents that distort the incoming light waves during the time exposures---lights that instantly flash on and off once produce sharp images.
July 4th sky rocket fireworks and MedEvac helicopter
The MedEvac helicopter flew northward above Brown Mountain and landed
at the Caldwell Memorial Hospital in downtown Lenoir.
Approximately 45 minutes later, the helicopter took off from downtown Lenoir and flew back southward over the top of Brown Mountain.
July 4th sky rocket fireworks
Same spot as before, 6 minutes later.
Lights due to processes internal to the camera
Double exposure due to image transition errors.
Lights due to processes internal to the camera
Double exposure due to image transition errors.
Lights due to processes internal to the camera
Double exposure due to image transition errors.
Lights due to processes internal to the camera
Possible cosmic ray strikes while lens window is totally blocked by rain.
Lights due to processes internal to the camera
Hot pixels or random excited pixels.
Light from vehicle/s on NC Hwy 181
on the east side of Ripshin Ridge
Possible helicopter taking off
between downtown Lenoir and the Google Data Center
Probable lightning bug.
Lights due to processes internal to the camera
'Smear line' from bright airplane landing light.
Probable lightning bug or firefly
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