BML Cam1 Jonas Ridge Camera (Oct-Nov 2013)

Brown Mountain Lights Camera 1 (BML Cam1) sits atop a house on Jonas Ridge, NC and looks east toward Brown Mountain.

Dr. Dan Caton, Professor and Director of Observatories, Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Appalachian State University (Boone, NC) installed and operates BML Cam1 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 for 2013 and 2014 have been 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 light-sensitive comet-hunting cameras, as evidenced by the frequent diffraction/over-saturation/lens flare features produced by overly bright lights.

To date, numerous lights have been recorded by Cam1, including: town/city/rural lights in the valleys beyond Brown Mountain, communication tower lights, airplanes, highway-vehicle lights, off-highway vehicle lights, and back-country user lights. Natural lights captured by the camera include bright stars, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, the moon and lightning. Disappointingly, Cam1 has not recorded any support for mysterious or unknown lights in the Brown Mountain area.

The following selected images for BML Cam1 for Oct 2013 have a 50-degree field of view (74-124 azimuths) with Brown Mountain visible far in the distance.   The single image for Nov 2013 was taken with the same comet-hunting camera but has an enlarged 20-degree field of view (85-105) azimuths with only the north end of Brown Mountain showing on the far right side of the image.

 

Annotations on the images are made by me. Note that distances in miles between the camera and the objects identified are given. Increased vehicle activity during the Fall hunting season was noticed on some of the back-country roads in the area around Brown Mountain; however hunting is not allowed on Brown Mountain itself since it is an off-highway-vehicle Recreation Area.

See other posts for additional identified lights from BML Cam1.

 

Jupiter and Orion in the sky above Brown Mountain

 

Wanning Crescent moon (16%) produces diffraction/over-saturated effexcts with lens flare and rays.

 

Vehicle headlights on Forest Service Road 496

 

Enlarged View (85-105 field of view azimuths)
Lights of Taylorsville, Lenoir, airplanes, and vehicles on NC Hwy 181 and at the Brown Mountain Overlook.

Bright light in Lenoir produces vertical rays.

 

 

BML Cam1 Jonas Ridge Camera (Sep 2013)

Brown Mountain Lights Camera 1 (BML Cam1) sits atop a house on Jonas Ridge, NC and looks east toward Brown Mountain.

Dr. Dan Caton, Professor and Director of Observatories, Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Appalachian State University (Boone, NC) installed and operates BML Cam1 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 for 2013 and 2014 have been 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 light-sensitive comet-hunting cameras, as evidenced by the frequent diffraction/over-saturation/lens flare features produced by overly bright lights.

To date, numerous lights have been recorded by Cam1, including: town/city/rural lights in the valleys beyond Brown Mountain, communication tower lights, airplanes, highway-vehicle lights, off-highway vehicle lights, and back-country user lights. Natural lights captured by the camera include bright stars, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, the moon and lightning. Disappointingly, Cam1 has not recorded any support for mysterious or unknown lights in the Brown Mountain area.

The following selected images for BML Cam1 Sep 2013 have a 50-degree field of view (74-124 azimuths) with Brown Mountain visible far in the distance. Annotations on the images are made by me. Note that distances in miles between the camera and the objects identified are given.  Increased vehicle activity during the Fall hunting season was noticed on some of the back-country roads in the area around Brown Mountain; however hunting is not allowed on Brown Mountain itself since it is an off-highway-vehicle Recreation Area.

 

See other posts for additional identified lights from BML Cam1.

 

Stars in the sky, including the constellation Taurus.

 

Jupiter and stars in the sky, including the constellation Orion

 

Mars and stars in the sky

 

Airplanes in sky above Brown Mountain

 

Faint light from a north-bound vehicle on Forest Service Road 198.

This is the graveled Chestnut Mtn road only open during the Fall hunting season each year.

Moonlight illuminates the landscape.

 

South-bound vehicle on Forest Service Road 198 (Chestnut Mtn Road)

  

Over-saturation, light ray and lens flares from bright moon (Wanning Gibbous--84%)

  

North-bound vehicle on Forest Service Road 496

  

Vehicle headlight on Forest Service Road 496

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BML Cam1 Jonas Ridge Camera (May-Jun 2013)

Our Brown Mountain Lights research team continues to collect and anaylse information on the nocturnal lights visible in the area of Brown Mountain. This post begins a series of comments and images resulting from the full-time nightly camera (BML Cam1) located on Jonas Ridge and looking east over Brown Mountain. The camera operated for 133 nights between February 12 & December 31, 2013 and recorded nearly 112,000 30- or 60-second time exposure images representing over 1,200 hours of nightly observation. The 2014 images are still being evaluated and will be the subject of future posts.

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 for 2013 and 2014 have been 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 light-sensitive comet-hunting cameras, as evidenced by the frequent diffraction/over-saturation/lens flare features produced by overly bright lights.

To date, numerous lights have been recorded by Cam1, including: town/city/rural lights in the valleys beyond Brown Mountain, communication tower lights, airplanes, highway-vehicle lights, off-highway vehicle lights, and back-country user lights. Natural lights captured by the camera include bright stars, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, the moon and lightning. Disappointingly, Cam1 has not recorded any support for mysterious or unknown lights in the Brown Mountain area.

The following selected images for BML Cam1 May-Jun 2013 have a 50-degree field of view (74-124 azimuths) with Brown Mountain visible far in the distance. Annotations on the images are made by me. Note that distances in miles between the camera and the objects identified are given.

 

Vehicle lights visible on NC Hwy 181 along Ripshin Ridge and Forest Service Road 496. Moving headlights are occasionally seen along FS Road 496, which is a well-maintained gravel road that is open to the public year round and provides access to Table Rock and the east rim of Linville Gorge.

 

Vehicle lights are also common at the NC Hwy 181 Brown Mountain Overlook. Here vehicle headlights are pointed directly at the camera as the vehicle leaves the overlook. Diffraction/over-saturation/lens flare rays are a common bright-light feature of the highly light-sensitive camera.  City/town/rural lights of Lenoir and Hickory are visible in the distance.

Lightning flashes with over-saturation features.

BML Cam1 is located atop a house on Jonas Ridge. Here lights from the house itself illuminate nearby trees, while vehicle lights are visible along NC Hwy 181 and at the Brown Mountain Overlook. Stars are visible in the sky, while city/town/rural lights of Lenoir and Hickory are also visible over the top of Brown Mountain.

Vehicle headlights at sharp bend on Forest Service Road 496. Also visible are stars in the sky, distance lights of Lenoir and Hickory above Brown Mountain and distant communication tower lights beyond Chestnut Mtn.

 

Moonrise over Brown Mountain.Diffraction/over-saturation/lens flare rays produced by the bright Wanning Gibbous (75%) moon.

 

Did Jules Verne inspire the Legend of the Brown Mountain Lights?

Did Jules Verne inspire the Legend of the Brown Mountain Lights? 

Remarkably Jules Verne’s highly-popular 1886 novel Robur The Conqueror, with its first-of-a-kind unique cigar-shaped airship sailing around the world with kidnapped citizens (the first alien abduction story), is credited with initiating the first ever UFO scares after observers throughout the world started reporting seeing strange objects in the sky in the 1890s (Ron Miller, "That Time Jules Verne Caused a UFO Scar", November 22, 2013).  Similarly, Verne’s 1904 novel Master of the World may have actually inspired the early sightings of mystery lights over Brown Mountain!  The 1904 novel was a sequel to the 1886 book and included a cigar-shaped, lighted airship built by the mad scientist Robur in a secret base deep inside a mountain near Morganton, North Carolina!  The mountain was presumbly Table Rock.  The fictional story included locals scared by sightings of previously unseen lights and reports of loud noises coming from the mountain---later determined to be Robur testing his new airship.  The English version of Master of the World came out in 1911, which was two years before the first published accounts of the Brown Mountain Lights began appearing in local newspapers in 1913.   So the question arises:  “Did Verne’s novel inspire the Legend, or did the Legend inspire the novel?”  Having never visited North Carolina himself, it seems highly unlikely that Verne could have learned much if anything about the BML Legend before the 1904 French version of the book since nothing about the Legend was published at that time.  However, it is quite possible that Verne, who did not himself speak English, learned from a colleague who was familiar with one or more of the several 1800s English adventure travelogues describing the unique mountain scenery of Linville Gorge and he chose this as the location for the opening story in his 1904 book.

Jules Verne, with his science fiction adventure stories of the mid to late 1800s, became the most-read author of the time and probably helped set the stage for the public’s acceptance of mystery lights.   Just as his 1886 novel inspired the first UFO scares around the world, the possibility that his 1904 novel actually inspired the beginnings of the Legend of the Brown Mountain Lights seems likely.  Anyone interested in the Legend of the Brown Mountain Lights would enjoy reading Verne's book---The 1911 English version of Master of the World is available as a free download at:

 

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3809

Annotated Panorama from 181 Overlook

Looking for Brown Mountain Lights from the NC Highway 181 Overlook? This annotated panorama should help identify known landmarks with the measured azimuths and distances given. Our BML Research Team has compiled this panaroma with the help of topographic maps, surveying software programs and 100s of photographs

Annotated Panorama from Wiseman's View

Looking for Brown Mountain Lights from Wiseman's View?  This annotated panorama should help identify known landmarks with the measured azimuths and distances given.  Our BML Research Team has compiled this panaroma with the help of topographic maps, surveying software programs and 100s of photographs.

Oldest known written document on the Brown Mountain Lights

Kevin Massey, a new contributor to our BML Research Team recently uncovered this September 14, 1913 Winston-Salem Journal newspaper article which preceeds the previous oldest known BMLs written document by nine days!  Many BML authors credit the September 23, 1913 Charlotte Daily Observer article as the first written document; but the W-S Journal document clearly preceeds it.


First Published Article on the BMLS
The R.T. Claywell story
Winston-Salem Journal, September 14, 1913
Re-typed by E. Speer January 2, 2014 from copy of original article
(Uncertain words indicated by underline)
Strange Light in Mountains Still Alarming
Remarkable Phenomenon can be seen in Burke County
Spectator gives Vivid Description
 By
George H. Manning

Washington, Sept. 13---The strange white light which has greatly excited the people in Burke county, N. C. since it was first seen about four months ago, may still be observed almost nightly and is gaining materially in brilliance, according to R. T. Claywell, of Morganton, who is in Washington in the interests of Maply McDowell’s candidacy for the United States Marshal-ship in the Western District.  Mr. Claywell says he last saw the light about a month ago when he and a number of friends were spending a night at Cold Spring Hotel.  That Mr. Claywell is extremely excited over the appearance of the light is evident by his manner when he vividly described the awe-inspiring light he and his friends witnessed.

“There’s something ghostly and uncanny about that light that I and the folks up in the neighborhood can’t fathom and we want to get a government scientist down there to discover just what it is and the causes and effect,” said Mr. Claywell.

“The night that I and a number of friends saw this strange phenomenon, I was up there with George Patterson and wife, of Concord, Miss Bell Means, niece of Colonel Paul Means, and Mr. Honeycutt of Concord, Miss Sallie Hogan, Miss Fannie Roundtree, Miss Sarah Claywell, all of Morganton, and Robert Lovin, of Cold Spring.

“It was the last Thursday in July, July 31^st,” continued Claywell.  “We were all sitting on the cottage porch in conversation, on Rattlesnake Knob, about 150 yards from the Cold Spring Hotel, at exactly 10:05 o’clock.

“The first thing unusual that attracted our attention was a hazy kind of a light across the valley on Brown Mountain in two places.  We all watched it intently with mixed feeling of awe and wonder, while shivers ran up and down the spine of everyone present.  In a few minutes while we all directed our gaze intently on the two hazy spots, just off to the right of the light in the direction of a Morganton, we saw this brighter light appear at the foot of Brown Mountain where Upper Creek cuts it at Joy.  It appeared to be swinging to and fro, pendulum like, and then went upward about a distance of 200 feet.  When it first appeared it seemed to be round and yellow, and gained steadily in brightness, becoming redder and redder as it went upward.  When it reached its greatest height, it appeared like a flaming red ball, but the strange thing about it was that it did not cast off a particle of light.  All the air around it seemed to be as dark as ever, and that added to its ghostly appearance.

“It was across the valley from us at a distance of about 12 miles.  It had rained in Morganton that day and there were a few clouds still hanging about.  When the light started rising again and reached a height of what  seen from our distance to be about 1200 feet, it went behind one of these clouds and we did not see it any more that night.

“It was one of the strangest experiences I believe I ever had, and many of the folks were near fainting.  In fact it was with difficulty that Mrs. Patterson was revived from a faint.  We had been at the cottage three days previously and every evening had gone to bed about nine o’clock but this Thursday night we stayed up later.  We would probably have witnessed it the other evening had we stayed on the porch a little later.”

Mr. Claywell with Congressman Webb, called at the Geological Survey today to urge them to hurry the arrangements being made to send a scientist to fathom the mystery.

10Dec13 Photography from Wiseman's View

Last night's photography from Wiseman's View produced some more interesting images of distant city lights, stars, and airplanes---but no mystery lights!

Lenoir and Taylorsville City Lights

Communication Tower light & Lenoir's Christmas Star on Hibrighten Mtn

Azimuths (in degrees) and distance (in miles) shown for selected features

Tripod-mounted Canon REBEL DSLR T3i camera with 105-420 mm zoon lens set at 287 mm, f/7.1, ISO-800, 30 sec

 

Distant City Lights over Brown Mountain

Tripod-mounted Canon REBEL DSLR T3i camera with 18 mm lens, f/4.5, ISO-800, 15 sec

Hawksbill Mtn with Stars and Distant City Lights

Tripod-mounted Canon REBEL DSLR T3i camera with 18 mm lens, f/4.5, ISO-800, 61 sec

 

Hawskbill Mtn with Staged Hiker's Light, Airplanes, and Stars

Four airplanes, one with bright landing light, and short star trails in skies over Hawksbill Mtn

A small white hiker's light from a friend of the photographer,

was staged on the skyline in the middle of Hawksbill's summit

Tripod-mounted Canon REBEL DSLR T3i camera with 105-420 mm zoon lens set at 105 mm, f/5.6, ISO-800, 33 sec

18Nov13 Forest Fires, Bright Moon Rise, Car & City Lights

Last night's observation from Wiseman's View was both interesting and informative.  The recent Table Rock fire which started a week ago and has now burned nearly 2,500 acres on the east rim of Linville Gorge, is nearly out with only a few tiny isolated spot fires remaining.  However, some folks at the overlook last night were hoping to see vast large fires and dismissed the remnant spot fires as the usual BMLs!  At least the large crowds provided the opportunity to photography vehicle headlights on NC Hwy 105 on the west rim of the gorge.  In addition, the bright rising moon over Hawksbill Mountain was spectacular.  Most of my photos should be enlarged to see the finer details.
  

Distant Lights of Taylorsville, 41.5 mi

Azimuth 88^O from Wiseman’s View

Taylorsville is the dim horizontal band of lights immediately below the far skyline in the center of the image

Two communication tower lights are visible on Hibriten Mtn (89^O azimuth) on right side of image:

1)       The usual blinking white light on the tall tower north of the summit; and

2)       A new red light on a tower on the summit

City Lights of Lenoir lie above and beyond Brown Mountain (the flat ridge in the foreground)

Tripod-mounted Canon EOS Rebel T3i DSLR with 420 mm lens at f/8, 1 second exposure & ISO-400

 

Lights of Hickory 31 miles beyond north slope of Table Rock Mountain

Azimuth 111^O from Wiseman’s View

Tripod-mounted Canon EOS Rebel T3i DSLR with 138 mm lens at f/7.1, 2 second exposure & ISO-1600

 

Small Isolated Forest Fire on Flanks of Table Rock, 1 mi distant

Azimuth 135^O from Wiseman’s View

Tripod-mounted Canon EOS Rebel T3i DSLR with 420 mm lens at f/8, 47 second exposure & ISO-3200

 

7 Small Isolated Forest Fires on Flanks of Table Rock

Table Rock is Azimuth 13^O from Wiseman’s View

The largest spot of fire in the center of the image is enlarged in photo 5178

Tripod-mounted Canon EOS Rebel T3i DSLR with 18 mm lens at f/4.5, 60 second exposure & ISO-1600

 

Vehicle Headlights on North Flank of DogBack Mountain

Azimuth 185^O from Wiseman’s View

Tripod-mounted Canon EOS Rebel T3i DSLR with 18 mm lens at f/4.5, 6 second exposure & ISO-1600

Vehicle Headlights on North Flank of DogBack Mountain

Azimuth 185-191^O from Wiseman’s View

Tripod-mounted Canon EOS Rebel T3i DSLR with 55 mm lens at f/5.6, 14 second exposure & ISO-1600

 

Moon Rise Over South Flank of Hawksbill Mountain

Azimuth 75^O from Wiseman’s View

Tripod-mounted Canon EOS Rebel T3i DSLR with 18 mm lens at f/4.5, 60 second exposure & ISO-200

 

Moon (bright white) with Unique Lens Flares

Azimuth 75^O from Wiseman’s View

Tripod-mounted Canon EOS Rebel T3i DSLR with 420 mm lens at f/8, 1 second exposure & ISO-400

 

Moon (bright white) with Unique Lens Flares

Azimuth 75^O from Wiseman’s View

Tripod-mounted Canon EOS Rebel T3i DSLR with 294mm lens at f/7.1, 1 second exposure & ISO-400

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Forest Fire in Linville Gorge---how's that for nocturnal lights!

Yesterday (Tuesday, 12Nov13) a forest fire burned on the east rim of Linville Gorge immediately south of Table Rock.  I photographed it from Wiseman's View on the west rim of the gorge from 8:37 pm until 9:13 pm when the howling winds and cold temps drove me back to the car.  Winds of 25-40 mph with much higher gusts fanned the fire and made tripod-mounted time-exposure photography difficult.  Fall's recently dropped dead leaves undoubtly added fuel to the fire.

Forest Fire on East Rim of Linville Gorge

The image shows the forest fire immediately south of Table Rock, an airplane light streak in the sky above Table Rock, the constellation ORION in the sky through the tree branches, and the lights of Lenoir & vicinity over the top of Brown Mountain in the distance.

Forest fires and brush fires were first mentioned as possible sources of BMLs in George Mansfield's 1922 USGS report.  While fires as large as this one are not likely to be mistaken for mystery lights by many folks, smaller ones such as campfires probably can be.

Catawba Valley Lights, Moon & Venus

My photography from the NC 181 Overlook tonight produced some more interesting images; however no mystery lights were seen.  All photos were taken with a tripod-mounted Canon REBEL EOS DSLR camera with either a Canon 105-420 mm  telephoto zoom lens or a Meade ETX-125 1,900 mm 5" mirror reflecting telescope.

60% Waxing Gibbous Moon

 

 

Catawba Valley city/town lights, view looking southeast

Brown Mountain is the dark tree-covered ridge slopping to the right in the foreground

Baker Mtn, 32 mi distant & communication towers on far horizon

Brown Mountain is the flat top, tree-covered ridge in the foreground

Single flashing white orb atop communication tower on Hibriten Mtn, 20 miles distant.

Adams Mountain lies directly in front of Hibriten Mtn

Note airplane light streak in the sky and two small red orbs stacked vertically on a smaller communication tower to the left of the white orb

The north slope of Brown Mountain can be seen in the lower right corner of the image

Venus above Hawksbill Mtn, east rim of Linville Gorge

 

Venus setting through trees on ridgeline north of Hawksbill Mtn

on east rim of Linville Gorge

Note short star trail in sky above

Staged Light test Nov 4, 2013

On Monday night, November 4, 2013, our BML Research team conducted another radio-assisted staged light test on Chestnut Mountain.  I manned cameras at the NC Hwy 181 Brown Mountain Overlook while a pickup truck drove FS Rd 198.  The staged lights were only visible to the naked eye at one spot along the road, approximately 1.9 miles from the 181 Overlook.  Image 4832 shows our staged light.  This road is a popular destination for bear hunters & bear season recently opened in the area.  Other lights in the image are stars in the sky and distant communication tower and house lights.

Staged Light Test on Chestnut Mtn

Looking northeast from NC Hwy 181 Brown Mountain Overlook

The small white light below the skyline on lower flanks of Chestnut Mtn

is  520-lumen battery-powered handheld spotlight on FS Rd 198,

approximately 1.9 mi from the camera

 

The 8% Waxing Crescent Moon setting over east rim of Linville Gorge

 Looking southwest from NC Hwy 181 Brown Mountain Overlook

House Lights on Jonas Ridge

Looking northwest from NC Hwy 181 Brown Mountain Overlook

Prominent colored light streaks across center of image

are those of a large delievery truck heading north on NC Hwy 181

The skyline lights are from houses in the Gingercake Acres community along NC 1265

City/Town Lights in Catawba Valley beyond Brown Mountain

Looking southeast from NC Hwy 181 Brown Mountain Overlook

The lights of Valdese and Drexel between 125 & 140 azimuths are visible

The blinking navigation lights of an airplane are visible in the sky



 

Yes they are real!

What are the BMLs?  Are they Real?
Yes, they are real!  But in order to say that, we have to come up with a definition that excludes all post-observational interpretations.  Thus the following definition is based on the original observers’ on-site, real-time interpretation, not someone else’s subsequent interpretation:  A BML is any nocturnal light, seen in the vicinity of Brown Mountain, with an origin that is unknown to the observer at the time of the observation

 

 

A BML is any nocturnal light, seen in the vicinity of Brown Mountain,

with an origin that is unknown to the observer

at the time of the observation

 

This definition is purposefully broad to include all sightings by everyone who has seen lights that they identified as unexplained in the area since the late 1800s.  It is the assumed or presumed unknown origin that makes the lights mysterious in the first place.  Each person's sighting is real and significant to them and none are dismissed as not-real.  Since the distinction of 'unknown origin' is the determination of the observer, then all lights visible in the area must also be BMLs!  Let me explain.

Eye-Witness sightings

Every light visible in the area of Brown Mountain probably has been called a mysterious unknown-origin light (in other words a BML) by someone either recently or in the past---remember it is left up to each individual observer to label the light they saw as explained or unexplained.  Over the past two years, our research team has amassed a vast collection of BML eyewitness descriptions, both recent and historical.  Although these descriptions are often conflicting and vary greatly in the details of what was seen, none can be dismissed, even those that can be easily identified by others as misinterpretations of normal lights.  It is clear from these varied descriptions that people are not always seeing the same thing, but rather they are seeing a large number of different light phenomena; none of which should be rejected as not real.  Certainly for many observers their sighting was not only memorable, but also unique, fascinating, and in some cases, life-changing. Therefore, to include all mystery light sightings as BMLs, the definition given above is based on the observers' characterization of the light as having an 'unidentified-origin'.  However, just because a light is unknown to an observer doesn't mean that light is also unknown or unknowable to someone else.

 

The difference between an identified light and a mystery light

is often the difference between an informed observer

and an uninformed or misinformed observer

 

Identification of Light Origins

While misidentification of lights plays a major role in the Legend of the BMLs, observation of lights defying easy explanation also plays a role.  The difference between an identified light and an unidentified light is often the difference between an informed observer and an uninformed or misinformed observer.  One person’s BML is another person’s street light.  One person’s BML is another person’s flashlight, or communication tower light, or airplane, or campfire, or car headlight, or firefly, or International Space Station, or planet, etc.  And yet some lights defy all attempts to identify them by scientific or scholarly investigation.  However, those lights that seem to defy scientific or otherwise scholarly explanation are generally from sightings that lack sufficient details to classify them as anything; as a result those lights are temporarily listed as 'unclassified' until such time that their actual origin might be determined.

To know the BMLs, First Know the Observer

The level of one's nighttime outdoor experience, familiarity with nature, supernatural beliefs, and understanding of science vary greatly amongst observers, yet each of these plays a major role in how an observer interprets what they see.  As expected, an informed observer is much less likely to misinterpret what they see, while an uninformed or misinformed observer is more likely to misinterpret what they see.

Don't Mess With my BMLs

Everyone enjoys a good mystery and the desire to believe in unexplained or unexplainable lights is strong and even highly emotional for many people.  In fact, most people aren't receptive to hearing something that threatens their beliefs, favorite mystery, or opinions.  "I know what I saw, and it wasn't a manmade light" and "Some things just can't be explained" are common reframes from those unwilling to give up the mystery, or to even consider alternatives.  On the other hand, there are those who sincerely believe they witnessed aliens, UFOs, disembodied spirits, ghosts, secret government projects, or otherwise unexplained paranormal phenomena.  To everyone, no matter what you believe, the BMLs are real!  It's just our interpretations of what we see that differ.

Best photo of Blue Ghost Fireflies

This 4-hour time exposure is perhaps the best image of the elusive Blue Ghost Fireflies (BGFs) I've ever seen!  It was taken by professional photographer Spencer Black on June 8, 2013 at Dupont Forest State Park near Hendersonville, NC.  Black, from Asheville, NC is well known for his very-long-exposure night time photography, which is exactly the skill needed to photograph the rare BGFs.

 

The BGFs do not flash like the more-common yellow-blinking fireflies; instead they burn continuously for 10 seconds to two minutes while flying up to 200 feet horizontally just above the forest floor.  The human eye detects the dim light of the BGF as white or bluish white (thus the name Blue Ghost Fireflies), while the camera records the light as yellowish green.  Only the rods in the human eye detect faint light, the cones of the eye cannot; thus color is not precieved when looking at BGFs----it takes both the rods and the cones working together to precieve color.  The camera captures the true color.  The same phenomenon occurs with astronomers who see only white (or bluish white) stars through the telescope, while a camera attached to the telescope records the true colors.

Looking at the photo, imagine how dark the forest must have been as it took the camera lens 4 hours to capture even this much light!  In addition, probably only a few BGFs were active during the 4 hr exposure; i.e., an observer may have seen only a small number of fireflies at any one time.  Now imagine yourself alone and deep in the woods on a very dark night and seeing a few of these lights moving amid the trees and brush---if you didn't previously know what the BGFs were, you could easily be mystified by the lights.  Given the behavior of the BGFs as highly sensitive to light  (turning off when you turn on a flashlight & only coming back on when your turn your light off) and sensitive to air vibrations (turning off when you walk toward them & turning back on only when you stop moving)----one can easily understand how some uninformed observer can mistakenly think the lights are interacting with them (as in 'intelligent behavior').  We have some anecdotal stories of observers seeing lights that perfectly match those of the BGFs, including stories of some folks who were so terrified of the lights that they ran away or climbed trees to get away from them!  And one observer on Brown Mountain in the early 1960's apparently intrepreted the lights as benovelent beings from Venus and allowed himself to be abducted!

Our research team has verified the existence of BGFs in this area of western NC.  We have seen & collected them at Wiseman's View (7 miles west of Brown Mountain) and Buck Creek Gap (25 miles northwest of Brown Mountain).  In addition, they have reportedly been seen on the east rim of Linville Gorge (5 miles west of Brown Mountain), on Harper's Creek (about 5.5 miles north of Brown Mountain), on North Muddy Creek (about 12 miles southwest of Brown Mountain), at the Highway 181 overlook (3 miles northwest of Brown Mountain) and on Chestnut Mtn (2.5 miles north of Brown Mountain).  We hope to confirm their presence on Brown Mountain this coming spring.

Views from Table Rock 16Oct13

Photography taken from the top of Table Rock last night

Light wind, heavy clouds, and dense haze from high humidity hampered photography last night (16Oct13) from the top of Table Rock (east rim of Linville Gorge).  Numerous hunters were encountered on the access roads and in the parking lot, while 11 campers were found at the summit itself.  Lights from both groups probably could be seen from some of the other popular observation sites; thus anyone out looking for BMLs should be aware of the possibility of the increased present of back-country users at this time of the year.

Hickory, NC City Lights

Clouds slightly illuminated by the moon (hidden behind clouds in upper left corner of photo)

Tripod-mounted Canon EOS REBEL T3i camera w/ 18-50 mm zoom lens

12 second time exposure, ISO-100, f/3.5

Hickory, NC City Lights

Tripod-mounted Canon EOS REBEL T3i camera w/ 75-300 mm zoom lens and 1.4X tele converter

10 second time exposure, ISO-100, f/7.1

Google Data Center building, Lenior, NC

Long row of dim lights just left of center of image; Brown Mountain in foreground

Tripod-mounted Canon EOS REBEL T3i camera w/ 75-300 mm zoom lens and 1.4X tele converter

5 second time exposure, ISO-100, f/8

 

Stealth Campsite w/ rock fire ring at Little Table Rock

This is the campsite visible in the 29Jul13 photo # 4384 nightime image showing campfire and light

Campsite is at the end of a razorback ridge well below the summit 

and on the southwest side of Table Rock---many folks call this Little Table Rock

N 35.89027; W 81.88752

 Canon EOS REBEL T3i camera w/ 18-50 mm zoom lens

ISO-160, f/3.5