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Brown Mountain

Mountain in Pisgah NF, Blue Ridge, Appalachian Mountains near Collettsville, NC

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Brown Mountain is a low-lying ridge, approximately 1.5 miles long, in the Pisgah National Forest near Morganton, North Carolina, on the border of Burke and Caldwell Counties. For perhaps hundreds of years, and since at least the early 20th century, mysterious illuminations known as the Brown Mountain Lights have been seen there. The lights are small balls that appear irregularly over Brown Mountain. There are hundreds of eyewitness accounts of the lights, and they have merited two investigations by the United States Geological Society. It is known that they have been seen by residents of the surrounding area since at least the 19th century, but the Cherokee Native Americans of the area may have been seeing the lights as early as the 13th century. When present, the Brown Mountain lights can…