Balm Valley Authority
Signals

The Brown Mountain Lights

lore

Ghostly orbs above the North Carolina ridges for centuries. A local mystery covered by Kingston Trio, Roy Orbison, and The Barn Bats.

Before there were UFOs, there were the Brown Mountain Lights. For centuries, people in western North Carolina have reported seeing glowing orbs floating above Brown Mountain: lights that appear, move, and vanish without explanation. Cherokee oral tradition holds that the lights are the spirits of women searching for their warriors killed in battle. UFOs are cosmic signals. The Brown Mountain Lights are local ones. BVA receives both frequencies.

Transmission 01: Water Over Old Stones

October 26, 2023

The Barn Bats' version of "Brown Mountain Lights" plays in the first transmission, connecting BVA to this regional folklore. The song has been covered by the Kingston Trio, Roy Orbison, Sonny James; one of Appalachia's most traveled folk standards. The mystery has outlasted every attempt to solve it.

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