Marfa Lights observatory plaque. Author: The Horror.
Creative Commons license.
In the United States, earth lights are generally called spooklights, ghost lights, or simply named after the most local town. This page details spooklight locations in the United States and Canada.
This is a Work in Progress!
Where? Anson, Texas
Names:
Links:
http://www.sgha.net/tx/anson/anson2.html * http://www.texasmonthly.com/mag/issues/2000-12-01/texana.php * http://www.texasmonthly.com/mag/issues/2000-12-01/texana-2.php * http://www.unsolvedmysteries.com/usm96.html http://www.myufo.com/ghosts/haunted_places/haunted_texas/
Where? Dillon, South Carolina
Links:
http://southcarolinaghost.tripod.com/GhostStories/id25.html * http://www.ghosts.org/ghostlights/bingham-light.html * [@@ where's the new page on ghostlights.org?] http://hamerboy.blogspot.com/2005/07/binghams-lightever-heard-of-it.html * http://www.friendsofsc.com/forums/printthread.php?t=1278 * http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/SCMARION/1999-09/0938124777 http://www.haunted-places.com/HRvol2a.htm
Where? Morganton, North Carolina (also Lenoir, Crossnore)
Links:
http://www.ibiblio.org/ghosts/bmtn.html * http://www.ibiblio.org/ghosts/bmtn_p2.html * http://shadowboxent.brinkster.net/brownmountain2.html http://www.westernncattractions.com/BMLights.htm * http://www.nbc17.com/news/4439728/detail.html * http://www.brownmountainlights.org/ * http://www.science-frontiers.com/sf033/sf033p17.htm * http://www.prairieghosts.com/brownmt.html *
In 2001, Joshua P. Warren and his research group, L.E.M.U.R., caught video evidence of lights at Brown Mountain, Burke County, North Carolina. On 14th June 2001, he sent me the following press release via post:
Mysterious Brown Mountain Lights Finally Caught on Video
Ashville, N.C. (June, 2001) -- The L.E.M.U.R. Paranormal Research Team, based in Asheville, North Carolina, has captured and released the first known video footage of the unexplained Brown Mountain Lights in Burke County, North Carolina. The release is in conjunction with the debut of their new web site, www.BrownMountainLights.com .
The Brown Mountain Lights are unexplained illuminations that, according to Cherokee legend, have appeared over a ridge in the Pisgah National Forest for over 800 years. They were observed and recorded in journals by German engineer Geraud de Brahm in 1771, and were first journalistically documented by the "Charlotte Observer" in 1913. The Lights were investigated numerous times by private groups and three times by the United States government, once by the Weather Service and twice by the Geological Survey. However, the phenomenon has never been satisfactorily explained. Theories based on gases, seismic activity, mirages, and ball lightning have all been debated, but none have successfully accounted for the phenomenon's unpredictability and bizarre behavior.
The Lights became most famous when Tommy Faile's song "The Legend of the Brown Mountain Light" became a bluegrass hit in the 1960s. They've been included in the works of numerous Carolina authors, such as John Harden, John Paris, and Nancy Roberts, and were most recently featured in a 1999 episode of "The X-Files" television show.
The L.E.M.U.R. Team was founded in 1995 by its current President, Joshua P. Warren, author of "Haunted Asheville" and "How to Hunt Ghosts." They observed and recorded the lights over a two-week period in November of 2000. L.E.M.U.R. Vice President Brian Irish wielded the special Infrared Night Vision camera as it captured over an hour's worth of activity.
"I believe footage of this quality is the most significant step forward in the history of researching the lights," says Warren. "By studying the video, we're targetting places on the ridge to research further. Ultimately, we hope to solve the mystery."
The team has released several minutes of their footage to the media. However, they plan to unveil more next year, when Warren and Irish will be giving a special presentation on the lights at the First Annual Paranormal Weekend at Asheville's Grove Park Inn, January 11-13 of 2002.
For more information, please visit www.BrownMountainLights.com
Place: Saratoga, Texas
Names:
Links:
http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/BB/lxb1.html * http://www.bicyclesports.us/id131.htm * http://www.angelfire.com/sk2/stparanormal/saratogalight.html * http://www.ghostlights.org/node/5 http://www.anomalyarchives.org/events/050611txghostlightsconf.html
'The "Light of Saratoga" is a legend located in the Big Thicket of Southeast Texas. This legend of a mysterious light is also known as the "Ghost Road" of Saratoga, the "Saratoga Light", and "Bragg Road Ghost Light" by local residents. Located on a dirt road, it is a light that may appear and disappear at random during the dark of night without explanation.'
- Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_of_Saratoga
These are definite and probable spooklights that have yet to be included into the list above.