Legends and Myths

There are a number of folklore legends and myths regarding the lights. These are just briefly mentioned here since there are few references on this sort of thing.

Indian Myths

A number of web sites mention the notion that the lights were seen by Native Americans several hundred years ago. None of the sites give references on this claim, so we treat it with some suspicion. We have found only one Cherokee myth in the literature which could be the source of these stories, but we have no way to tell.

That story is told in Cherokee Myths,a book of 500 myths recorded after the turn of the 20th century. The Cherokee have an oral tradition so this one volume may well be the only, or at least best since it was done so early, recording of those myths. This is a very dubious myth that is difficult to be sure is even in the correct geographical area (Brown Mountain).