Monday, January 6, 2014

Flat Laurel Creek Bigfoot Encounter

     I pulled this first report from a website that specializes in cryptids in western North Carolina. It's a fairly typical Bigfoot encounter, but it represents another facet of the unusual here in Appalachia. I've linked to the original website below if you want to look at the original write-up or read through some of the other mystery animal sightings from the area. There's some fascinating reports to examine. The second report came to my by word-of-mouth. I'm still trying to track down some of the participants, but I've told the story as I heard it.

     In June of 2005, an unnamed hiker claims to have had an encounter with a large, bipedal creature on the Flat Laurel Creek trail. The creature stood and moved away, quickly vanishing in the thick underbrush. The hiker found physical evidence in the form of a 16" long, 8" wide footprint. It is unknown if he took a photo of the footprint. 

     The second case is almost identical: Four hikers were moving down the Flat Laurel Creek trail when one of them spotted what they thought was a bear resting in the shade. They made a little noise to scare of the creature, but were shocked when it stood up on two legs. It appeared to be human in shape, but much larger and more muscular. It was described as having black and silver fur, and moving quickly away, with large strides.

     More than one person has ventured into the dense thickets that surround the trail, only to find branches that have been broken off with a twisting motion. Others have reported thuds and thumps and crashing noises.

     It's hard to make any sort of judgement based on these two meager reports. The area is known to have a healthy bear population, so simple misidentification may be the explanation. I will say that the area would make a good habitat for a large mammal; the rugged topography keep most hikers out, and water and food sources abound. Is there some connection between these more modern encounters with a cryptid ape and the historical accounts of the Boojum of the Balsams? 


     If you want to go explore, the Flat Laurel Creek trail is a great hike. Take the Blue Ridge Parkway to the Black Balsam Parking Area. Drive all the way to the end of the road until you hit the parking area with a restroom. Park there; the trail starts at the far end of the lot opposite the restrooms.

Resources

Mystery Animals in WNC
    

Friday, January 3, 2014

Lights in the Mountains

Brown Mountain Lights
   
     Though it's not technically in the Balsam Mountain region, the Brown Mountain Lights are an important part of the paranormal history of North Carolina, so I'll touch on them briefly. There are lots of great resources available if you want to explore this topic in more depth. In particular, I would direct you to this excellent resource provide by L.E.M.U.R.

     The lights at Brown Mountain have been seen for generations; one of the first published accounts is from 1913, but native beliefs incorporated the lights long before European settlers entered the area. The US Geological Survey undertook a study in 1922 to attempt to solve the riddle of the Brown Mountain lights; the report indicated that people were simply seeing common terrestrial lights including trains and automobiles. A flood shortly after forced the temporary closure of the railroads and washed out several bridges, greatly reducing automobile traffic. But the Brown Mountain lights did not cease, and the explanation provided by the USGS was proven to be incomplete at best.

A still from the LEMUR video linked below


     The lights have been described in numerous ways; white or yellow, sometimes rising slowly in the night sky, other times spinning and darting away. Likewise, there are numerous explanations for the supposed cause of the lights, ranging from geophysical anomalies to lost a Indian maiden in search of her true love. L.E.M.U.R. investigator Brian Irish captured some pretty remarkable footage of the lights in late 2000. That video is available on YouTube here. There are several vantage points if you wish to experience the lights for yourself. The Brown Mountain Lights site that I mentioned earlier can fill in the details; even Wikipedia lists good spots to see the ghost lights.



Thomas Divide Lights
   
     This is a lesser known story concerning inexplicable lights in the mountains. The Thomas Divide Overlook is on the Blue Ridge Parkway and provides an incredible view of Cherokee, NC. It's named for William Thomas, the white chief of the Cherokee who, in the 1830s and '40s, helped create the Qualla Boundary that allowed some Cherokee to stay here in the mountains.

     The story goes that if one parks at the overlook so that you are looking over the Thomas Divide Ridge and either blink your lights or honk your horn, inexplicable lights will appear in the darkness. One report states that the lights "appeared as balls of lights that shot up vertically in the air like a bottle rocket, but then circled around to drop back to earth only to shoot up again to follow the same route."

This video on Vimeo shows a different phenomenon: Two lights seem to appear and the disappear on the ridge facing the overlook. This YouTube video depicts lights, but there is no visible ridge line or anything else to give scale or context to them.

It's difficult to determine the source of these lights, especially considering the various ways that the atmosphere can bend and distort lights. Its certainly feasible that there is a totally normal explanation for the lights seen both at Thomas Divide and at Brown Mountain. It could be something slightly more exotic, like ball lightning. Or the lights could emanate from some paranormal realm, where we have yet to delve. Whatever the case, ghost lights in the mountains have a long history and hopefully will continue to befuddle and amaze us for years to come.

Resources

 http://www.brownmountainlights.com/

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98ss17HFKKU

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_Mountain_Lights

http://southernspiritguide.blogspot.com/2010/09/thomas-divide-lights.html

http://vimeo.com/27979481

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqRXmMaGRGw


Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Happy New Year!

I hope that everyone has a safe and happy New Year! Tune in on Friday to get a little glimpse into the local ghost light scene!
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