Observations à Loven's

At station A (elev. 3,550 ft), near Loven's Hotel, which is the place from which the light was first seen, the outlook is restricted on the south by a projecting ridge (see inset sketch, fig. 1), which cuts off the view of the region west of the eastern part of Morganton, approximately the region southwest of line 3 on the map. Northward from Lenoir the country becomes rougher, and few lights from areas north of that place may be seen from Loven's, so that practically all the lights that originate beyond Brown Mountain and are seen from station A lie in an arc between Lenoir and line 3 and are therefore seen over Brown Mountain. This fact accounts lor the original association of the observed lights with Brown Mountain and hence for the name "Brown Mountain light." It also probably accounts for the "prescribed circle" of appearance of the light noted in Colonel Harris' letter to Senator Simmons.

On the evening of March 29, the writer was accompanied to station A by Joseph Robert and Earl Loven, of Cold Spring, and Robert Ward, of Morganton. The light on line I, when viewed in the telescope of the alidade, was accompanied by one or two subordinate lights. Its position was unchanged throughout the evening, but it varied in brightness. At some times, for long periods, it was so dim that it was practically invisible to the naked eye, though it was faintly shown in the telescope. At other times it flared brightly, so that Joseph Loven pronounced it a true manifestation of the Brown Mountain light. Its position and its relation to the accompanying lights were not affected by the flaring. Two of the observers said that they could see it waver or move, but as seen through the telescope each time this statement was made its position was found to be unchanged.

At about 8:40 lights appeared successively and nearly in the same line over the middle of the mountain. The directions of those lights are shown in lines 2a and 2b. Line 2a is tangent to a curve in the track of the Southern Railway about a mile and a half northwest of Conover. From train schedules it was determined that a -westbound freight train passed this
curve at the time noted. Line 2b is probably a poorer sight at the same light and may represent an error of observation due to the writer's inability in the darkness to use the crosshairs of the instrument. It may, however, point to an automobile headlight.

The light at 10:45 on line 2a appears from its vertical angle to have originated about a mile and a half east of Conover. It is not accounted for by the train schedule for that evening and was probably an automobile headlight.

Lines 3 and 4 are credited to automobiles. Line 5 represents a locomotive headlight near Connelly Springs.

The flares seen from station A all looked much alike and corresponded closely with the description quoted from Professor Perry's letter. Robert Loven said that the lights as he had usually seen them were so much brighter than these that he did not think the party had actually seen the Brown Mountain light. Joseph Loven, however, said that he had seen the lights both when they were brighter and when they were not so bright, and he was satisfied that the lights observed were a fair average exhibition of the Brown Mountain light.