The Brown Mountain Lights are glowing orbs or lights observed near Brown Mountain in North Carolina, with a popular local legend attributing them to the spirits of Cherokee maidens searching for warriors lost in a historic battle. Descriptions vary from small, star-like dots to large balls of fire, often described as moving erratically before vanishing. While the supernatural explanation is a persistent myth, scientific theories for the lights include natural gases, ball lightning, and light refraction, while others attribute them to vehicles or fires. The most famous story claims the lights are the spirits of grieving Indian maidens searching for the bodies of their husbands and sweethearts, who died in a battle between the Cherokee and Catawba tribes near Brown Mountain around 1200 A.D. Eyewitnesses describe the lights as appearing as orbs or balls of light, but also as beams, flashes, or even a camping lantern. The colors are inconsistent, with reports of red, orange, yellow, and green glows. The lights are said to move in various ways, sometimes floating, streaking, or rising from the trees, before disappearing without a trace. Theories include gases escaping from the earth, electrical fields, or a natural phenomenon similar to ball lightning.