Skepti-Prof Thinks Stars Cause Brown Mountain Lights
[Original headline: Skeptical professor tries to see the light]
Brown Mountain is slow to offer sample for scientific review
Dan Caton is ready to figure out what causes the Brown Mountain Lights.
The problem, though, is that he can't study something he can't see.
Caton, a physics and astronomy professor at Appalachian State University, directs the school's observatories. He has taken many trips to area overlooks such as Wiseman's View trying to get a glimpse of the lights, which according to legend are the spirits of Cherokee and Catawba warriors who died in battle.
"It's sort of embarrassing," Caton said. The lights have been attributed to everything from phosphorescent plants and burning marsh grass to light being bent by the atmosphere.
"I've been trying my best to explore them but I keep coming up with lots of misses," he said. "Until I actually see them I can't begin to evaluate them scientifically."
Caton uses his spare time to research peculiarities such as the strange lights, which are named for the mountain that sits just west of Wilson Creek on the Burke and Caldwell County lines.
Caton said that though the fringe research provides him examples that he can use in the classroom, he primarily uses it as a way to educate the public.
He says he thinks that the lights and other phenomena surrounded by myth can usually be explained scientifically even though he knows people would rather believe the folklore because it's more fun.
"The myths will swamp out the truth unless you keep bringing it up in the popular press," Caton said. "You can't change that."
The media has given Caton a lot of opportunities recently to talk about what he thinks people have seen above Brown Mountain and other mysterious sources of light.
He has given three interviews in the past few months to various television production companies for use in programs focusing on unexplained mysteries.
Caton says he thinks that about 90 percent of the strange light sightings can be attributed to man-made sources. "Maybe 10 percent of it is interesting science such as atmospheric optics playing tricks," Caton said.
Because reports of the Brown Mountain lights date back more than 200 years, Caton thinks the source is probably stellar, not man-made.
Of the brightest stars in the sky, a third rise clustered above Brown Mountain in the autumn, which is traditionally known as one of the best times to see them, Caton said.
He also said that reports of lights rising and splitting into colors have a scientific explanation.
"Bright stars do that when they are low on the horizon," Caton said. "They don't rise dramatically, but the atmosphere does disperse the light into a rainbow."
Caton has also done research debunking another popular myth about babies being more likely to be born during a full moon. After looking at about 70 million births that occurred over a 20-year period, Caton found no correlation between birth rates and phases of the moon. The research was mentioned in a recent issue of Discover magazine.
Caton also uses examples gleaned from the obscure topics as a way to teach his students how to think critically.
Because he has found that college students are as easily swayed as the general public when it comes to mysterious subjects, Caton feels that it's important to teach students how to distinguish between science and "pseudo-science."
"I think sometime as teachers we spend too much time concentrating on content and not enough time teaching the thinking skills needed to sort out the details of something that doesn't seem to make sense," Caton said.
Despite his efforts, he still sees his students reading their astrological forecast even after he has had them in class.
But instead of being frustrated about the practice, Caton tries to have fun with it.
That's why he keeps information on his obscure research projects in a file drawer labeled "X-Files" in reference to the popular science-fiction television show.
"I still spook a few students with that," Caton said.
• Story originally published by:
Winston-Salem Journal / NC | Jim Sparks - May 13.02
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