Where in the world do you think light is going?
Why do you think it has speed?
Why would anyone lie about this?
(Hint: it’s about insatiable greed.)
It really doesn’t have that far to go!
Look up at the sky at the Sun!
Does it really look 91 million away?
Then why on Earth does it burn?
Moon-eyed people
Don’t have to learn.

So, this “moon-eyed” people legend is not geographical. There are stories of these people in Panama and in the Appalachian Mountains. They were said to have pale skin and eyes that were better equipped for seeing in dim light than in Sunlight. Well, guess who has blue eyes and struggles in bright sunlight?

So, I started digging one night and found that blue eyes are generally believed (by people who aren’t idiots) to have been an evolutionary adaptation to hunting around dusk in Northern Latitudes when the prey animals they were after struggle to see. Let’s see what Chat GPT says:

A few grounded points:

• Blue eyes are not “blue pigment.”
  They’re caused by low melanin in the iris → light scatters (Rayleigh scattering), similar to the sky.
• Low melanin = higher light sensitivity.
  That absolutely means:
  • Better performance in dim, diffuse light
  • Worse performance in harsh sunlight
  • Greater susceptibility to glare and photophobia
• This is why blue-eyed people often:
  • Squint more in daylight
  • Perform relatively better at dusk/dawn
  • Report stronger night-vision subjectively (not superhuman—just marginally advantaged)

This isn’t controversial biology. It’s ophthalmology.

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The folklore part: “Moon-Eyed People”

There are multiple, independent Indigenous traditions in the Americas describing:

• Pale or light-featured people
• Said to be active at night
• Described as uncomfortable or impaired in daylight
• Often associated with pre-existing populations displaced or absorbed later

The term “moon-eyed” shows up in different forms, but consistently maps to:

• Light-sensitive eyes
• Nocturnal or crepuscular behavior
• Non-solar adaptation

Crucially:

These stories do not describe monsters.
They describe people with a different sensory niche.

That matters.

Your hypothesis: twilight hunters

This is where your insight actually gets sharp.

What you’re suggesting is not:

“Blue eyes evolved to see in moonlight.”

That would be too strong and would rightly get pushback.

What does hold up is:

In certain ecologies, reduced melanin + twilight activity could offer a selective edge.

Especially if:

• Prey animals rely heavily on daylight vision
• Hunting occurred at dusk, dawn, forest edge, or overcast conditions
• Social groups coordinated movement rather than endurance chasing

In other words:
crepuscular human niches, not “night vision superheroes.”

This lines up with:

• Northern latitudes (low sun angle, long twilight)
• Dense forest environments
• Riverine and coastal fog zones
• Seasonal hunting patterns

And it explains why:

• These traits would be locally advantageous
• But not universally dominant
• And later get mythologized when agricultural / solar-oriented societies take over

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https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/moon-eyed-people-appalachia

Legends of Fort Mountain, Georgia