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TheMarfa lights, also known as theMarfa ghost lights, are regularly observed nearMarfa, Texas, in the United States.[1] They are most often seen from a viewing area nearby, which the community has publicized to encourage tourism.[2] Scientists observing the lights over the period 2000 to 2008[3][2] concluded that the lights were the results of automobile headlights being distorted by warm desert air.
According to Judith Brueske, the best place from which to view the lights is a widened shoulder on Highway 90 about nine miles east ofMarfa. The lights are most often reported as distant spots of brightness, distinguishable from ranch lights and automobile headlights onHighway 67 (between Marfa andPresidio, to the south) primarily by their aberrant movements."[5]
Robert and Judy Wagers define "Classic Marfa Lights" as being seen south-southwest of the Marfa Lights Viewing Center (MLVC). They define the left margin of the viewing area as being aligned along the Big Bend Telephone Company tower as viewed from the MLVC, and the right margin asChinati Peak as viewed from the MLVC.[6]
Referring to the Marfa Lights View Park east of Marfa, James Bunnell describes Marfa lights as "orbs of light", which change in intensity and color, which can move or remain stationary, splitting or merging.[7] He describes the lights as being usually yellow-orange, but also occasionally other hues including green, blue, and red.[7] He states that they usually fly above desert vegetation but below mesas in the background.[7]
The first historical record of the Marfa lights was in 1883 when a young cowhand, Robert Reed Ellison, saw a flickering light while he was driving cattle through Paisano Pass and wondered if it was the campfire of theApache. Other settlers told him they often saw the lights, but that when they investigated they found no ashes or other evidence of a campsite.[8][1] Joe and Anne Humphreys next reported seeing the lights in 1885.[6]: 21–22
The first published account of the lights appeared in the July 1957 issue ofCoronet magazine.[9][10] In 1976 Elton Miles'sTales of the Big Bend included stories dating to the 19th century and a photograph of the Marfa lights by a local rancher.[6]: 25
Bunnell lists 34 Marfa lights sightings from 1945 through 2008. Monitoring stations were put in place starting in 2003. He has identified "an average of 9.5 MLs on 5.25 nights per year", but believes that the monitoring stations may only be finding half of the Marfa lights in Mitchell Flat.[7]: 261
SkepticBrian Dunning notes that the designated "View Park" for the lights, a roadside park on the south side of U.S. Route 90 about 9 miles (14 km) east of Marfa, is at the site ofMarfa Army Airfield, where tens of thousands of personnel were stationed between 1942 and 1947, training American and Allied pilots. This massive field was then used for years as a regional airport, with daily airline service. Since Marfa AAF and its satellite fields are each constantly patrolled by sentries, they consider it unlikely that any unusual phenomena would remain unobserved and unmentioned. According to Dunning, the likeliest explanation is that the lights are a sort ofmirage caused by sharp temperature gradients between cold and warm layers of air.[11] Marfa is at an elevation of 4,688 ft (1,429 m) above sea level, and differences of 40–50 °F (22–28 °C) between daily high and low temperatures are quite common.
In May 2004 a group from theSociety of Physics Students at theUniversity of Texas at Dallas spent four days investigating and recording lights observed southwest of the view park using traffic volume-monitoring equipment, video cameras, binoculars, and chase cars. Their report made the following conclusions:[12]
They came to the conclusion that all the lights observed over a four-night period southwest of the view park could be reliably attributed to automobile headlights traveling along U.S. 67 between Marfa and Presidio, Texas.
For 20 nights in May 2008, scientists fromTexas State University usedspectroscopy equipment to observe lights from the Marfa lights viewing station. They recorded a number of lights that "could have been mistaken for lights of unknown origin", but in each case the movements of the lights and the data from their equipment could be easily explained as automobile headlights or small fires. They concluded that due to the rarity of observation of "genuine" Marfa lights, those with odd behaviour not explainable as car lights, more research was necessary to determine their nature.[13]
The lights have been featured and mentioned in various media, including the television showUnsolved Mysteries and an episode ofKing of the Hill ("Of Mice and Little Green Men") and in an episode of theDisney Channel Original SeriesSo Weird. A book byDavid Morrell, 2009'sThe Shimmer, was inspired by the lights.The Rolling Stones mention the "lights of Marfa" in the song "No Spare Parts" from the 2011 re-release of their 1978 albumSome Girls. Country music artistPaul Cauthen wrote "Marfa Lights," a love song inspired by the lights, for his 2016 album "My Gospel."In the 2019Simpsons episode "Mad About the Toy", the family visits Marfa.Lisa tries to explain the lights but is prevented byMarge.[14] The Union Trade had a song called "Marfa Lights" on their 2015 album "A Place Of Long Years".
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