Today I’m writing about an interesting phenomenon commonly known as the “Marfa Lights.” While Marfa is in Texas, not New Mexico, it is about 166 miles from the New Mexico state line and the climate and geography is the same as Eastern New Mexico (in other words, flat, arid desert with rocky outcroppings). Therefore, I think I can stretch the topic of this blog to include this interesting phenomenon. Maybe you’ll want to take a trip to see the lights for yourself after reading this.
Marfa, Texas is a strange little town. Though it has 2000 inhabitants, it is very desolate and looks more like a ghost town, with many abandoned buildings slowly decaying back into the desert. Most of the people who live here are artists and UFO conspiracy buffs. The town is famous for the weird art installation known as the “Prada store.” It is amusingly jarring to see this standalone fake Prada store surrounded by dirt and tumbleweeds, so out of place in a town where nobody would stop if not for a famous will-o-the-wisp. Not much goes on in Marfa beyond tourism for the Lights.
Many people call the Marfa Lights “ghost lights”, “mystery lights,” or “Chinati lights.” They are commonly attributed to something extraterrestrial or ghostly. While there have been many convincing attempts to debunk these lights, they are truly baffling. The Marfa Lights are balls of yellow, white, green, red, and blue light that appear over Mitchell Flat between the Big Bend Telephone Company tower and Chinati Peak. They are visible at night, hovering and moving strangely over the scrubby desert. They weave, bob, blink, join together, split apart, disappear, and sometimes zoom right at you before disappearing. They are entirely ephemeral – trying to approach them or find their source will cause them to vanish. Due to the lack of light pollution in this area, the skies are very dark and the lights (and stunning stars) are easy to see at night. Cloudy nights seem to stop the Mystery Lights for the most part, but some people have seen them with cloud cover.
The Marfa Lights can be observed on a field called Mitchell Flat, nine miles east of Marfa. People can view them from the wide shoulder of Highway 90. Now, there is also a Marfa Lights Viewing area constructed off Hwy 67, complete with lighting and restrooms for visitors’ comfort. Two red lights have been erected in the field to define the area where you should focus if you want to see the strange dancing lights. However, you don’t have to go to this spot. Lights have been seen from various places around Mitchell Flat.
Just try to time your visit with clear weather and go after sunset. The lights have been seen throughout the year, so there isn’t an ideal time to go see them. If you miss the lights, at least you get to experience an incredible night sky. There is also something eerie about this area, a dead quiet and a disconcerting sensation of being watched, which many tourists and locals alike have reported as well.
History of the Marfa Lights
Apaches who lived in the Marfa area apparently saw the lights before white settlers entered the area. They believed these lights were spirits of deceased chiefs. Many of these will-o-the-wisps can be explained by car lights and later legends were made up of Native Americans spotting these lights before cars even existed as an attempt to give the ghostliness of the lights credence. In the case of the Marfa lights, I’m not sure if that has happened, but there really are historical accounts of these lights that took pace before cars.
The first written report of the Marfa Lights come from a cowboy named Robert Reed Ellison who was driving cattle through the nearby Presidio Pass. Baffled by the lights, he thought they might be Apache campfires. Since Apaches were known for violence in their efforts to keep their land from being stolen at that time, white settlers naturally felt threatened by them. Ellison went out into the field to find the Apaches and determine the amount of danger he might be in. But he found nothing. There were no ashes or pits from fires and no evidence of indigenous activity in the area.
Next, in 1885, local settlers named Joe and Anne Humphreys spotted these lights. This led to some publicity on the matter. Another group of cowboys also spotted them in 1919 and rode over the Presidio Pass in an effort to find the source without any luck.
In the 1940s, army pilots training at the Midland Army Air Field apparently saw the lights. They worried they might be enemy aircraft, trying to head an attack on the base. But when they searched the area for aircraft or other sources, they found nothing. The lights appear to be just that – lights in the air with no physically discernible source.
It wasn’t until 1957 when a journalist finally picked up the phenomenon and wrote about the strange lights in the Coronet Magazine, describing them as the “Texas ghost lights.” That’s when tourists began to flock to this area. Rumors and myths began to swirl about the lights, which really appealed to people in the midst of the Cold War and UFO paranoia. People started recording when they saw the lights and a total of 34 incidences were recorded between 2002 and 2009.
In 2003, Robert Bunnell set up recording stations for the lights and has released videos of the phenomenon. He wrote a book called Hunting Marfa Lights. While he doesn’t solve the mystery of the lights, he posits many theories. He may be the most experienced source about the lights, as he has spent over eight years investigating them. He says that he has recorded only about 9.5 Marfa Lights per year, but he also thinks that his recording equipment is not able to capture the entire Mitchell Flat. This would explain why so many visitors see the lights – way more than a mere nine a year.
Over the years, many people have traveled to Marfa just to see these lights. If you go to the page for the Marfa Lights Viewing Area on Trip Advisor, you will see the testimonies of many tourists who saw them. Visitors are always entranced and mystified by them. Theories abound about their origin and everyone seems to have a favorite explanation for what the lights really are.
Marfa Lights Debunked?
Some University of Texas physics students decided to debunk the Marfa Lights in 2004. One group of students stood in front of the field where the lights are commonly observed. Another group drove a car on Highway 67 through the Presidio Pass and past Mitchell Flat. The observing group noted that they did see lights moving across the field that corresponded with the car driven by the second group. When the drivers parked a car on the side of Hwy 67 and flashed the lights, those lights could be viewed across Mitchell Flat. Another random car passed their test car during the experiment and appeared like a Marfa light to the observing group.
Texas State University scientists also tested out the lights. Using spectroscopic technology, they recorded the lights over twenty nights in 2008. They found that the lights were likely caused by passing cars on the distant highway or campfires in the distance or even airplanes from the Midland Army Air Field. The spectroscopic technology works by measuring how wavelengths act as they move through different gasses. This allows the equipment to accurately detect how far away the light is, thus making it easier to pinpoint the source.
However, many people dismiss this explanation. Casual observers claim that you can easily distinguish between the traffic lights on the highway and the actual Marfa Lights. Furthermore, there were no cars, no highway, and no army airplanes in 1883, 1885, or 1919, the earliest recorded sightings of these lights. While these lights could have been caused by campfires back then, are there really that many people blazing campfires on this desolate plain in the middle of nowhere every night that these lights are seen? Why haven’t people been able to find evidence of campfires when they investigate the source of the lights? On such a desolate plain, it should be possible to notice a firepit and ashes, and also plumes of smoke on clear nights.
The lights certainly don’t behave like car lights or campfire light in the distance. Just watching a recording of them can tell you that much. Scientists attempt to explain that by saying that the temperature fluctuations and atmospheric gasses over the plane distort light in an unnatural way. While this makes sense, I wonder why this only happens over this particular area and not other similar areas near Marfa. Mystery lights have been reported in other places – over the moors in England, for instance – but they really aren’t that common in our world. Maybe a perfect combination of atmosphere and geography must exist for this to occur, in which case it’s still cool because it is an unusual natural occurrence.
There is a theory that these lights are actually a desert mirage. As a desert rat, I have seen the mirage of nonexistent water in the simmering heat many times. I could buy that it’s a mirage. But it is the strangest mirage I have ever seen! If this is the true origin of the lights, I would love to know what causes the optical illusion.
Bunnell hints in his book Hunting Marfa Lights that they may be caused by some type of bioluminescent predator, much like a firefly. The lights do sometimes look like fireflies – if you have ever watched fireflies, you would probably agree. But fireflies don’t join together and split apart, as the Lights have been observed and recorded doing. Also, they are much larger than any firefly! No evidence has been found of a flying bioluminescent creature in this area.
Less scientific explanations include aliens, or UFOs. The sensation of being watched that many people feel in this area lends support to this theory. Others think that these lights are mysterious spirits that dwell on this plain. They are aloof and live completely independently from humans, perhaps unaware or even amused by all the human attention and speculation they attract. Native Americans believe they are ghosts of past Apache chiefs who died in the area. Some think they may be fairies or ghosts, just like with other will-o-the-wisps seen throughout history around the world.
Whatever the explanation, part of the fun of the Marfa Lights is the mystery. I think the idea of ghosts dancing in the night sky, aliens zooming through the air, or Apache chief spirits looking for their long-lost tribe members is far more entertaining, anyway. For now, the Marfa Lights will remain one of the many enchanting mysteries in our world.
Other Lights like the Marfa Lights
The Marfa Lights are certainly not the only instance of will-o-the-wisps in the world. Many other ghostly lights exist and scientists give dubious explanations for them – swamp gas distorting lights, bioluminescence, chemiluminescence, refracted car or train headlights. But many people don’t believe these explanations and attribute the lights to something supernatural instead.
Here are a few interesting tales of ghost lights like the Marfa Lights from around the world:
Naga Fireballs on the Mekong – These fireballs have been observed for centuries in Thailand, over the Mekong River. They are reddish glowing bubbles, ranging up to the size of basketballs, that rise from the river on the October full moon, lasting between 6:00 pm and 9:00 pm. One can view them from a ship on the river or the Wat Pa Huak Temple. Legend has it that these are breathed out by a giant dragon that lives beneath the Mekong River. They are called —- by the Thai government. Some people think they are from tracer guns or flare guns on the other side of the river, but during Covid lockdown, police ensured there was no one out firing such guns and the phenomenon was still observed at the usual time. Others claim they are phosphine gas bubbles rising from the river and igniting, but such bubbles don’t spontaneously ignite or stay on fire for the rate that these fireballs do. They do look like plasma orbs, but plasma orbs have never been observed naturally and only seem to occur under carefully controlled lab conditions.
Chir Batti – These are ghost lights observed in the Banni Grasslands, which are in the Kutch district of Gujurat, India, located along the India-Pakistan border. They appear above an area of flat grassland near some salt flats. They are just like the Marfa Lights, bobbing, weaving, and even following observers. They are a feature of the local Banni culture and Banni have many legends and stories about them. Soldiers and a team of US ornithologists in the area have reported seeing them. Scientists try to say they are swamp gas.
Hessdalen Lights – Observed over 12-km stretch of a rural valley in Norway, these lights sound a lot like the Marfa Lights. They are mysterious light balls that appear over the valley, in bright white, yellow, and red, with geometric shapes present in the centers. They appear to float and bob over the valley, arrange themselves in pyramids, and zip around at incredible speed. People have observed them no matter the time of day or night and no matter the weather conditions. People have reported seeing these lights since the 1930s and they peaked in activity in December 1981, before winding down after summer of 1984. Now they are observed only about fifteen times a week. Various scientific teams have recorded and investigated the lights without being able to identify the source. Some scientists think that they are caused by a poorly-understood combustion of sodium, hydrogen, and oxygen, fueled by scandium deposits underneath the valley. Others think they’re caused by plasma created in the dust clouds by radon decay. Piezoelectricity due to the high concentration of quartz in the area is another scientific theory. All of these theories have flaws that keep them from being absolute explanations. For instance, piezoelectricity cannot account for the strange geometric structure of the orbs.
Aleya – The Aleya Light is observed over a swampy area in Bangladesh. Local Bengalis claim that this light is caused by the souls of fishermen who died at their trade in the swamps. The light can guide fishermen to safety on dark, stormy nights – or it can lead them to their deaths.
European swamp lights – These lights have been observed over marshes in Ballybar, Ireland; Romney Marsh, UK; and various marshes and fens in Finland, Sweden, and Norway. Legends contend that they are fairy lights, illuminating the location of fairy gold, or the souls of stillborn babies and unbaptized people who are stuck between Heaven and Hell. Scientists usually say they are bubbles of swamp gas that glow due to chemiluminescence or that combust somehow. People who follow these lights will soon find that they disappear, making it easy to get lost and drown in the marshes. That is why a great deal of fear and superstition surrounds them, even today.
The Maco Light – the Maco Light was observed on a railroad trestle in North Carolina. Sightings of it stopped over the track and trestle were demolished in 1977. People could not explain this light but it looked like a kerosene lantern, white with a reddish tint and swinging in the rhythm of a person walking. This spawned a legend that a railway worker was decapitated on the track in a tragic accident, and so he walked along the railroad with a ghostly lantern, seeking his lost head. It is interesting that with the removal of the railroad, the sightings stopped, almost like this ghost lost his bearings without the familiar track to guide him and subsequently gave up on ever finding his head. Or, perhaps more logically, you could say that this proves the Maco Light was just a train light, reflected off signage and refracted by geography in the area. But what’s the fun in that?
The Gurdon Light – This light appears in Gurdon, Arkansas. It sounds exactly like the tale of the Maco Light and occurs in the vicinity of a railroad. Unlike the Maco Light, this track is still there, and the light continues to be seen.
The Paulding Light – This light can be seen in Upper Peninsula, Michigan. It was first reported in 1960 by a group of teenagers. Since then, it appears every night. You can see it near Paulding, Michigan, close to Watersmeet on Old Highway 45. As with the other lights, this light has been attributed to car headlights. And local legend attributes it to a headless railroad brakeman’s ghost, roaming about with a lantern.
Light of Saratoga or Bragg Light – This light is near Big Thicket in southeastern Texas. It appears on and off throughout the night in the same spot of forested land. While nobody has exactly pinpointed what causes it, scientists claim that it is swamp gas. Meanwhile, locals think it is our old friend, the headless railroad worker with a lantern. See how that legend keeps appearing throughout the US to explain will-o-the-wisps? The area did used to be a railway before being turned into a county road.
The Brown Mountain Lights – These are random lights that appear over the Brown Mountains in North Carolina. They have also been attributed to brush fires, car headlights, and train lights. But they have been sighted since 1912, before automobiles were commonplace all over the country. In 1854, a man reported seeing a strange light over Brown Mountain every night at the same time, which has been attributed to a train that started running in the area between Morganton and Salisbury in that time frame.
Bridgewater Triangle – All sorts of weird things have been reported in this 200-mile triangular swath of rural Massachusetts. Alongquins said that there were mischievous spirits called the Pukwugie that live in the Freetown State Forest in this area. Since then, many people have reported tales of UFOs, cryptids, thunderbirds, cults that sacrifice animals and humans, and unexplained animal mutilations. Sightings of strange activity in the area often feature seeing bright, unexplained lights in the sky in the region. It is also said that the Bridgewater State University is very haunted. Seems like a weird place that I would love to visit someday.
Luz Mala – Literally “bad light,” the Luz Mala are sources of great fear and superstition in Argentina and Uruguay. People say that they are balls of light that float a few inches above the ground. Seeing one is a bad sign – it means that you should change your ways. The lights are said to be the souls of sinners who were denied entry to Heaven, so now they appear to people as warnings not to sin. When you see one of these evil lights, you are supposed to get your village to pray for you and then bite a knife to protect yourself from the evil. This legend exists in rural areas and can be seen anywhere, not just one particular place.