Before the Marfa Lights

What is: view from the edge of the parking lot for viewing the Marfa Lights.

What was: An unexplained phenomena that dates back to the 19th century. James Bunnell states, “you might just see mysterious orbs of light suddenly appear above desert foliage. These balls of light may remain stationary as they pulse on and off with intensity varying from dim to almost blinding brilliance. Then again, these ghostly lights may dart across the desert…or perform splits and mergers. Light colors are usually yellow-orange but other hues, including green, blue and red are also seen. Marfa Mystery Lights (MLs) usually fly above desert vegetation but below background mesas.”(Source: Wikipedia).

Reports of the lights have come from Cowboys, Ranchers, Native Americans, high school sweethearts and famous meteorologists. Even James Dean was apparently obsessed by them when he was in Marfa shooting the movie “Giant” The source of the mystery lights is still a point of contention. Cynics will tell you that this so-called paranormal phenomenon is just the atmospheric reflections of cars and campfires at night. The mystics will tell you that’s hooey — “What roads?” there were none in the 1800s. As for a cowboys campfire, there were not a large number to reflect and even fewer today. The truth is we just don’t know even though they have been documented and studying by scientists.