The Marfa Lights, mysterious and unexplained lights that have been reported in the area for over one hundred years, have been the subject of many theories. The first recorded sighting of the lights was by rancher Robert Ellison in 1883.

The lights reportedly change colors, move around, and change in intensity.

What do you think ?

they look like light bugs ..
or cars from far distance ..

Haven't heard of this before......

I have not heard of this before either.

It would seem strange seeing lights appear, doesn't look as if there is anything around to create them.

Maybe there are a few men or women, hiding, holding pieces of glass and reflecting the sun.

I might have to look this up on my friend....Google.

I've not heard of this one before, Lionel.

Where is it? Near any military bases or UFO hotspots?

Are there any legends or stories connected to it?

Could the lights be Will o' the Wisp, as we have in Britain?

We have something similar in Missouri called the spooklight. It does pretty much the same thing as the Marfa lights. I haven't got to see it yet but it's a planned trip.

Cuff,

There are several areas in the US that display this unexplainable phenomena. Another well known site that experiences this anomaly is Brown Mountain in North Carolina. I started a thread about that topic HERE

Here's a google listing of sites you can peruse about the Marfa lights if you would like to learn more;

CLICK HERE

MM

The Air Defense Center for guided missiles at Fort Bliss was established in 1944, that might explain these mysterious lights after 1944, what about the sightings since 1883 ?

Thanks MM, Lionel and Soulfire.

From the link, and some of the other info, I suspect the military connection is a coincidence.

I live not to far from the Pennine region of England, which is a huge hilly, wild region of moorlands. It's a UFO hot spot, amongst other things, but also an area of geological interest.

One theory which scientists have been investigating in that area recently is the concept of `Earthlights'. I'm not terribly well-read on the matter (because I'm not that convinced of the theory), but the idea is that these lights are created by plasma/charged particles/god knows what, around areas of unstable geology.

So could the lights be `Earthlights?'

In the case of the spooklight near me, it has been around since Missouri was settled. As far as I am aware of there is no UFO or military activity in the area plus it doesn't account for the hundreds of years of sightings. (supposedly the Osage indians who lived in the area saw it as well).

As far as the earthlight theory goes:I'd have to refrese myself on it but you have it right for the most part. Given the age of the light in my area the earthlight idea is the closest explanation for what it is.

The earthlights seem to be the most plausible theory for these mysterious lights. While searching the net for information on Marfa, I came across this eyewitness account. Here it is…

I grew up in Pecos, TX and heard about the Marfa Lights my whole life. In 1966 and 67 while attending Sul Ross University in Alpine, I spent lots of nights watching these lights. I was studying geology at the time and had a theory that it was quartz deposit that while under extreme pressures emitted electrical discharges, which give off the glowing lights.

At that time there was an old runway with a dilapidated aircraft hanger just off the highway. One night I attempted to hike out to the lights but once I was a little ways off the end of the runway, the lights started disappearing one by one. There were about five or six lights dancing around in the distance when I started my attempt to walk out to them. As I hiked, the lights would go off one by one until they were all out. I was then hit from behind with a blinding light that came from the runway around the hanger. It was bright enough that I shielded my eyes with my hand. Since the lights were off in the distance, I started back towards the hanger and the highway. As soon as I step back up on the runway, the blinding light by the hanger went out and the lights in the distance started coming on until five or six lights were once again dancing around in the distance. This was in the winter of 67, and even though there was no one else out there that night, and I had not seen any traffic on the highway, I tried to rationalize what happened by telling myself the blinding light must have been the light from a passing train on the opposite side of the highway (even though I had not heard or seen the train).

About fifteen years later I was visiting my brother who had attended Sul Ross about five years before me. He began talking about the Marfa Lights and was explaining his attempt to hike out to the lights. It was almost identical to mine except he said the light was closer to the end of the runway and he could feel warmth coming from it. Once he stepped back on the runway, it went out and the lights in the distance returned. I was somewhat surprised, as I never told anyone about my experience. After that, my theory on quartz energy didn’t seem as plausible.

I've been to see the Hornet Spooklight, which is right on the border of Oklahoma and Missouri. Didn't see squat, except for a lot of other people not seeing squat. I dunno if maybe there's optimum viewing times and we just missed it or what, but there was nothing there when I went. Could be the same thing.

I was luck enough to have seen them once. The ones I saw had a slight reddish glow and just drifted slowly. It was also hard to judge their distance. I've no idea what they were.

Edit: A very informative article, siphis, but seeing as how the text is copyrighted and lengthy, it is probably a good idea to furnish a link instead. CLICK HERE to read the article.

Magikman

siphis, a link would've been good enough..

Never heard of it...

They look like ordinary bonfires?

siphis,

You're probably thinking of the 'Brown Mountain' lights in North Carolina. I've a link to the website on the first page.

MM

We have a similar phenomena here in Australia known as the Min Min Lights.
Click this link for more information ==>Min Min Lights

Here is a site with a lot of links to other such cases... Click Here

For those interested, here's a recent photo of the 'Marfa lights' from Rense.com;

CLICK HERE

MM

Heard of them don't know that much about them
They look creppy