Marfa Lights

The infamous Marfa Lights have been the subject of controversy for hundreds of years. Out in the middle of Marfa, Texas three eerie lights, red, blue, and yellow, seem to dance with each other at night. There is no doubt these lights are real. People have documented their existence over centuries. The problem is no one knows what causes them.

                In the middle of a clear night, our pack stood shoulder-to-shoulder at the observer’s deck. After a couple minutes of searching, we found the yellow and red lights miles away in the depths of the forest. They sporadically lit and up and disappeared, usually in a new location. This gives the name of the “dance”. At times it looked like the yellow followed the red through the grove. And at others the two lights moved apart. As much as I wanted there to be, there was no method to this madness. Cars passing by didn’t change anything. We saw cell tower lights nearby that were clearly different. Nothing made sense about these Marfa Lights.

                All of the sudden, the blue light sparked up. He, a little less jittery than the others, jumped within a relatively small radius. But once we found him, he didn’t leave us. The three lights played for over an hour as we watched in disbelief. We shared our own conspiracy theories about what’s causing them, but the truth is this phenomenon will never be solved. The mostly likely reasoning from researchers is that cars’ lights cause them, but the Marfa Lights were documented by indigenous people before the invention of cars. I believe some atmospheric conditions such as the change in the elevation gradient or a reflection of a star creates this mirage. How else could these lights persist over such a long period of time? I’ve never seen a stranger, unexplained phenomena in nature, which makes me wonder what other unknown unknowns we have yet to see.