Do Marfa Lights Come From UFOs, Cars, the Military or Ghosts?

The Marfa lights, sometimes called the "Marfa ghost lights" due to theories that they are ghosts of Spanish Conquistadors or Native Americans, are unexplained phenomena that consistently appear near a small town in West Texas.

The Marfa Lights Viewing Center is a park that has become the main attraction point in the region, where you have the best chance to see these bouncing blue and yellow orbs a few times a month.

The famous actor James Dean became obsessed with the lights while filming "Giant." He would spend hours watching the desert through his telescope, which he set up at his hotel window.

Another James — former NASA engineer James Bunnell — spent the early 2000s setting up automatic infrared cameras to capture evidence of the mysterious lights on the horizon.

Although skeptics require other evidence to confirm either of these theories, some of the following scenarios may explain the Marfa lights.

1. Car Lights

In the early 2000s, physics students from the University of Texas (Dallas) investigated the viewing platform's proximity to Highway 67, theorizing that headlights were behind the phenomenon. They conducted several experiments and found that with each car passing, something resembling Marfa lights appeared simultaneously.

Although this revelation seems to close the case quickly, it doesn't account for the first recorded sighting by a white settler in the area.

In 1883, young cowhand Robert Reed Ellison witnessed Marfa lights near Paisano Pass. This predates the first cars to arrive in Texas by 16 years, as well as the construction of Highway 67 by roughly four decades.

2. UFOs

Flying saucers or other unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) may explain the Marfa lights. However, many skeptics often point to the viewing area location being so close to a World War II airfield that supported thousands of servicemembers between 1942 and 1947.

This is not to say that the military hasn't traditionally remained tight-lipped about potential extraterrestrial activity. Although you would expect that some information would have been released by now.

3. Atmospheric Phenomena

Natural gas leaks mixing with the sun and air to cause a chemical reaction similar to St. Elmo's fire is a common scientific explanation that many skeptics hold. However, no one has ever been close enough to Marfa lights to test this theory.

Although the Marfa Lights viewing area remains a popular tourist attraction, American artist and renowned minimalist Donald Judd purchased 340 acres (138 hectares) of desert land in 1979. He worked closely with the Marfa Chamber of Commerce to breathe new economic life into the remote region, opening the Chinati Foundation in 1986.

The site is now home to several outdoor art installations by Judd and other artists, including the world-famous Prada Marfa, a lonely, fake high-end boutique store built along an abandoned road.