Marfa Lights

[frawin]

There have been "Scientific Expeditions and other attempts to find the source or explain the Marfa Lights in West Texas, here is an article about them, I thought you might find it interesting. 
Frank



The Marfa LightsTHE MARFA LIGHTS

The Marfa Lights are named for their location near the town of Marfa, Texas.
Marfa is a small ranching community on a Chihuahuan Desert plateau in the
Trans-Pecos area of west Texas. Supported mostly by ranching, and more recently
by tourism, it is surrounded by vast mountains and is Texas' highest
incorporated city. Marfa is known primarily for its famous Marfa Mystery Lights
and as the location for the shooting of the classic movie "Giant," with Rock
Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor, Dennis Hopper and James Dean.
The Ghost lights of Marfa still shine as bright as ever, and are still as
mysterious as they were when they were first seen by early settlers who drove
their herds into the Marfa area in 1883.
Who can explain their source? Where are they actually located? How long have
they been in existence? The mystery is no closer to being solved now than when
they were first seen.
Robert Ellison came to Marfa in 1883 and off-loaded his cattle in Alpine. He
then drove the herd west and on the second night out, while camped just outside
Paisano Pass, he saw strange lights in the distance. At first, it was feared
that they were Apache signal fires. Mr. Ellison searched the countryside by
horseback. He finally realized that the lights were not man-made. Other early
settlers assured him that they too had seen the lights and had never been able
to identify them.
The Marfa Lights are reported to be from 1-10 feet in diameter. They are
spherical and reddish-orange in color. They have been observed to vary their
size and fly at high speeds. Numerous photographs and video footage have
captured these lights in action. Marfa Lights are generally considered harmless.
They are even rumored to have helped a lost man during a blizzard by providing
warmth and guiding him home.
The ghost lights appear in many different ways to different people. Some swear
they have seen them divide to form separate balls of light. Others claim that
they have seen them move up and down. All agree that they glow as softly as a
star at times, then brighten to the intensity of a stoplight. Sometimes they pop
off and on. As they fade they seem to be receding. There are verifiable accounts
of people being pursued by the lights.
Scientists have made numerous attempts to put the mystery to rest. In 1947,
Fritz Kahl, a local war veteran and pilot, chased the Lights in an airplane, but
came up empty. In 1975, Kahl made another attempt, this time with a team that
included observers in Jeeps and planes. The "Marfa Ghost Light Hunt," as it was
called, featured "more than a hundred carloads of observers gathered between the
two observation points, one at Paisano Pass and the other at the entrance to the
old Presidio County Airport," according to the Sul Ross "Skyline" newspaper. The
searchers, "utilizing aircraft, survey instruments, multi-band radio equipment
and about a half-dozen search teams," were no more successful than Kahl had been
in his solo search of '47, and the legend grew.
Some believe that the lights are nothing more than high-powered lights from area
ranches or the reflected headlights from nearby cars and trucks, but that
doesn't explain why the Lights have been reported since before electricity or
vehicles ever reached the Big Bend area. Nor does it explain why there have been
reports of observers hearing a high-pitched, "tuning fork" noise in only one ear
while watching the Lights.
A Marfa lights viewing site has been provided for the public on Highway 90, by
the Texas Highway department. It is located nine miles east of Marfa. Ghost
light watchers can park in the area and scan the south-western horizon, looking
toward Chinati Peak. Using a distant red tower light as a marker, one can be
certain that any light to the right of the marker, which appears and disappears,
is a Marfa ghost light. You will know them when you see them. There is no
mistaking them.

[sixdogsmom]

I think there was a learning channel program about these lights some years back. They were able to photograph them and they were unexplained. We are learning every day if we keep open minds.