Science Forums 2

[CraigD]

Good account, stereologist. I’ve never been to Marfa, but if I ever do visit, I’ll make a point of visiting after dark to have a look at the lights.

Your conclusion is the same as that of a 2005 report of a 5 day series of observations/experiments made by a team of 12 members of the UTD chapter of the SPS, which went the additional step of flashing (turning off and on) the headlights of a car parked on the side of highway 67 and noting that a pair of “mystery lights” observed from the viewing area flashed at the same moment. IMHO, the SPS study, and accounts like your, prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the mystery lights are from vehicles on the highway.

It’s telling that, despite anecdotal claims of 19th century “mystery lights” near Marfa (eg: this TSHA article), no published account prior to 1957, postdating modern vehicles driving on HW 67. Also telling is that an Army air base was at this site from 1942 to 1947, but its personnel reported no mystery lights.

Your account of refusal by other visitors to view the lights through binoculars, or acknowledge the presence of a road clearly marked on maps, appears not atypical, though it does tend to lower ones opinion of ones fellow humans. I console myself by reasoning that visitors to the Marfa Mystery Lights viewing area aren’t a representative sample of humanity, but mostly overly credulous and enthusiastic repeat visitors, whereas more reasonable people visit infrequently or not at all. That the lights are a minor tourist attraction and boon for local business also figure into the popularity of the myth that they are unexplained.