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[td]The '''Marfa lights,''' also known as the '''Marfa ghost lights,''' are [[atmospheric ghost lights]] regularly observed near [[Marfa, Texas]]. They are visible on clear nights between Marfa and the Paisano Pass when one is facing southwest toward the [[Chinati Mountains]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Fiumi |first=Elettra |last2=Stein |first2=Eliot |date=17 January 2018 |title=The mysterious βGhost Lightsβ of Marfa, Texas |url=https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20180116-the-mysterious-ghost-lights-of-marfa-texas |access-date=6 July 2024 |work=[[BBC]]}}</ref> They are most often seen from a viewing area nearby, about 9 miles east of town on [[U.S. Route 67|US67]], which the community has publicised to encourage tourism.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Rogers |first=Kaleigh |date=2017-05-09 |title=Scientists Canβt Fully Explain These Strange Floating Lights in Texas |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/sci...plain-these-strange-floating-lights-in-texas/ |access-date=2024-07-07 |website=Vice |language=en}}</ref> Scientists observing the lights over the period 2000 to 2008<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Stephan |first=Karl D. |last2=Ghimire |first2=Sagar |last3=Stapleton |first3=William A. |last4=Bunnell |first4=James |date=1 August 2009 |title=Spectroscopy applied to observations of terrestrial light sources of uncertain origin |url=https://pubs.aip.org/aapt/ajp/artic...10879/Spectroscopy-applied-to-observations-of |journal=American Journal of Physics |volume=77 |issue=8}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> concluded that the lights were the results of automobile headlights being distorted by warm desert air.[/td] [td][/td]
[td][/td] [td]According to the [[Handbook of Texas Online]], they "at times they appear coloured as they twinkle in the distance. They move about, split apart, melt together, disappear, and reappear. Presidio County residents have watched the lights for over a hundred years." Each year, enthusiasts gather for the annual Marfa Lights Festival.[/td]
[td]According to the [[Handbook of Texas Online]], they "at times they appear coloured as they twinkle in the distance. They move about, split apart, melt together, disappear, and reappear. Presidio County residents have watched the lights for over a hundred years." Each year, enthusiasts gather for the annual [[Marfa Lights Festival]].[/td] [td][/td]
[td][/td] [td][[File:Roswell - Marfa Lights (6080154805).jpg|thumb|Sign showing description of Marfa Lights]][/td]
[td][[File:Roswell - Marfa Lights (6080154805).jpg|thumb|Sign showing description of Marfa Lights]][/td] [td]==Explanations==[/td]
[td]==Explanations==[/td] [td][/td]
[td][/td] [td]=== Paranormal activity ===[/td] [td]===Atmospheric phenomena===[/td] [td]Some see the lights as UFOs, while others consider them the ghostly spirits of the dead such as the Apache or Spanish conquistadors. Legends say the lights interfered with military communication during World War II when the [[Marfa Army Airfield]] was a large training base, prompting the base to shut down. The commanding officer in charge of flight operations warned people to stay away from the lights, stating that they were "out of this world."[/td] [td][/td]
[td][/td] [td]=== Atmospheric phenomena ===[/td] [td]Skeptic [[Brian Dunning (author)|Brian Dunning]] notes that the designated "View Park" for the lights, a roadside park on the south side of U.S. Route 90 about 9 miles (14 km) east of Marfa, is at the site of [[Marfa Army Airfield]], where tens of thousands of personnel were stationed between 1942 and 1947, training American and Allied pilots. This massive field was then used for years as a regional airport, with daily airline service. Since Marfa AAF and its satellite fields are each constantly patrolled by sentries, they consider it unlikely that any unusual phenomena would remain unobserved and unmentioned. According to Dunning, the likeliest explanation is that the lights are a sort of [[Fata Morgana (mirage)|mirage]] caused by sharp temperature gradients between cold and warm layers of air.<ref>{{Skeptoid|id=4038|number=38|date=11 April 2007|title=The Marfa Lights: A Real American Mystery β No matter how much we want these Texas ghost lights to be mysterious, it turns out they're all too mundane }}</ref> Marfa is at an elevation of 4,688 ft (1,429 m) above sea level, and differences of 40β50Β°F (22β28Β°C) between daily high and low temperatures are quite common.[/td]
[td]Skeptic Brian Dunning notes that the designated "View Park" for the lights, a roadside park on the south side of U.S. Route 90 about 9 miles (14 km) east of Marfa, is at the site of [[Marfa Army Airfield]], where tens of thousands of personnel were stationed between 1942 and 1947, training American and Allied pilots. This massive field was then used for years as a regional airport, with daily airline service. Since Marfa AAF and its satellite fields are each constantly patrolled by sentries, they consider it unlikely that any unusual phenomena would remain unobserved and unmentioned. According to Dunning, the likeliest explanation is that the lights are a sort of [[Fata Morgana (mirage)|mirage]] caused by sharp temperature gradients between cold and warm layers of air.<ref>{{Skeptoid|id=4038|number=38|date=11 April 2007|title=The Marfa Lights: A Real American Mystery β No matter how much we want these Texas ghost lights to be mysterious, it turns out they're all too mundane }}</ref> Marfa is at an elevation of 4,688 ft (1,429 m) above sea level, and differences of 40β50Β°F (22β28Β°C) between daily high and low temperatures are quite common.[/td] [td][/td]
[td][/td] [td]===Car lights===[/td]
[td]===Car lights===[/td] [td]{{div col|colwidth=22em}}[/td]
[td]{{div col|colwidth=22em}}[/td] [td]* [[Aleya (Ghost light)]], Bengal[/td]
[td]* [[Aleya (Ghost light)]], Bengal[/td] [td]* [[Aurora]][/td] [td]* [[Brown Mountain lights]][/td]
[td]* [[Brown Mountain lights]][/td] [td]* [[Chir Batti]][/td]
[td]* [[Chir Batti]][/td]
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[td]The '''Marfa lights,''' also known as the '''Marfa ghost lights,''' are [[atmospheric ghost lights]] regularly observed near [[Marfa, Texas]]. They are visible on clear nights between Marfa and the Paisano Pass when one is facing southwest toward the [[Chinati Mountains]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Fiumi |first=Elettra |last2=Stein |first2=Eliot |date=17 January 2018 |title=The mysterious βGhost Lightsβ of Marfa, Texas |url=https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20180116-the-mysterious-ghost-lights-of-marfa-texas |access-date=6 July 2024 |work=[[BBC]]}}</ref> They are most often seen from a viewing area nearby, about 9 miles east of town on [[U.S. Route 67|US67]], which the community has publicised to encourage tourism.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Rogers |first=Kaleigh |date=2017-05-09 |title=Scientists Canβt Fully Explain These Strange Floating Lights in Texas |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/sci...plain-these-strange-floating-lights-in-texas/ |access-date=2024-07-07 |website=Vice |language=en}}</ref> Scientists observing the lights over the period 2000 to 2008<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Stephan |first=Karl D. |last2=Ghimire |first2=Sagar |last3=Stapleton |first3=William A. |last4=Bunnell |first4=James |date=1 August 2009 |title=Spectroscopy applied to observations of terrestrial light sources of uncertain origin |url=https://pubs.aip.org/aapt/ajp/artic...10879/Spectroscopy-applied-to-observations-of |journal=American Journal of Physics |volume=77 |issue=8}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> concluded that the lights were the results of automobile headlights being distorted by warm desert air.[/td]Revision as of 01:48, 3 September 2025
[/td][td]The '''Marfa lights,''' also known as the '''Marfa ghost lights,''' are [[atmospheric ghost lights]] regularly observed near [[Marfa, Texas]]. They are visible on clear nights between Marfa and the Paisano Pass when one is facing southwest toward the [[Chinati Mountains]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Fiumi |first=Elettra |last2=Stein |first2=Eliot |date=17 January 2018 |title=The mysterious βGhost Lightsβ of Marfa, Texas |url=https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20180116-the-mysterious-ghost-lights-of-marfa-texas |access-date=6 July 2024 |work=[[BBC]]}}</ref> They are most often seen from a viewing area nearby, about 9 miles east of town on [[U.S. Route 67|US67]], which the community has publicised to encourage tourism.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Rogers |first=Kaleigh |date=2017-05-09 |title=Scientists Canβt Fully Explain These Strange Floating Lights in Texas |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/sci...plain-these-strange-floating-lights-in-texas/ |access-date=2024-07-07 |website=Vice |language=en}}</ref> Scientists observing the lights over the period 2000 to 2008<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Stephan |first=Karl D. |last2=Ghimire |first2=Sagar |last3=Stapleton |first3=William A. |last4=Bunnell |first4=James |date=1 August 2009 |title=Spectroscopy applied to observations of terrestrial light sources of uncertain origin |url=https://pubs.aip.org/aapt/ajp/artic...10879/Spectroscopy-applied-to-observations-of |journal=American Journal of Physics |volume=77 |issue=8}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> concluded that the lights were the results of automobile headlights being distorted by warm desert air.[/td] [td][/td]
[td][/td] [td]According to the [[Handbook of Texas Online]], they "at times they appear coloured as they twinkle in the distance. They move about, split apart, melt together, disappear, and reappear. Presidio County residents have watched the lights for over a hundred years." Each year, enthusiasts gather for the annual Marfa Lights Festival.[/td]
[td]According to the [[Handbook of Texas Online]], they "at times they appear coloured as they twinkle in the distance. They move about, split apart, melt together, disappear, and reappear. Presidio County residents have watched the lights for over a hundred years." Each year, enthusiasts gather for the annual [[Marfa Lights Festival]].[/td] [td][/td]
[td][/td] [td][[File:Roswell - Marfa Lights (6080154805).jpg|thumb|Sign showing description of Marfa Lights]][/td]
[td][[File:Roswell - Marfa Lights (6080154805).jpg|thumb|Sign showing description of Marfa Lights]][/td] [td]==Explanations==[/td]
[td]==Explanations==[/td] [td][/td]
[td][/td] [td]=== Paranormal activity ===[/td] [td]===Atmospheric phenomena===[/td] [td]Some see the lights as UFOs, while others consider them the ghostly spirits of the dead such as the Apache or Spanish conquistadors. Legends say the lights interfered with military communication during World War II when the [[Marfa Army Airfield]] was a large training base, prompting the base to shut down. The commanding officer in charge of flight operations warned people to stay away from the lights, stating that they were "out of this world."[/td] [td][/td]
[td][/td] [td]=== Atmospheric phenomena ===[/td] [td]Skeptic [[Brian Dunning (author)|Brian Dunning]] notes that the designated "View Park" for the lights, a roadside park on the south side of U.S. Route 90 about 9 miles (14 km) east of Marfa, is at the site of [[Marfa Army Airfield]], where tens of thousands of personnel were stationed between 1942 and 1947, training American and Allied pilots. This massive field was then used for years as a regional airport, with daily airline service. Since Marfa AAF and its satellite fields are each constantly patrolled by sentries, they consider it unlikely that any unusual phenomena would remain unobserved and unmentioned. According to Dunning, the likeliest explanation is that the lights are a sort of [[Fata Morgana (mirage)|mirage]] caused by sharp temperature gradients between cold and warm layers of air.<ref>{{Skeptoid|id=4038|number=38|date=11 April 2007|title=The Marfa Lights: A Real American Mystery β No matter how much we want these Texas ghost lights to be mysterious, it turns out they're all too mundane }}</ref> Marfa is at an elevation of 4,688 ft (1,429 m) above sea level, and differences of 40β50Β°F (22β28Β°C) between daily high and low temperatures are quite common.[/td]
[td]Skeptic Brian Dunning notes that the designated "View Park" for the lights, a roadside park on the south side of U.S. Route 90 about 9 miles (14 km) east of Marfa, is at the site of [[Marfa Army Airfield]], where tens of thousands of personnel were stationed between 1942 and 1947, training American and Allied pilots. This massive field was then used for years as a regional airport, with daily airline service. Since Marfa AAF and its satellite fields are each constantly patrolled by sentries, they consider it unlikely that any unusual phenomena would remain unobserved and unmentioned. According to Dunning, the likeliest explanation is that the lights are a sort of [[Fata Morgana (mirage)|mirage]] caused by sharp temperature gradients between cold and warm layers of air.<ref>{{Skeptoid|id=4038|number=38|date=11 April 2007|title=The Marfa Lights: A Real American Mystery β No matter how much we want these Texas ghost lights to be mysterious, it turns out they're all too mundane }}</ref> Marfa is at an elevation of 4,688 ft (1,429 m) above sea level, and differences of 40β50Β°F (22β28Β°C) between daily high and low temperatures are quite common.[/td] [td][/td]
[td][/td] [td]===Car lights===[/td]
[td]===Car lights===[/td] [td]{{div col|colwidth=22em}}[/td]
[td]{{div col|colwidth=22em}}[/td] [td]* [[Aleya (Ghost light)]], Bengal[/td]
[td]* [[Aleya (Ghost light)]], Bengal[/td] [td]* [[Aurora]][/td] [td]* [[Brown Mountain lights]][/td]
[td]* [[Brown Mountain lights]][/td] [td]* [[Chir Batti]][/td]
[td]* [[Chir Batti]][/td]
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