Marfa Lights Optics Experiment

[KeMoniito]

Your explanation theory is good... to bad is not what causes the Marfa lights... the Marfa lights pre-date the invention ot the car, the light bulb and the construction of the highway that you claim is in oposition to the viewing area where the lights are seen..... good try though.... ( car lights...?....LMAO....)

[stexwhisperer]

The Big Bend region was part of my thesis area. Professors from Sul Ross/SFASU propose that the fault lines have quartz lining them, heating from the day releases pressures when night falls, quartz crystals have A,B,C axis, like with any quartz light, when energy is propagated along the B axis, light is generated. The 40 years I have spent in the area, I have heard of the lights being sighted by the Native Americans, long before cars.

[IESigma]

@stexwhisperer Thanks for your note. Yours was one of the many ideas that I had hoped to answer when the hyperspectral aircraft sensor flew over the region. Each light source would give off a characteristic spectral pattern. But no one saw anything from above, and the 215 channel sensor (UV-TIR) recorded nothing. Yet the ground observer recorded the lights clearly. Review the "Marfa LIGHTS FAQ" YouTube. The first written record of the MLs was in 1957.

Warmest,

Telly

[stexwhisperer]

The Big Bend region was part of my thesis area. Professors from Sul Ross/SFASU propose that the fault lines have quartz lining them, heating from the day releases pressures when night falls, quartz crystals have A,B,C axis, like with any quartz light, when energy is propagated along the B axis, light is generated. The 40 years I have spent in the area, I have heard of the lights being sighted by the Native Americans, long before cars.

[TroyLFullerton]

How does the "headlights" theory explain why the Marfa lights are recorded to have been seen well before there were cars with headlights? They were even seen in the 1800's. I don't believe the lights are supernatural, but I'm still trying to find an explanation that makes sense.

[NVanWendy]

@TroyLFullerton Actually, the bit about the 1880s is popular lore and isn't backed up anywhere. The first recorded reports were in the automobile era. (Or so says the science show I saw on TV; they could be wrong, but I can't believe they wouldn't research it.)

[300oz]

somebody out there must have a real big flashlight and big ass mirror

[NVanWendy]

I have an idea! Why doesn't some ardent UFO (or whatever) hunter stake out the mountainside the lights appear on or in front of an see the things up close? Why is every Marfa vid far away and going in and out of focus?

Did it ever occur to anyone that the reason there is a "viewing site" is that the effect can be seen only from certain angles? Doesn't that suggest optics are at play?

[sandosrules]

@NVanWendy I have a better idea. Go see for yourself them come tell me what they are. I've seen them for myself on two separate occasions and if it is reflections why aren't they appearing every night.. Just cause you want to see the lights doesn't mean you will. After seeing them for yourself then come talk to me about optics

[NVanWendy]

@sandosrules I am not going to fly down from Vancouver and rent a car and hotel room for god knows how long, just so I can see what thousands of others have seen.

I'd rather see my idea for an experiment tried out by locals: on a night when the lights are showing, get 3 or 4 cars and tape a colored theatre gel over one headlight. Drive them in a line down the hill in question - past the white cut and all that - and see if any Marfas are red or green that night. You'll have proof either way. 8-)

[josemustang65]

seratong belun deruff elatonma feruxi pelan mi pito bery duro.

[PigsCanFly99]

Erect an instrumented 100 ft high pole - show me the temperature profile. Conduct ground-based spectrographic analysis with a decent astronomical telescope - overlay onto video data. Focus on one light - shutter the others.They don't seem to move - just wax and wane. Show me the decent ground-based spectral data. Put on your CSI cap and shirt. Get with the Jetsons - ditch the Flintstone's act. Show Me The Money!

[phemer1]

this video explains nothing more than that you are fascinated with flashlights and mirrors. Ihave land in ft davis and seen the lights on many occasions. the y look nothing like flashlights.

[IESigma]

@phemer1 Please do some serious reading on the benefits of scientific models. They are routinely used to describe phenomenon. The land around Ft. Davis is NOT flat. The model simply demonstrates the mechanism; not a literal tool. As I told there is NO proof of that 100 yr. story and by the rules of scince it is UP TO YOU to produce and publish them, not me.

[schmelonball]

Why have Marfa Lights been seen for over 100 years. Long before cars where even invented. They also change colors. People have been trying for years to explain the lights. Good try!!

[IESigma]

@schmelonball Sorry to bust your bubble, but the lights are white, although there may be a bit of birefrigence on the edges. A recent paper was published on the color (they are white). People like to guess, but only two hard-core science studies have been made: (1) UT Dallas correlated lights with cars, and (2) my study ruled out everything but reflection with an occ. mirage. stop the 1888 crap. It never happened. The DOCUMENTED first publication was in 1957.

[sandosrules]

@IESigma Better catch the Unsolved Mysteries segment on the studies done in Marfa on the lights.

[KeMoniito]

@IESigma If your stupid "car lights reflections" theory had any real substance and truth to it, we would've have this same phenomena going on everywhere beacause there are thousands of locations with this very same topography and highways conditions as to make or produce the same phenomena in different locations. so i don't care how many universities have done studies and come up with the lamest simplest explanations to justify their incompetence to come up with some real answers....

[IESigma]

@schmelonball First. a recent paper documented positively that it is WHITE light. Birefrigence along the edges is possible, but the lights are white. No one, like you or the many others have been able to produce ONE shred of evidence the lights were seen 100yrs. ago. Ellison didn't. The first publication was in 1957.

[lowlandpark]

Don't dismiss temperature inversions so easily. Very shallow inversions occur, only a few feet deep, when the ground stays warm and air above it cools. Ag pilots know that you have to wait until these things mix to spray, or the spray will drift on the cushion of warm air for miles. They form at night. They can persist into the morning.

That's why the videos at my site were taken at about 11:00 in the morning and not at 6:00 a.m.

[telluricfields]

dear lowlandpark,

Sorry for slow response. The guy from Skeptoid hangs his hat on mirages, but then he says they appear about 12 times/yr. Reasoning is sound.

Problem is, that I have been present before, during and after a thunderstorm has saturated the area and evened out the temp. Yet, the lights were visible throughout -even appeared a little brighter - consistent with wet soil.

Anyway, that's why I favor reflected soil over mirages. But clearly, you can't discount mirages.

[41cobiahunteR]

It's obvious you know much about optics and illusions caused by enviromental conditions. I have a question for you: A while back, a friend and I were fishing at a nearby lake. It was late May and a very strange day. A cold front had come through the night before and left a frost on the ground. Very unusual for May in the South. Also, a partial solar eclipse occured that day and during the height of it we could see tiny replicas of the crescent sun all over the ground. What caused this?

[lowlandpark]

Thus, even as he wheeled to his own music,

I saw that substance sing, that spirit-flame

Above whom double lights were twinned; and he

And his companions moved within their dance,

And, as if they were swiftest sparks, they sped

out of my sight because of sudden distance.

Dante

Science may "save the appearances," but poetry is more beautiful.

[lowlandpark]

I've seen the Marfa lights and I doubt seriously that your explanation accounts for them.

But I don't know. Go out there and spend the money and do the experiments before you claim to have solved the problem.

[lowlandpark]

And get over your notion that something being written down makes it special somehow. Science starts with ordinary observation of phenomena - there's no place else for it to start - and those observations are never written down immediately. As one of my profs in med school said, "when every patient makes the same observation to you about a disease, it's better to pay attention to them than to the textbook."

[lowlandpark]

I've been in science for 35 yrs (I have a Ph.D.) and it seems to me that you have a very naive view of how science works.

Read some philosophy of science for a start - I recommend What is This Thing Called Science? by A.F. Chalmers - Despite the sound of the title, it is a college text on philosophy of science.

[lowlandpark]

You can start with an experiment on a model system (like yeast genetics, in my case) but if you want to know that what you are studying really tells you anything about a particular phenomenon (say cancer in human cells), then, eventually you have to study that phenomenon.

Claiming that you have solved the problem when you have only studied a possible small scale model of something IS something I would expect from a clever but naive high school student.

[lowlandpark]

"In science hard measureable data and experiments that can be repeated trump everything."

Yes, but , eventually the experiment has to be done on the actual phenomenon that you are trying to account for, not just something you cooked up in your hall.

[StormRisingOriginal]

That works, except for that fact that no people are out in the mountain range shinning lights outside of Marfa TX. So your theory has one problem, who holds the flashlight and mirror?

[wood13118]

are you a freshman in high school? you proved nothing about the marfa lights.

[telluricfields]

Dear Mr/Ms. wood13118,

No, thank you, I am a junior in High School. The time I spent as a freshman was the best 29 years of my life. Look over the complete data set, including the hyperspectral analysis, in Parts I and II. FAQs can be found in the latest video.

The Travel Channel recently included some of the footage from these videos on one of their programs. Models (like the mirror example) are essential to understanding science.

telly

[rlmarr]

Dear John Janks, Science is based on theory. You have clearly NOT visited the Marfa Lights. Open your little mind Mr. Janks. Take a trip to Marfa so you can see in Real Time what is actually happening out there. Stop referring to your Lame videos to disprove the Marfa Lights. You also need to go to a good public library and do more research by eyewitness accounts written way before the automobile. Why don't you respond to my emails so we can discuss? Stop judging others experiences and wake up.

[hazelnstalks]

lol. amen to that brother!

[aPOTg]

i have to agree. i live about 1.5 hours from marfa and this is definately not the only "scientific" study of the lights. the only good this video can prove is that maybe NOT ALL orb videos are real, but if it was some tool with a flashlight and mirror it would be pretty obvious its fake.

[StormRisingOriginal]

Not fake, you have to see your self. The lights are visible in the day, but better at night. Nobody is out there shinning lights. You can walk right up to one and never get close. It's like a natural illusion of some type.

[rlmarr]

Your studies are too short and there is NOT enough reports from individuals with their stories which you have purposely left out. Very clever indeed to disprove the total Truth that the Lights are real. There are too many holes in your joke of research and experiments that are too quick to jump at the most obvious. What a waste of money you have done with this lame methodology for cough, cough, research. Email me and we will discuss.

[rlmarr]

One of the most famous sightings of the Marfa lights occurred in 1973 when two geologists, Elwood Wright and Pat Kenney, observed two lights and tried to track them down. At first they used a jeep, then later proceeded on foot. They never caught up with them, but the scientists were left with the unnerving impression that the lights were toying with them.

[kellythefunny1]

soo..your saying people without a life are sitting there and just shining a flashlight in a mirror..lol..

i dont think so..

this happened for almost a hundred years now

[telluricfields]

Dear rlmarr,

I sincerely appreciate your interest in the Marfa Light analyses that I posted on YouTube. It is not necessary to reply to each one (of the 5). I think you're missing the point that the research design was appropriate to study the Marfa Lights. Buzzwords like "brain storming," "note taking," etc. are useful when data are involved. Anecdotal stories are ancillary at best.

In science hard measureable data and experiments that can be repeated trump everything.

T.F.

[rlmarr]

Have you been to Marfa? Have you stayed for several days? Are you relying on others observations?

[rlmarr]

Joe and Sally Humphreys reported their first sighting of the lights in 1885. Cowboys herding cattle on the prairies noticed the lights and in the summer of 1919 rode over the mountains looking for the source found nothing. World War I observers feared that the lights were intended to guide an invasion. During World War II pilots training at the nearby Midland Army Air Field outside Marfa looked for the source of the elusive lights from the air,with no success. Do you know how to use the LIBRARY?

[sandosrules]

@telluricfields Better watch the Unsolved Mysteries segment's report. Numerous scientific teams have studied the Lights and none of the hard science they used were able to prove the Lights as either reflection/mirages. The US Military sent teams there, the hiway has been closed down in all directions, Marfa city lights kept dark while scientists attempted to determine the source of the lights. I've seen them for myself nothing man made can move like that. Until you see them don't bet the farm ..

[IESigma]

@sandosrules NVanWendy is correct. Again, I cannot emphasize strongly enough that it is the person making the claim WHO MUST PRESENT THE EVIDENCE. PUBLISH YOUR SOURCE, or quit wasting our time. I've heard stories like yours for 20 yrs. And so far: NADA. The proof is YOUR responsibility, not ours.

Actually, the 1986 Unsolved Mysteries episode supports the reflection theory, and does so quite plainly. The ML "FAQ" and "ML 1996" videos, with me in them have been up for years.

[IESigma]

@sandosrules Once again, Sandosrules, you have completely, yes completely missed science methodology. All your tales of indians, cowboys, military, etc. are folklore UNTIL you back it up with a published report. By the way, the Discovery Channel used one of my segments in some story of theirs. Publish your references or go to some site about chupacabras, ghosts, UFO sightings. These undocumented claims are really getting old.

[rlmarr]

Most post graduates do not know how to start their academic research.

There are many resources for basic Steps in the Research Process. Use your brain stormed questions to guide your note taking.

[telluricfields]

Dear Rimarr,

Well, uh, thanks for reviewing the site and the science. While I can't argue about your own observations, I can tell you that there is no record of Native Americans, ranchers or pilots seeing and documenting the Lights.

To date, this study is the only source of hard information. Please look at the most recent video ["FAQs..."]where many of your comments are addressed.

Telly Fields

[rlmarr]

The Native American Indians recorded the Marfa Light sightings centuries ago. Even the rancher saw them before the car was made. We traveled to the top of one of those high hill/mountains, looked across the entire valley and saw 100's of the lights. This was about 3AM. No cars. We also went to the highway of the supposedly reflection and watched. No cars! Only lights. Please explain the ones we saw high in the air also.

[wunderweapon]

yeah so what about the settlers and natives in the area before cars or electricity for that matter? Not to mention, in your 'experiment' you are shining the light right into the mirror, these maps show there is no way that a light would shine directly into these "reflective" sands. Sand and mirrors are WAY different structurally also, one is polished and exact the other is rough and irregular in shape.

You science is hog wash, I have been there and seen them, this explains how to refract light

[railpoint]

this is the gayest thing EVAR!

[clarissa6002]

So, basically, when a light shines from 1 reflective surface, or more, there is mathematecal probability of distance relation, that will always be a predictable direction of reflection. Interesting. So if the reflections are Mathematically displaced, one will have an unidentifiable origion of reflection. Thank you.

[attovishnu]

Doesn't explain the sightings of the lights from way before the highway was ever there.

[Licmycat]

U might want to check out the first one and follow them in order if ur interested and read my descriptions.

[telluricfields]

Dear Ms. Cat,

I reviewed some of your videos, but could not really identify a reference point. I just added a 4th Marfa Light video ("West Texas - 1996"), in which you can see both the lights and the skyline, thus obtaining a reference for the totally dark videos.

At low angles, white light reflected along any colored surface will still appear mostly white.

t.fields

[Licmycat]

Never mind.

[Licmycat]

There is nothing but RED dirt here in Okla. and I've been seeing some extrodinary lights that are quite similar to the Mafa lights, only my lights change colors when they are filmed. And they move around. I've never seen such in my life around here and I've lived here for around ten years. I'll put one of my vids as a response so u can check them out.

[NVanWendy]

Since I've been going on about the nature of science to "Jack," how about a simple experiment for all you folks who actually visit the Marfa area?

Obtain a piece of theatrical gel (colored plastic used to tint powerful stage lights) in red and green. Have a couple of friends tape these over one headlight of their cars and drive the route in question. If the Marfa lights are from cars, observers should soon see a red and a green one. If not, the question remains unsolved.

You could be famous!

[telluricfields]

Wendy, Wendy, what went wrong, oh so wrong?

Others have proposed something similar to your experiment - and the idea is excellent -but your's is probably the most straight forward.

But then again, I thought high-tech aerial sensors, radio communication, and a simple demonstration of the physics involved were convincing.

They'd probably tell you they didn't have "red" and "green" light back in the 1880's.

Will check the site more frequently in the future...

telluricfields

[rjmolinar]

In regards to your comment about the lights beings the refelction from cars. I can honestly say that you are wrong because my family is from Alpine Texas a town 26 miles away from Marfa and I have letters from my ancestors who wrote about the lights 150yrs ago that my family fouund in my great garndmothers adobe house which still stands which was way before cars were made and berfore hwy67 was made so you are wrong!!!!!

[NVanWendy]

What I am I wrong about? I proposed an experiment to prove once and for all if the lights are caused by cars or something else. That's not "wrong."

BTW, I gather other claims of pre-automobile accounts of the lights have been debunked, so you should definitely photograph your historic letters and post them on YouTube. It would interesting to read them and see the reactions.

PS: try punctuating, will ya? 8-)

[rjmolinar]

1st, If you're trying to ridicule me because of my grammar and spelling then you won! They are typos and I was just being lazy to put the punctuations where they belong. Anyway, I will not put the letters on youtube because my grandmother past many yrs ago, and I live in West Hollywood, Ca. I just so happened to look up the Marfa lights on youtube because my step brother asked me about them. Good luck with your experiment

[NVanWendy]

Ah, I really would love to do the experiment, rj, but I'm in Vancouver. I'm hoping a local will take up the challenge and post the results.

[rjmolinar]

Wow, Vancouver! How did you here of the Marfa lights? I mean this place is so remote, do you have family that reside in this region of the states? Anyhow, I grew up in SoCal but both my parents are from Alpine Texas. I remember being young and driving through Marfa, we would always stop to see the lights, Brings back good memories of being a child. I still feel the same way when I see them now! I was there a couple days ago and i saw them again. I love West Texas!

[NVanWendy]

The Marfa lights have made it onto more than one TV show dealing with "mysteries of nature" or "supernatural phenomena" or such things. It just occurred to me one day to see what people had put on YouTube about them! But the colored lights idea struck me many years ago and I've been waiting for someone else to do it. How about you and a couple of friends, rj? You could be famous!

[telluricfields]

Dear Wendy,

Having gone through several iterations of the Marfa Lights and other less-well explained phenomena, here are some dead giveaways about who not to bother to communicate with dead givaways): (1) abysmal punctuation and grammer, (2) phrases like "cased closed," (3) refusal to publish any of the "1883" stories, (4)attacking science.

I gave a talk at James Randi's "The Amazing Meeting" on the ML's this June. Challenged everyone (it's on DVD) to send "1883" proof. No takers.

[NDrLoR]

"Challenged everyone (it's on DVD) to send "1883" proof"

That's what I've understood--it's kind of like an urban legend--there is actually no documentation of the lights before the advent of the automobile, just "they say". I don't think they were even seen in the 20's, were they? From when is the earliest written reportage on the lights?

[wunderweapon]

1883

[ibedadude]

dude but dont you know that the marfa lights were discovered way back when there was indians and cowboys.....infact it was discovered by a cowboy i think!!! there was no cars back then!! how do you explain that?

[beatlfn]

the SAND hills you refer to are not HIGH ENOUGH in SILICA to "reflect" light, in your demonstration, you use a MIRROR! are you comparing the sand to a MIRROR? secondly, MANY TESTS have been conducted in field testing at Marfa, with absolutely NO explaination, by Highly EDUCATED SCIENTISTS! THIRDLY, the "ligts" have been repoted since the 1800's and the LOCAL  INDIANS have record of them going back CENTURIES!, there IS NO EXPLINATION, PERIOD.

[bubblegumpink30]

NERDYY PEOPLE !!

[rjmolinar]

It's not nerdy, when you visit them

[telluricfields]

Dear Mr./Ms CMbarker1979. I am giving you a D+ on your comment for lack of proper punctuation and context. Use "you're" [not "your"], and end each sentence with the proper punctuation.

My IQ is 82, not 52, so, technically, I'm not an idiot.

Please arrange to have your parents call me for a conference, at which time I'll assign remedial homework to bring you up to speed with the rest of the class.

[thinkawhilelonger]

Have you been to Marfa, TX? Has it occured to you that, at times, one light or several lights will remain in the same position for quite some time? Do you think cars often park out there with their lights strategically directed at the "reflective soils"? Then they suddenly turn their lights off in the exact same spot and then back on (same spot)... and then off (same spot). Why would you attempt to explain something you have never seen with your own eyes? Kudos on recreating YouTube videos.

[rlmarr]

Dear English Prof. All of us that make grammatical errors are at you mercy for forgiveness your worshipfulness. Have mercy on our improper punctuation. We all are trying to be so perfect like yourself. My god you are so elegant with your words. Thank you for correcting us when we fail your tests. Can you please, please forgive us and take us back?

[OWENNevermind]

there just car headlights, highways 67. Its called a Forta Morgona Mirage. Its makes objects seem higher than than they are at any distance. Its a tempreture condition. case solved.

[telluricfields]

Owqen, Fata Morgana is relatively rare, and results from temperature inversion, as you say. Unfortunately, the Lights are seen in the nighttime, mostly - the exact opposite of most Fata Morganas. Marfa Lights are often seen when there is no temperature inversion, and this thread of reasoning begs the question: why do the lights occur only in this one area?

Case Open. I call, and raise you 500.

[NVanWendy]

If your comment is to the producer (YouTube doesn't often put replies where they belong lately) that's a really pointless, uninformative, thing to say that adds NOTHING to the discussion.

[randal655321]

wow those links really help since you cant click on them n00b

[telluricfields]

You're right about the links. At the time I put these videos together I rather a novice and didn't even know you could link them.

[MetalPuppetsShow]

I like the theory I heard the other day. That an Alien ship landed and the Pilot (Alien) lost the Keys, and the lights you see are the E.T.S. looking for them. I think thats the truth.

[JacdCat]

The effect was only created when the flash light was pointed directly at the mirror. No car lights directly shine on those bright reflective areas on both sides of the road. Little to no light filters from the cars to those areas. TRY AGAIN

[JacdCat]

You Couldn't recreate the lights unless she shined the flash light right off the mirror.

No carlights are hitting the reflective and concave surfaced white soil directly. Very little if any light reaches those reflective patches you showed that line the road. Try again.

[Warp2567]

lmao, for too long scientists have tried to explain the mystery behind many phenomena such as the Marfa Lights and Ghost School Children. They think that there's a scientific explanation to everything. Will they ever admit at least for once that they're wrong?

[NVanWendy]

Earth to Warp2567: *News flash*

There IS a scientific explanation for everything. We don't have them all yet, but not having an answer for every question in the universe doesn't mean science is wrong, nor that we should blindly leap to far-fetched and highly improbable conclusions instead. It simply means we don't yet have enough information to draw reasonable conclusions, so, unlike some folks, people of science don't spout baseless allegations of the supernatural as fact.

Clear?

[Jacksr33]

yo Wendy you should look up "socratic ignorance" and maybe you'll realize that science can't answer so many of these kinds of questions. Besides scientific conclusions are constantly being proven wrong as it evolves with humanity

[NVanWendy]

Socratic ignorance does not place limits on science. It refers to admitting ignorance, or placing oneself in a position of ignorance, to draw others into discussion and conclusion; it's akin to having an open mind.

Contrary to your assertion, science is NOT constantly being proven wrong. It evolves, yes, but that means modifying and refining our understanding, not discarding basic scientific knowledge. There's a huge difference.

"Not knowing the answer" is not the same as "supernatural."

[safronarenee]

Cannot be car lights - they have been reported since the 1800's, before there were cars

[IESigma]

The earliest known published article was in 1957, although some have referenced one from the 1930's. The famous "1883" quote is, unfortunately, just folk-lore. So far, no one has been able to produce a copy of Robert Ellis' 1883 comments. Reports of the Lights did not begin until after the road to Presidio, TX was completed.

As for what's seen today, they're reflected and distorted headlights. You can read more on Wickipedia.

[ElPeruanoUFO]

you're an spy.

[Silvercardinal7]

gaaaaaay

[McDicker96]

This is the biggest BS, no one belives the Marfa Lights because of video. Anyone could make this crap, its the stuff you see with your own eyes.

And all you morons saying its headlights, how do you explain not seeing it on some nights but on others? Do people just not drive on those days?

[IESigma]

But Mr/Ms McDicker96, what do you re-e-e-ally think of my work? And...I'm not a moron - my IQ is 84 not 24.

[mattv88888888]

it depends on the thickness of the atmosphere- if its a hot day the air is thinner and has different refractive/reflective properties. the same goes for if its a cold day.

[louminatti]

I need to post the Marfa Mystery Headlights page again.

[bentley99559955]

Pretty good demonstration. Glad to see someone make an effort to demonstrate their theory than to just say "it is proven these are car lights." However, I wonder why the lights aren't seen consistently throughout the same night, if numerous cars are traveling down the same path. Also, people see the same light patterns simultaneously from different angles.

[telluricfields]

dear slramirez,

And worse, that was an exciting one! Great comment. Sadly true, but great nonetheless.

[slramirez]

Either way, you and your wife sure know how to party on a Friday night.

[billhuston]

Interesting, but this doesn't explain every phenomena I have seen 1) slowly dancing balls suspended over desert floor viewed from McDonald Obs. 2) light amplification of city lights from Alpine (looked like a spaceport) 3) strange amplification/morphing of what turned out to be truck lights, watch for about 7 min.

Your theory would not explain videos I've seen showing lights suspended above the horizon.

Seems like a combination of ray-bending/refraction as well as amplification.

[RedgieK]

The Marfa Lights were discovered long before Hiway 67 and the automobile...

[telluricfields]

Uh, no, no they were not. Most of those "1883" stories are not even oral tradition (2 generations), they're folklore (3>generations).

I know it's disappointing, but science is science. The earliest written articles come from the 1930's.

[Temarisboy]

I live in texas. I have reseachered this. Stuff like this happen in the huge ass lot behind my house.

[louminatti]

I have asked this question online for 10 years now. Cite your sources.

No one can do this. It's just something they've heard.