Ghost Lights Phenomenon: Marfa Lights

Author: Naomi Owusu

In the growing world, of Marfa Texas comes the cultural phenomenon of Ghost Lights or people even call them Marfa Lights. Specific routes such as Route 90 and the Chinati Mountains are many of the famous places where you can find these mysterious orbs of lights. In this article Diana Brown shows the popularity of these ghost lights and how these are seen in many places such as Arkansas, Oklahoma, North Carolina, and even in Michigan. The author states that tectonic plates underneath the Earth's surface that cause these ghostly apparitions. Others think that methane gas is the cause of these mysterious orbs of light.

Marfa

Many people have described these lights as just being cars headlights or even a mischievous spirit or ghost with s lantern since Halloween and jack-o-lanterns have been associated with the Marfa Lights. In the article called, “Scientists Can’t Fully Explain These Strange Floating Lights in Texas” by Kaleigh Rogers talks about how these mysterious orbs of light have invested over $720,000 for many tourists and even researchers of science to visit the Marfa Lights Viewing Center in Texas. To get a better view of these ghostly lights, it should be a clear, night sky to witness this phenomenon. These lights change many different many colors such as red, yellow, blue, white, and many more which makes this illusion even more mysterious than ever.

Marfa Lights Video Up Close

In the United States, there have been several more ghost lights that many people have encountered, and these are called the Brown Mountain Ghost Lights which are in North Carolina and have been observed for many centuries. Many Indians from the Cherokee tribe had been made aware of these orbs of light for a very long while which makes these lights still a baffling mystery. The Cherokee Indians have claimed that these Ghost Lights were the spirits of women searching for their husbands who have died fighting a great battle. Many other legends entail that these lights are echoes of a murdered woman in the 19^th century. There is even a song associated with the Brown Mountain Lights called, “The Brown Mountain Light” by Lulu Belle & Scotty. This very song tells about a man being accompanied by a slave was hiking on a mountain and how the man was never to be found and comes back and haunts him with a lantern in the dark, crispy shadows at night.

Works Cited:

Brown. Diana. “Are Ghost Lights, Apparitions of the Dead or Even Aliens” How Stuff Works. 30. Jan. 2018. https://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/unexplained-phenomena/are-ghost-lights-apparitions-dead-or-even-aliens.htm Accessed 18 Oct. 2020

Brown Mountain Ghost Lights. NC Ghosts. https://northcarolinaghosts.com/mountains/brown-mountain-lights/ Accessed 22 Oct. 2020

Homeschool Honey. “Marfa Ghost Lights Video Up Close.” YouTube, 8 June 2019. MARFA LIGHTS | June 5, 2019 | Marfa Ghost Lights Video Up Close

Rogers, Kaleigh “Scientists Can’t Fully Explain These Strange Floating Lights in Texas” Vice. May. 2017. https://www.vice.com/en/article/9aeapv/scientists-cant-fully-explain-these-strange-floating-lights-in-texas Accessed 18 Oct. 2020

Texas Monthly. “The Truth Is Out There” https://img.texasmonthly.com/2006/05/TruthIsOutThere-0017.jpg?auto=compress&crop=faces&fit=scale&fm=pjpg&h=662&ixlib=php-1.2.1&q=45&w=1024&wpsize=large Accessed 21 Oct. 2020

For Further Reference:

Brown. Diana. “Are Ghost Lights, Apparitions of the Dead or Even Aliens” How Stuff Works. 30. Jan. 2018. https://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/unexplained-phenomena/are-ghost-lights-apparitions-dead-or-even-aliens.htm Accessed 18 Oct. 2020

In this article Diana Brown shows the popularity of these ghost lights and how these are seen in many places such as Arkansas, Oklahoma, North Carolina, and even in Michigan. The author states that tectonic plates underneath the Earth's surface that cause these ghostly apparitions. Others think that methane gas is the cause of these mysterious orbs of light.

Michael, D’esteries. “The Mystery of the Marfa Lights.” Treehugger. Jan. 2019.

https://www.treehugger.com/the-mystery-of-the-marfa-lights-4867866 Accessed 17 Oct. 2020.

The author of this article even emphasized specific routes such as U.S. Route 90 and towards the Chinati Mountains in Texas. The purpose of this article is that the author reveals these haunting, mysterious orbs of light which is still an unknowing tale till this day. Many groups who have come to witness this cultural phenomenon just think the Marfa Lights are just car headlights.

Rogers, Kaleigh “Scientists Can’t Fully Explain These Strange Floating Lights in Texas” Vice. May. 2017. https://www.vice.com/en/article/9aeapv/scientists-cant-fully-explain-these-strange-floating-lights-in-texas Accessed 18 Oct. 2020.

The author of this article thoroughly explains on why scientists can’t explain these mysterious lights. These lights have been documented as far as the 1800s. The Marfa Lights has invested $720,000 into expanding this exclusive visiting center.