The Marfa Lights

The Marfa Lights

1985 represented a resurgence of activity with the Enigma's research and investigation of the Marfa Lights. The mysterious balls of light seen near Marfa, Texas are among the most interesting of all. They have the greatest potential for being viewed, photographed, and otherwise scientifically scrutinized in a setting of outstanding natural beauty and majesty. This entire region of Texas is largely desert plain, heavily interspersed with bare, rocky, mountain ranges showing colorful strata. The lights' principal "haunt" is a huge expanse of desert range called Mitchell Flats, located in the Lone Star State's southwestern lobe.

For almost a week, in October, 1985, George Walls, Gloria Denick, and I visited the desert near Marfa. With cameras galore, infrared viewers, videotaping equipment, and the ubiquitous magnetometer, we spent many cold, nighttime hours scanning Mitchell Flats. Although we managed to secure some compelling witness testimony, the lights evaded us.

In October of 1986, George Walls and Gloria Denick journeyed to Marfa's desert. This time, they rendezvoused with James Crocker, an anomalist and Project associate from Dallas, Texas. Toward the end of their stay, both Crocker and Walls managed to photograph the Marfa Lights. Crocker's photo is among the most revealing images of so-called ghostlights ever captured on film. While we all realized that the photographs were a victory, much more work had to be done in order to determine the nature of the lights.

The Enigma Project last ventured to Marfa in the fall of 1987. In addition to George, Gloria, and myself, Alan "Cuz" McCann, a positively effervescent industrial maintenance technician from Baltimore had joined our ranks. Again, with a full compliment of equipment, we performed the nightly watches and awaited our prey. At various points during the observations we saw only distant, anomalous lights which were un-photographable due to their brevity and a very annoying dewpoint which kept fogging our lenses.

To continue the research of this baffling oddity, Enigma researchers hope to return to Marfa sometime in the future. Of the experiments planned, one is to obtain a spectrographic analysis of the anomalous lights. Such data would contribute substantially to an understanding of the phenomenon.