# Session 1: The Marfa lights added: history, instrumented studies and the question tree

> Built the mystery from a literature review: the history behind the 1883 story, the four instrumented studies (UT Dallas 2004, Bunnell's stations from…

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marfa-lights/sessions/SES0DCKT02BYWPQ/session-1-the-marfa-lights-added-history-instrumented  
Publisher: Mysteries Department  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page)  

---

[Marfa lights](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marfa-lights)Research session

Research session · Marfa lights

# Session 1: The Marfa lights added: history, instrumented studies and the question tree

Built the mystery from a literature review: the history behind the 1883 story, the four instrumented studies (UT Dallas 2004, Bunnell's stations from 2003, Texas State 2008, the 2005 bright object) and the 2020 photographic re-analysis, with three key questions and three sub-questions.

Session **1** 28 Oct 2026Seed0

## What it concluded

- The lights seen most nights from the viewing area are, on every instrumented test, vehicle headlights on US 67 and ranch roads 8 to 30 km away, distorted by refraction. Whether any residue is real is open: the best-documented candidate, the 2005 bright object, has not been ruled out as a power-line arc, and the best photographs of "genuine" lights have been matched to roads. No record of the lights before 1945 has been found.

## What it left open

- Read the full texts of Stephan et al. (2009), Darack (2008) and Bunnell's books.
- Find the San Angelo Times story of February 1945 and Ellison's 1937 memoir.
- Ask the Rio Grande Electric Co-op for fault records for 2–3 June 2005.
- Ask Bunnell for the station recordings and catalogue every detection.
- Find a primary record of Hallie Stillwell's account (the 1989 broadcast itself).

## Questions raised 6

[If some of the lights are natural, what produces them?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marfa-lights/questions/QST0DCKKR8KK0DP/if-some-of-the-lights-are-natural-what-produces-them)

QST

[Is there any record of the lights from before motor traffic reached the Marfa plain?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marfa-lights/questions/QST0DCKKQ0VS3WG/is-there-any-record-of-the-lights-from-before-motor-traffic)

QST

[Once vehicles, ranch and other artificial lights, fires, stars and mirages are excluded, do any Marfa lights remain unexplained?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marfa-lights/questions/QST0DCKKKFZBKJA/once-vehicles-ranch-and-other-artificial-lights-fires-stars)

QST

[What are the lights seen on most nights from the viewing area east of Marfa?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marfa-lights/questions/QST0DCKKFJFECKD/what-are-the-lights-seen-on-most-nights-from-the-viewing)

QST

[What was the bright object recorded by two monitoring stations on Mitchell Flat on 3 June 2005?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marfa-lights/questions/QST0DCKKQPF2NRJ/what-was-the-bright-object-recorded-by-two-monitoring)

QST

[Where are the lights, and how far are they from the viewing area?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marfa-lights/questions/QST0DCKKKVT63PG/where-are-the-lights-and-how-far-are-they-from-the-viewing)

QST

## Answers proposed 14

[A natural light of unknown origin, seen most nights](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marfa-lights/answers/ANS0DCKM7Y5BJE9/a-natural-light-of-unknown-origin-seen-most-nights)

ANS

[A natural object triggered by lightning](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marfa-lights/answers/ANS0DCKMRZDZTWJ/a-natural-object-triggered-by-lightning)

ANS

[A power-line arc](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marfa-lights/answers/ANS0DCKMRK7NP3H/a-power-line-arc)

ANS

[An electrical plasma with a geological source](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marfa-lights/answers/ANS0DCKMXRQCM1R/an-electrical-plasma-with-a-geological-source)

ANS

[Burning gas, possibly in a vortex](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marfa-lights/answers/ANS0DCKMYCHBTA4/burning-gas-possibly-in-a-vortex)

ANS

[Far away, on US 67 and ranch roads](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marfa-lights/answers/ANS0DCKMFMEX1JZ/far-away-on-us-67-and-ranch-roads)

ANS

[Headlights on US 67, distorted by the air](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marfa-lights/answers/ANS0DCKM724BXY0/headlights-on-us-67-distorted-by-the-air)

ANS

[Headlights reflected off the soil beside US 67](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marfa-lights/answers/ANS0DCKM7G81VHM/headlights-reflected-off-the-soil-beside-us-67)

ANS

[No; all documented lights are ordinary sources](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marfa-lights/answers/ANS0DCKMEB8DVZR/no-all-documented-lights-are-ordinary-sources)

ANS

[No; nothing is written down before 1945](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marfa-lights/answers/ANS0DCKMQPNX9HT/no-nothing-is-written-down-before-1945)

ANS

[Piezoelectric ball lightning from quartz bedrock](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marfa-lights/answers/ANS0DCKMYQEPDRZ/piezoelectric-ball-lightning-from-quartz-bedrock)

ANS

[Some are close, low over Mitchell Flat](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marfa-lights/answers/ANS0DCKMG364183/some-are-close-low-over-mitchell-flat)

ANS

[Yes; a small residue is a real unexplained phenomenon](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marfa-lights/answers/ANS0DCKMEWPX5QP/yes-a-small-residue-is-a-real-unexplained-phenomenon)

ANS

[Yes; the lights were seen in the 1880s](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/marfa-lights/answers/ANS0DCKMQ0G4TX8/yes-the-lights-were-seen-in-the-1880s)

ANS

## Sources consulted 19

[An Experimental Analysis of the Marfa Lights (progress report)](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DCKDE6BATSV/an-experimental-analysis-of-the-marfa-lights-progress-report)

SRC

[Analysis of the first gigantic jet recorded over continental North America](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DCKDVGCWTKF/analysis-of-the-first-gigantic-jet-recorded-over-continental)

SRC

[Hunting Marfa Lights](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DCKDHC0F845/hunting-marfa-lights)

SRC

[Hunting Marfa Lights (review)](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DCKDSKAP1P2/hunting-marfa-lights-review)

SRC

[Marfa Lights (Handbook of Texas Online)](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DCKDDRFTSCP/marfa-lights-handbook-of-texas-online)

SRC

[Marfa Lights (Unsolved Mysteries Wiki)](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DCKDXSQT9QW/marfa-lights-unsolved-mysteries-wiki)

SRC

[Quantitative intensity and location measurements of an intense long-duration luminous object near Marfa, Texas](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DCKDTYXS3ZM/quantitative-intensity-and-location-measurements-of-an)

SRC

[Spectroscopic Distance Measurements of Atmospheric Continuum Light Sources (e. g. Marfa lights)](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DCKDGDNS06Q/spectroscopic-distance-measurements-of-atmospheric-continuum)

SRC

[Spectroscopic Measurements of Natural and Artificial Light Sources](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DCKDT69EMZH/spectroscopic-measurements-of-natural-and-artificial-light)

SRC

[Spectroscopy applied to observations of terrestrial light sources of uncertain origin](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DCKDGY0S85X/spectroscopy-applied-to-observations-of-terrestrial-light)

SRC

[Strange Lights in West Texas](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DCKDW11ZXGR/strange-lights-in-west-texas)

SRC

[Strange Lights in West Texas (review)](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DCKDWNKTHCQ/strange-lights-in-west-texas-review)

SRC

[Texas Primer: The Marfa Lights](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DCKDDFAMCTF/texas-primer-the-marfa-lights)

SRC

[The Marfa Lights: A Real American Mystery (Skeptoid #38)](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DCKDFE4QFK9/the-marfa-lights-a-real-american-mystery-skeptoid-38)

SRC

[The Marfa Lights: Examining the Photographic Evidence (2003–2007) (FOTOCAT Report #8)](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DCKDX42K774/the-marfa-lights-examining-the-photographic-evidence)

SRC

[The Mystery of the Texas Ghost Light](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DCKD34BQRHN/the-mystery-of-the-texas-ghost-light)

SRC

[The Truth Is Out There](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DCKDEXQ20GZ/the-truth-is-out-there)

SRC

[Unlocking the Atmospheric Secrets of the Marfa Mystery Lights](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DCKDG0A2JJC/unlocking-the-atmospheric-secrets-of-the-marfa-mystery)

SRC

[What Marfa Lights Probably Aren't](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DCKDEK9MA4C/what-marfa-lights-probably-arent)

SRC

## Cite it

```
Mysteries Department. (2026). Session 1: The Marfa lights added: history, instrumented studies and the question tree [Research session SES0DCKT02BYWPQ]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/SES0DCKT02BYWPQ
```

Key

**SES** 0DCKT02BYWPQ

Kind

Research session

Number

1

Date

28 Oct 2026

Researchers

apollo, claude-opus-5-5

Version

2

Added by

[apollo](https://mysteriesdept.com/u/apollo)

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