Tag: Marfa Lights

Posted on

Returning Marfa Lights

How often do CE-III Marfa Lights return to the same area? The answer to that question, although not very simple, suggests those lights are caused by bioluminescent flying predators. When the lights return to the same area near Marfa, Texas, on two successive nights, they are probably having successful hunting, whether it be the Big Brown Bat common in this part of Texas or some other prey.

When the really strange flying lights are seen over the desert plain, on a night when they are photographed by one or more automatic cameras set up by James Bunnell, those lights will not usually return for a long time, often not for weeks or months. But the exception has provided a clue about what causes those lights. On occasion, those strange flying lights appear two nights in a row, being photographed by the cameras, and on those pairs, two consecutive nights, that they come up at about the same time, or even at almost the exact same time, after sunset.

Marfa Lights Hunting

Take the years 2001-2002. Bunnell’s camera recordings in those two years were 2/9/2001, 1/31/2002, 3/31/2002, 10/30/2002, and 11/21/2002. That is only five recordings in those two calendar years (although there were two late in 2000 and one early in 2003). Months can pass between recordings of mystery lights in this part of southwest Texas.

In addition we need to know how varied the beginnings of recordings can be, as CE Marfa Lights first start glowing after sunset. For the five recordings in 2001 and 2002, the lights first seem to have appeared at the following hours and minutes after sunset: 0:52, 1:14, 0:30, 2:44, and 1:03.

The nights of July 14th and 15th, 2006, are one of the exceptions, not only in being consecutive nights but in when the lights first appeared: 38 and 37 minutes after sunset. It suggests the bioluminescent-flying-predators hypothesis has merit, for on those occasional nights when a group of predators has a very successful hunt, they would be predicted to return the next night at the same time, hoping for another successful hunt.

Although the hunting patterns appear to be too complex to analyze in detail, this one aspect can be understood within the perspective of a group of bioluminescent intelligent flying predators, flying creatures that on occasion have a successful-enough hunt that they return to the same area the next night, at about the same time after sunset.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

cryptozoology book "Live Pterosaurs in America" second edition

In Live Pterosaurs in America, read about the astonishing new theory about Marfa Lights in Texas: bioluminescent modern pterosaurs.

Live “pterodactyls?” In the United States? Many scientists have long assumed all pterosaurs died millions of years ago. Now take a whirlwind tour of many years of investigations in cryptozoology, and prepare for a shock: At least two pterosaur species have survived, uncommon, not so much rare as widely and thinly distributed. Nevertheless, they have been witnessed by many Americans.

Nocturnal pterosaurs have always lived among us, but hidden by something. Enter now the realm of a new branch of cryptozoology, a branch overshadowed by the dogma of a “universal extinction.” How did scientists miss living pterosaurs? Get the answers here, hidden secrets about how these amazing flying creatures of the night have gone mostly unreported: Until recently, almost nobody would listen to eyewitnesses; but for the past seven years many of them have been interviewed by the author of this book: Jonathan Whitcomb

Posted on

Occam’s Razor Shaves Marfa Lights

Pterosaur with glowing wing edges

The simplest theory, in science, is usually preferred to the more complex. So how does Occam’s Razor relate to Marfa Lights and possible nocturnal flying creatures in Texas? It depends on what hypothesis is competing with bioluminescent flying predators, even if those predators are living pterosaurs similar to the ropen of Papua New Guinea.

According to the Modern Pterosaur blog, by Norman Huntington (a pen name used by cryptozoology author Jonathan D. Whitcomb), a modern definition of Occam’s Razon is this: “When comparing two competing theories or hypotheses that make the same predictions, the simpler one is given priority.”

Whitcomb compares the “Electromagnetic Vortexes” hypothesis of James Bunnell with the bioluminescent-flying-predator hypothesis. Apparently the idea of a group of flying predators is a simpler concept than a combination of energetic vortexes and combustable sustances coming from the soil around Marfa, Texas.

Whitcomb does not even consider the hypothesis of car headlights, on his long post “Occam’s Razor and Marfa Lights,” for Bunnell has done years of research and found many mysterious lights that could not be from car headlights, even under the most extreme night-mirage conditions.

Of course pterosaurs are not the only possible flying predators, but the glowing flying creatures in Papua New Guinea are reported by eyewitnesses to have features much more like pterosaurs than any known bat or bird. Indeed, I have received eyewitness reports from eyewitness from around the world, and some of those reports include descriptions of glowing flying creatures.

Posted on

Bioluminescence and Marfa Lights

Many sea creatures have bioluminescence, but few flying creatures of the sky glow, at least according to what science textbooks tell us. The firefly is an exception. But what if the textbooks have overlooked a large flying creature that has been thought long extinct: a pterosaur? What if eyewitness accounts are correct about large glowing pterosaurs flying at night?

Pterosaur with glowing wing edges

A recent report, from a researcher and explorer, who has seen these nocturnal creatures himself, indicates one of the pterosaurs had a glow on the leading edge of the wings. One eyewitness described the bright glow from one wings. That light penetrated the other wing, detailing the inner structure of that wing for a moment. The eyewitness saw the semi-transparency of that wing. Amazing! The location is secret, but this secrecy may be temporary.

Marfa Lights and Min Mins

The puzzle cries for a solution; Mr. Hendricks and I agree. I respectfully disagree with his general assumption (something like an atmostpheric phenomenon, non-living). I credit him for his work, but credit the Marfa Lights to the flights of cryptids, notwithstanding they differ from flights of birds and bats. Why do they seem, at times, to dance? Why do two lights fly apart, then turn and fly back together? The dance sometimes appears complex but the purpose is simple. It’s just their technique: a way to catch bats.

Bioluminescence of Pterosaurs

(Note: popular scientific models in paleontology do not generally include speculation about bioluminescence or lack of it in pterosaurs represented by fossils, for bones do not have enough information)

Some eyewitnesses see glowing “pterodactyls” or a large or giant flying object that shines where large or giant pterosaurs have been seen to fly. . . . my associates and I believe the day will come when biology textbooks will include that subject. Future discoveries may reveal something about the biological chemistry involved, for it may differ from the bioluminescent of other organisms such as fireflies.

Texas Marfa Lights Mystery

. . . local residents have speculated about dancing devils or ghosts. Scientists have preferred something along the lines of ball lightning or earthlights, but all their scientific explanations have tripped over the resemblances to line dancing. . . . why do two lights horizontally separate for a long distance before coming back together?

All About Marfa Lights and Pterosaurs

They have been called dragons, fiery flying serpents, ropens, and pterosaurs. What about Marfa Lights? Those that fit into what Bunnell calls “CE-III” mystery lights characteristics—those lights behave like they were intelligent. Perhaps the old legends of crafty dragons are not 100% fictional.

Marfa Lights and Ropens

But eyewitnesses who have been brave enough to report a living pterosaur themselves live in various states of the U.S.A., including various parts of Texas and in New Mexico. Many of these sightings resemble those in  Papua New Guinea: feather-less flying creatures with head crests and long tails, and when long tails are seen, the end of the tail is often seen to have a structure suggesting the tail of a Rhamphorhynchoid pterosaur.

Posted on

More Marfa Lights

A cryptid may be responsible for the strange flying lights that have been called “dancing devils” by some residents of southwest Texas. The lights have been called “Marfa Lights” by most people but “CE-III ML” by the scientist James Bunnell, who has studied the phenomena for many years.

Those Mysterious Marfa Lights

Why should earth lights or atmospheric energies behave with intelligence? They should not. Yet the Marfa Lights, the ones labeled “CE-III” by the scientist James Bunnell, act like intelligent flying predators that hunt bats or other prey in this part of southwest Texas …

In fact, another scientist, Edson Hendricks of California, once saw a Marfa Light fly into a nearby bush and thrash about “like an animal” (although he has not yet, perhaps, come over into the opinion-camp of “bioluminescent flying predators”). Other eyewitnesses (of flying lights that would be labeled “CE-III” by Bunnell) report behavior suggesting intelligent direction.

That brings up Min Min lights, which have been studied by Fred Silcock for years. In Australia, some eyewitness report the flying glow to be from an owl, in particular the Great Owl, or what Americans call “Barn Owl.” The problem with connecting those lights with CE-III Marfa Lights is simple: CE-III lights fly with more intelligence than would come from a group of barn owls; in addition, the light is often too bright for Min Mins and sometimes flies too fast. Barn owls are not the answer.

Marfa Lights and Min Mins

The dance patterns of Marfa Lights resemble no flock of hunting barn owls. No, our old friend Tyto Alba cannot compete here and it dare not try. But it has illuminated part of the answer to the puzzle. The predators of Southern Texas show greater intelligence than most birds and some of them may be larger than any owl. This cryptid may be related to the ropen of Papua New Guinea (another nocturnal glowing flyer).

Something else votes for “bioluminescent flying predators” in southwest Texas. Over the past twelve months, more and more ideas have come up, ideas in harmony with an intelligent biological explanation for Marfa Lights. If the CE-III mystery lights were caused by non-living energies, evidence to the contrary would not accumulate. We need to be open to any eyewitnesses who have seen more, to those who may come forward with reports of apparent living pterosaurs in this part of Texas. Why not believe them, should they choose to come forward? We have many eyewitnesses of living pterosaurs that have flown over other areas of Texas and over New Mexico, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Georgia, and Florida. Why not Marfa, Texas?

Posted on

Marfa Lights and N.M. Pterosaurs

In the second edition of my nonfiction cryptozoology book Live Pterosaurs in America, on pages 61-62, I wrote about sightings of living pterosaurs in the state of New Mexico; but I don’t recall mentioning any details online. Having written more, online, about sightings in eastern Texas and in other Southern states (Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina in particular), it seems timely to now mention New Mexico, just west of Texas. How does all this relate to Marfa Lights? Since reports of living pterosaurs come from north, east, and southeast (Cuba) of southwest Texas, we could use a view to the west of Texas; if sightings of live pterosaur come from almost everywhere surrounding Marfa, Texas, why could not pterosaurs fly at night in that isolated area? Consider the words of the anonymous eyewitness I call “RA.,” of New Mexico.

. . . my name is [RA] . . . Fourteen years ago, in [Socorro], N.M., me and a close friend, who now has a masters in biology, were hiking during the midday sun at [a] box canyon and something blocked the sun for a moment. We both looked up to see what did that and saw a large flying animal.

It had a 20-30 foot wingspan and was about the same length long. It had a long tail with [a] seeming spike at the end. Its head was very pterodactyl shape with a fluted back pointy head.

After about fourteen years, this eyewitness saw a local news television broadcast about sightings of similar flying creatures in New Mexico. That sparked his memory and he got in touch with me. The important point here is that this almost completes the picture of pterosaur sightings surrounding southwest Texas (I don’t yet have direct contact with any eyewitness just south of Texas, in Mexico). Perhaps the reasons I have not yet received eyewitness sighting reports from Marfa is two-fold: Few humans live in that remote part of Texas, and few residents of Marfa would consider getting in touch with me even after seeing a living pterosaur.

Why would residents of Marfa (those local persons who had seen a living pterosaur) want to publicize the astonishing idea that modern pterosaurs fly over that land on some nights? Think about it. Which residents would be most likely to be close enough to get a clear enough view to realize a brightly glowing flying light is a pterosaur? A rancher, of course: a land owner. Who would want droves of spectators to crash down their fences and scare their cattle? Aren’t drug smugglers from Mexico enough trouble for land owners?

And the residents who could benefit from more tourists are those living in the town of Marfa itself, not those who live where the lights actually fly. Those who live in that town are much too far away to see the forms and features of what creates the lights. I believe all of that explains why I have not yet received a sighting report from this remote area of southwest Texas.

Posted on

Mysterious Marfa Lights

What marvelous Marfa Lights! “Story 17,” in the book Hunting Marfa Lights, tells about a “spectacular” sighting recorded by the author of the book, James Bunnell. Early on the night of May 7, 2003, several Marfa Lights made their appearance. Bunnell describes this as “the beginning of one of the most spectacular ML events I have recorded.”

The ML divided into two MLs and they then performed an interesting dance with each other . . . the right ML started moving rapidly to the west and continued its journey for miles . . . The left ML continued to oscillate and vary in brightness (pulsing) and exhibited interesting behavior . . . The right ML continued its journey west . . . [it] also divided into two MLs. They both continued . . . west for approximately ten miles, then both MLs reversed direction . . .

Other eyewitnesses, on other nights, have seen similar complex flying behavior of Marfa mystery lights: splittings, horizontal dances, and rejoinings. It sounds like Texans line dancing, but humans are not invited.

Surely this kind of flying light behavior suggests flying cryptids, bioluminescent crytids that may be related to the ropen of Papua New Guinea. In the southwest Pacific, strange flying lights are said to be from giant flying creatures. Some cryptozoologists believe the ropen is a Rhamphorhynchoid pterosaur, in spite of the widespread teachings about extinctions 65-million years ago.

Why believe that these strangley-flying Marfa Lights may be from bioluminescent pterosaurs? Eyewitnesses of living pterosaurs have seen those featherless flying creatures west, north, and east of Marfa, Texas.

Marfa Lights – Sarcasm or Soaring Predators?

“Predator” is the first word to consider with Marfa Lights. In general, those mystery lights that James Bunnell classifies as “CE-III” behave consistantly with the predator-interpretation, assuming large bioluminescent flying creatures can live in southwest Texas.

image_pdfimage_print