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.
