Marfa Lights Viewing Center

Native American residents knew about Marfa Mystery Lights long before the first recorded sighting in 1883.Celebrate the mystery with us at the Marfa Lights Festival held each September on Labor Day Weekend. Activities include a daytime and night main street parade, food, arts and crafts booths, evening concerts, and street dances. The festival has become a Marfa tradition and a reunion time for former residents and natives.View this mysterious phenomenon any time after sunset at the Marfa Lights Viewing Area, nine miles east of Marfa on Highway 90. The Marfa Mystery Lights are viewable year round.  The Marfa Lights Viewing Area was designed by the Marfa High School Gifted and Talented students with the help of Texas Department of Transportation. The Marfa lights, also known as the Marfa ghost lights, have been observed near U.S. Route 67 on Mitchell Flat east of Marfa, Texas, in the United States. They have gained some fame as onlookers have ascribed them to paranormal phenomena such as ghosts, UFOs, or Will-o'-the-wisp, etc.  The first published account of the lights appeared in the July 1957 issue of Coronet Magazine, the earliest source for anecdotal claims that the lights date back to the 19th century. Reports often describe brightly glowing basketball-sized spheres floating above the ground, or sometimes high in the air. Colors are usually described as white, yellow, orange or red, but green and blue are sometimes reported. The balls are said to hover at about shoulder height, or to move laterally at low speeds, or sometimes, to shoot around rapidly in any direction. They often appear in pairs or groups, according to reports, to divide into pairs or to merge, to disappear and reappear, and sometimes to move in seemingly regular patterns. Their sizes are typically said to resemble soccer balls or basketballs. Sightings are reported occasionally and unpredictably, perhaps 10 to 20 times a year. There are no reliable reports of daytime sightings. According to the people who claim to have seen the lights, they may appear at any time of night, typically south of U.S. Route 90 and east of U.S. Route 67, five to fifteen miles southeast of Marfa, at unpredictable directions and apparent distances. They can persist from a fraction of a second to several hours. There is evidently no connection between appearances of the Marfa lights and anything else besides nighttime hours. They appear in all seasons of the year and in any weather, seemingly uninfluenced by such factors. They sometimes have been observed during late dusk and early dawn, when the landscape is dimly illuminated. The state notes the lights in travel maps, the city has erected a" viewing platform", and the Marfa Chamber of Commerce promotes the lights with a weekend-long Marfa Lights Festival held annually in the city's downtown.