Marfa Lights | Live Pterosaur

August 31, 2013December 25, 2013

Comparing Interpretations of Marfa Lights

front cover of a nonfiction book by James Bunnell

We have an interesting selection here, for interpretations of Marfa Lights in Texas. Take your pick:

Ordinary car headlights
Extraordinary flying dinosaurs
Dancing ghosts
Effects of solar activity
Plasma related to geology

To narrow down the range, let’s get rid of something right away. No, not the flying dinosaurs, for the actual theory is more involved and credible than that title suggests. It’s #4, effects of solar activity.

But we need to begin with a specific definition of what we are calling “Marfa Lights.” For this post, let’s confine our definition to the two types called, by the scientist James Bunnell (author of Hunting Marfa Lights), CE-II and CE-III, both of which exhibit properties suggesting perhaps chemical or combustion properties with electromagnetic attributes:

CE-II: Stationary balls of light that turn on and off and sometimes multiply

CE-III: Same as CE-II but they travel above the desert foliage and below the appearance of background mesas

Solar Activity Irrelevant

In “Are Marfa Lights products of solar events?” by Bunnell, nine years of study made it plain: Activities of the sun had no relationship to human observations of the more mysterious of the lights around Marfa, Texas.

Car Headlights as “Marfa Lights”

Of course car headlights, from a reasonable distance, might appear mysterious under the right atmospheric conditions. But those sightings are irrelevant to the CE-III ML’s that James Bunnell has studied for many years. Car headlights do not fly over the bushes southeast of Marfa, Texas, with combustion-like eruptions. One CE-III was tracked, and it was seen to have flown about eleven miles where there was no road or highway. It was far above the desert floor. This was recorded by more than one video camera, at very different locations, eliminating any possibility of a mirage effect.

Dancing Ghosts

Some people call mysterious flying lights “ghost lights.” But until somebody can come up with some evidence to support this idea, it need not capture our attention or haunt our imagination.

Plasma Related to Geology

In the scientific paper (or “discussion”) “What is the source of Marfa Lights,” by Bunnell (2012), the case is made for plasma bubbles generated deep underground. The bubbles might rise to the surface through fault zones, and a good number of the sightings have been over fault zones.

But problems arise from the plasma bubble concept. Why do some of the objects divide in two, with those two separating for some distance before one of them reverses course 180 degrees and returns to the other one? The separation distances, if I understand correctly, are commonly significant, not just inches or a few feet but as much as hundreds of feet. If some force had the power to reunite two lights that had separated, why would not all of them begin that reunion when they were only inches apart or a few feet apart? If there is some attraction that causes some ML’s to return to each other, the power of the attraction would be far greater when they were close together.

Mr. Bunnell has shown, in his plasma-bubble discussion, that some ML’s fly along fault lines. He shows correlation but not cause for the CE-III flight behavior. I find his observations extremely valuable to future knowledge and understanding of the details of explanation; but for now, I find a plasma ball hard to swallow.

“Flying Dinosaurs” or at least nocturnal predators

Why would nocturnal bioluminescent flying predators line up their flights above faults lines. From Mr. Bunnell’s map in his scientific paper, I noticed those fault lines coincide with creeks, in particular Little Goat Creek and Walnut Creek. I have learned, from eyewitness testimonies, that apparent ropens in Southern California often fly near (or at least not very far from) storm channels or old creek beds. I see predatory purposes in those nocturnal flights.

The faults in the underground geology south of the Marfa Lights View Park surely caused the creek channels to form on the ground surface, but the faults themselves are not directly related to the CE-III lights that fly above them. At any rate, some of those CE-III ML’s fly, at times, where there is no fault beneath them.

An eyewitness observed glowing flying creatures in at least two sightings, in Pasadena, Texas, from late 2011 to early 2012, at least once with two flying creatures per sighting. In an email, he told me, “Do you know what they are? At first I thought they were bats but glowing bodies??? I don’t know what else to think… Other than luminescent pterosaurs . . . . they were glowing red-orange”

Conclusion

The best explanation, strange as it sounds, is that most, if not all, of the CE-II and CE-III Marfa Lights in southwest Texas are from the bioluminescent glow of a group of nocturnal flying predators, maybe even if that means pterosaurs.

Marfa Lights Explanation

The author of Hunting Marfa Lights, James Bunnell, said nothing about the following theory in his book. I informed him of part of my theory early in 2010, after the publication of his Hunting Marfa Lights.

Living Pterosaur in Mexico

Mexicans may use their own word for “bird” (pajaro in Spanish) when referring to a large featherless flying creature. And why should those apparent pterosaurs avoid Mexico when they have been seen in Cuba? [And Marfa, Texas, is not too far from the border with Mexico, within flying distance.]

Living Nightmare: Attack in the Dead of Winter

What could be worse than any nightmare? In the dead of night, you are awakened by what you fear most, glaring down at you. To humans, this monster should not even exist except in a dream. This one is real. Race out of your bedroom; it’s after you. Race out the front door; it follows. Search for a place to hide; it’s too late. You are exposed, surrounded by many monsters ready to feast. You have fallen into their trap. Your family is scattered, chased across the freezing countryside. You are alone. You are Eptesicus fuscus, a Big Brown Bat.

Professors Versus Modern Flying Dinosaurs

The extinction of all species of dinosaurs and pterosaurs has been taken for granted for generations of Americans; ask any kindergartner. But a recent survey of biology professors has revealed some doubt about pterosaur extinctions.

Modern Pterosaur Expert

I have no desire to beat dead fossil bones into dust; paleontology has a critical role in understanding pterosaurs. . . . however, I still lift up the modern eyewitness, pointing to the human experience of encountering a modern pterosaur. But does that make me a pterosaur expert?

Cover of nonfiction book by the scientist James Bunnell

May 30, 2012

Pterosaurs – From Cryptozoology to Zoology

What will it take for a species of modern living pterosaur to graduate from cryptozoology to zoology? An important step for that flying creature will be videotaping a natural activity, such as catching food.

How does the ropen of Umbo Island carry a heavy giant clam from a reef to the shore? How I would love to videotape that! We have learned from natives on the southern coast that the large clam shells that they find there were not brought up from the reef by the natives but by the ropen. But how the nocturnal flying creature carrys them—that is the mystery.

How does the ropen’s bioluminescence work? We have video footage from Paul Nation and from the Destination Truth team, recorded in 2006 and 2007 respectively. We know that the flying lights are not meteors or airplane lights. We have received reports that different parts of the flying creature’s body can glow independently. How I would love to videotape that in detail!

Are Marfa Lights the bioluminescent glow of nocturnal flying predators, a species similar to the ropen of Papua New Guinea? How we need video footage that shows the wings of those predators beating the air!

Does the “Gitmo Pterosaur” of Cuba feed on rats in the palm trees at night? We need more than speculation; we need video footage of that activity.

When we have detailed, clear video evidence for any of the above activities, then a modern living pterosaur will be in the graduation line, perhaps next to the Bigfoot. But each one needs to carry that diploma at the end of the ceremony: Clear videotaped evidence of a natural activity.

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Teradactyl

In the scientific paper “Reports of Living Pterosaurs in the Southwest Pacific” we read (in a peer-reviewed journal):

“In 2004 I interviewed Duane Hodgkinson, of Montana . . . He and an army friend were in a jungle clearing west of Finschhafen . . . in 1944 . . . something ‘huge’ took off into the air from the far side of the clearing. The creature ran to their left, taking six to ten steps to get airborne . . .”

Marfa Lights – Living Nightmare – Attack in the Dead of Winter

“Remember your worst nightmare? Were you glad to wake up? Be grateful. In the early morning hours of February 23, 2010, a few miles or so southwest of Marfa, Texas, the victims were terrified by what awakened them.” [speculation on possible nocturnal flying predators that feed on bats]

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August 15, 2011August 19, 2013

Bioluminescent Barn Owls

The other day I received a package from Australia, from Fred Silcock, who is probably the world’s leading expert on intrinsic bioluminescence in Barn Owls. One item in the package was a copy of an article from BBC Wildlife. But how do barn owls relate to reports of a live pterosaur? It’s the bioluminescence, or at least the hypothesis that both Tyto Alba and modern pterosaurs glow at night, especially when they fly.

BBC Wildlife Article by Richard Mabey (December, 2009, issue)

[The will-o’-the-wisp] was once frequently seen in marshy areas, and I’ve found records for the Waveney Valley where I live. None [of the records] are later than the 1830’s . . . the floating and bouncing, the eerie motion against the wind. One Norfolk fenman remarked that it “flew like an owl.”

But this spring an Australian reader of BBC Wildlife, Fred Silcock, sent me a copy of his self-published book about will-o’-the-wisps Down Under, where they’re called Min Min Lights. It’s based on more than 600 first-hand accounts, and ends with an extraordinary theory about their origins.

Mabey mentioned how Silcock obtained physical evidence for Barn Owl bioluminescence: “He commissioned histological examinations of a number of road-kill barn owls . . . [examinations] revealed dermal structures bearing similarities to known organs of luminescence found in some fish species.”

The Min Min Light (nonfiction book by Silcock, revised edition)

From page 49:

Eddie Sutton of Logan, Victoria, told me of a walk around the farm he took with his grandfather one day . . . when Eddie was a boy. They came upon a dead bird, which Eddie said he later believed was a Barn Owl. ‘That looks like the bird that lights itself up,’ said grandfather.

Eddie’s grandfather, long ago, once went to sleep on a haystack. He was awakened by a bright light next to him. The light rose quickly and flew away, revealing itself as a bird.

From page 50:

“The wife was with me [Mantung, South Australia] and we went into a paddock . . . we saw a bright orange light shoot up from the ground and hover over the trees . . . about 150 metres away. As we got closer the light came down and settled into the canopy of one tree. After a minute or so the light shut off and sitting where it had been was a white owl . . . The Barn Owl is white, isn’t it?” (words of Dennis Stasinowsky)

Marfa Lights of Texas (differs from Min Min and will-o’-the-wisp)

Residents around this part of the state, human residents, see some evidence of intelligence in these lights; that’s why they are called “dancing devils.” Along with that, Mr. Bunnell, one of the world’s leading authorities on the “ML’s” (mystery lights) has been amazed by their complexity. It seems that the scientists, including Bunnell, have no good explanation for that complexity. Non-living entities are deficient, entirely deficient, in any reasonable way, when it comes to reasons for dancing lights, and the dancing are far too complex.

May 9, 2011November 19, 2011

Fiery Flying Serpent and Flying Dragons

Translators of the King James Version of the Bible, centuries ago, lived before the English language had the words “dinosaur” and “pterosaur,” so don’t expect to find either word in an old Bible. The translators did their best in translating an interesting Old Testament phrase into English: “fiery flying serpent.” Some Bible commentators have suggested that the animals that were called by that title were actually venomous snakes whose bite caused a burning sensation in the wound of the victim and whose strike was so fast that it was called “flying.” There are serious problems, however, with that interpretation. It assumes that two of the three words were ill-chosen. But what if “serpent” was the inaccurate word? What if a venomous bioluminescent flying creature was called by the ancient Israelites “serpents” (snakes) because their long featherless tails made them somewhat snake-like when their wings were curled up during non-flight, when they were at rest? It is a simpler interpretation to assume only one of three words is very imprecise, rather than two.

Fiery Flying Serpent and Marfa Lights

What about the Fiery Flying Serpent? For Moses, when the Israelites needed to be healed from venom, what would have been the worst possible choice of an animal image to use as a symbol, to strengthen the faith of the people of God? How obvious! Use anything except the image of a snake, for that animal relates to Satan in the Garden of Eden.

I’ve written much about my investigations over the past eight years, much of it concerning the testimonies of eyewitnesses whom I have interviewed (more recently concerning conjectures about Marfa Lights). From various countries, various languages, various cultures, and various religions, these common persons simply tell me about their encounters with flying creatures that have various names. Most of the flying creatures are described with long tails, and most eyewitnesses have various degrees of certainty about the absence of feathers. Those two factors alone suggest living pterosaurs.

New View on the Fiery Flying Serpent

In our modern technical world, we are struck by an ancient Hebrew phrase. “Fiery flying serpent,” directly interpreted, appears unconnected with any living thing, or at least unclassified by modern standard biology as living at the time of Moses. Some Bible scholars have assumed that a story of anything like a flying fire-breathing dragon could not have come from any real animal. Thus, to avoid a strange direct interpretation, we’ve been fed indirect meanings for “fiery” and “flying.”

I sometimes come across the word “dragon” in a communication with an eyewitness of what I suspect or believe was a live pterosaur, for example, the glowing dragon observed in England in 1987 or 1988 (I received an email from the eyewitness). In 2004, during my expedition trip to Papua New Guinea, I heard about the dragon called “Wawanar” by an old sailor. But most eyewitness use another word, like “dinosaur bird.” Of course, eyewitnesses usually mean neither a dinosaur nor a bird, but that’s a phrase that may come to mind.