Living Nightmare: Attack in the Dead of Winter
Copyright 2010 Jonathan Whitcomb (Reproduce no more than the first three paragraphs, unless given permission to reproduce more. And please link to this page. Thank you. The following is no joke, although the findings have yet to be verified scientifically.)
The Nightmare
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. I am not the eyewitness, but a few days after this event, I interviewed my friend James, who had been driving through Southern Texas; he had stopped at the Marfa Lights viewing platform to see whatever he could.
James did not actually see the carnage. In fact, the attack I am about to describe might be only in my imagination; my critics could surely accuse me of dreaming. Indeed, my friend saw only strange lights, flying above the fields where countless spectators, for many years, have observed the dancing Marfa Lights. But this night was different.
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.
Marfa Lights, Strange Predators, and Bats
I dare not now describe to you, in detail, this attacker . . . not yet; it requires an introduction that includes the behavior of Marfa Lights. How they fly gives us no direct clue to the appearance of what causes them (yes, I believe they are physical things that glow). But the apparent dancing of those lights, their complex interactions with each other—that shows us they are more than just lights, and the glow and the motions may serve a purpose.
Why would one of the lights seem to divide in two? After dividing, the two lights separate, flying away from each other. They then turn back and fly towards each other, to the place where they divided. This pattern has repeated itself for years. But why? No explanation that involves inanimate objects seems even close to adequate. (I have spoken with a scientist who has investigated Marfa Lights for years and he is still puzzled by them.)
According to Sherlock Holmes, when the impossible has been eliminated, whatever is left, however improbable, is the answer. Marfa residents instinctively recognize an intelligence behind the dancing behavior. Don’t sing their lyrics of ghosts or demons, even if the human residents are serious about spooks (which is doubtful) and even if they want the mystery solved (most of them don’t). But we who have seen videos and read and heard descriptions of the light-splittings, separations, and reunions—we must recognize, for the sake of reason, what is left: intelligent direction of those dancing lights. Instead of dancing ghosts or demons, let’s try a different song in the same key.
UFO’s fall flat. No intelligent aliens would fly just above the bushes south of Marfa, Texas, every few weeks or so, for years beyond number; the bushes are not that interesting. The lights do suggest something like giant fireflies, but if giant insects existed they would not dance around in mating rituals every few months throughout the year. It seems that this leads us along another dirt road that ends in the same impassable canyon. Intelligent researchers have been swamped by swarms of explanations, but Marfa Lights appear to act intelligently, and one explanation after another has been shot down by lack of reasons for the lights’ behavior. Let’s walk down a different dirt road, one that may lead to a bat cave in a hill south of Marfa.
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