The Marfa Lights are mysterious and unexplained lights that have been reported in the area for over one hundred years and have been the subject of many theories. The first recorded sighting was by rancher Robert Ellison in 1883. They have been variously explained as campfires, phosphorescent minerals, swamp gas, static electricity, St. Elmo's fire, and ghost lights, and they reportedly change colors, move about, and change in intensity. Scholars have reported over seventy-five local folk tales dealing with the unexplained phenomenon.