Parked just off a dusty dirt track maybe ten miles from the border with Mexico, I noticed headlights getting larger. Border Patrol approached and engaged me for border patrol reasons. After a brief conversation, asked me, "do you have a gun with you?" I said, "no, I don't." He then responded, "you know, you really shouldn't be out here without a gun." He added, "we've had a lot of dangerous activity in the area," and then drove off. I stood in the dark and watched his tail lights become smaller, then fade, then disappear. So I hiked back forty yards or so to where my camera was set up, lens open, still doing its thing. Somehow I felt not quite alone out there. After maybe another 20 quiet minutes, maybe 100 yards away I noticed a small flare shoot upward. I thought hmmm, not huge and not overly bright, but way too close, I think that might have been meant only for me to see. I'm thinking whoever shot that off, probably wanted to know if I am "the pick up," for whatever. That was by then, plenty enough creep for me. I shut the camera off, gathered up my gear, my tripod and along with the hairs on the back of my neck, scurried like a third grader and got the hell out of there. That might be the explanation for the star trails being so short.