The Phoenix Lights
On one evening in March 1997 thousands of people watched a V-shaped formation of lights cross Arizona, and later a row of lights hang over Phoenix. The second event was explained as military flares; the first is still argued over.
- Date
- 13 March 1997
- Place
- Phoenix and the Sonoran Desert, Arizona, USA
- Witnesses
- Thousands across Arizona, including Governor Fife Symington
- Status
- Disputed
What happened
Between about 7:30 and 8:45 p.m. on 13 March 1997, witnesses from the Nevada line south through Prescott, Phoenix and Tucson reported a formation of five or more lights in a V or boomerang shape, moving silently and slowly south. Many described a dark shape between the lights that blotted out stars, and estimated it as enormous. Around 10 p.m. a second set of lights appeared in an arc over the Estrella mountains south-west of Phoenix, hung for several minutes, and winked out one by one. The second event was widely videotaped.
The object
Descriptions of the early formation ranged from a solid triangular craft a mile wide to a loose group of independent lights. No occupants were reported and no craft was seen at close range, so the Atlas does not attach a species to the case.
Aftermath
The story broke nationally in June 1997. Governor Fife Symington held a press conference at which an aide appeared in an alien costume, a joke that angered witnesses; in 2007 Symington said he had seen the object himself and believed it was not of this world. The lights became an annual talking point in Arizona and the subject of documentaries and books.
Explanations
The 10 p.m. lights were identified as LUU-2B/B illumination flares dropped by A-10 aircraft of the Maryland Air National Guard over the Barry Goldwater range during an exercise called Operation Snowbird; the timing, position and slow descent match. The earlier V formation is most often explained as a flight of A-10s or other aircraft flying in formation with navigation lights, an explanation supported by an amateur astronomer who watched the formation through a telescope and saw aircraft. Many witnesses reject that reading. The first event is best described as unresolved, the second as explained.
Sources
- Phoenix Lights
- Lynne D. Kitei, The Phoenix Lights (2004) Find on Amazon
Book links go to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, XenoAtlas earns from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. Every book the Atlas cites is shelved in the Reading Room.