Phoenix Lights photograph from 13 March 1997

ARIZONA · 13 MARCH 1997

The Phoenix Lightswere two different events.

The famous 10 p.m. videos show the later event — not the earlier moving V. The evidence becomes much cleaner when 13 March 1997 is split into two sequences: an earlier southbound formation reported across Arizona, and a later row of lights south-west of Phoenix strongly explained by military illumination flares.

AUTHENTIC INCIDENT IMAGE · 13 MARCH 1997 · NO AI / NO RECONSTRUCTION

INCIDENT MEDIA · Photograph identified as Phoenix Lights imagery from 13 March 1997, hosted on Wikimedia Commons. It is used as authentic case imagery, not as proof that every reported light belonged to one solid craft. The earlier moving formation and later 10 p.m. light sequence remain analytically separate.

~20:16first northern call

~22:00later filmed lights

2 EVENTSmust stay separate

13 MAR 1997mass-sighting case

01 / THE KEY

Phoenix only makes sense when you split the night in two.

The UAP Map research identifies event conflation as the central problem in this case. The earlier sequence moved south from northern Arizona toward Phoenix and beyond. The later sequence was a largely stationary line of lights south-west of the city.

The famous imagery belongs overwhelmingly to the later event. That means it cannot be used as visual proof of the earlier V-shaped or boomerang-like reports.

EVENT A · EARLIER

The moving formation

A report from Henderson, Nevada shortly before 8 p.m. is often placed at the front of the wider chronology. Beginning around 8:16 p.m., the first widely cited NUFORC hotline call came from a former police officer near Paulden, followed within minutes by reports from Prescott, Prescott Valley and later locations farther south. Witnesses described clusters or formations of lights moving through the state. Descriptions included V shapes, triangles, separate lights and, in some later accounts, an enormous dark object.

STATUS · PARTLY UNRESOLVED · AIRCRAFT FORMATION REMAINS A SERIOUS POSSIBILITY

Named witness cluster: the Tim Ley family

The Ley family became one of the best-known Phoenix-area witness groups for the earlier moving formation. Their shared observation is important, but four people at one location are not four fully independent measurements. They share viewpoint, timing, local conditions and the possibility of mutual influence while interpreting the same display.

EVENT B · LATER

The line over Phoenix

Around 10 p.m., a line of bright lights appeared south-west of Phoenix and was filmed from several locations. This is the visual sequence most people recognise as “the Phoenix Lights.” Military illumination flares over the Barry Goldwater Range provide a strong explanation.

STATUS · STRONGLY EXPLAINED BY FLARES

📖 The Full Story

What happened on March 13, 1997 — drawn from the case file on The UAP Map.

On March 13, 1997, thousands of witnesses across Arizona, Nevada, and Sonora (Mexico) reported seeing two distinct phenomena: a V-shaped or boomerang-shaped formation of lights passing over the state from Nevada through Phoenix to Tucson (approximately 8:00–8:45 PM), and a row of stationary or slowly-falling lights over Phoenix at approximately 10:00 PM.

The first event — the V-formation — was seen across a 300-mile path. Witnesses described a massive craft, some saying it blocked out stars as it passed overhead. The Tim Ley family reported the formation passing just 100–150 feet above their home, describing a 60-degree carpenter's square shape with five embedded lights. Actor Kurt Russell, piloting a private plane into Phoenix, saw the V-formation and reported it to air traffic control — creating one of the first official logs of the phenomenon.

The second event — the 10 PM lights — was the most widely photographed and videotaped part of the incident. A row of brilliant lights appeared to hover over Phoenix, then "winked out" one by one as they descended behind the Sierra Estrella mountain range. This is the image most people picture when they hear "Phoenix Lights."

The 10 PM lights were later identified as military flares — LUU-2B/B illumination flares dropped by A-10 Warthog aircraft from the Maryland Air National Guard's 104th Fighter Squadron during Operation Snowbird training at the Barry Goldwater Range. Lt. Col. Ed Jones confirmed in 2007 that he flew one of the flare-dropping A-10s.

The 8 PM V-formation remains disputed. Skeptics argue it was high-altitude A-10 aircraft in formation, supported by amateur astronomer Mitch Stanley's telescope observation of individual planes. Proponents argue it was a single massive craft, pointing to witnesses like Governor Fife Symington — who publicly mocked the case at a 1997 press conference, then said in 2007 that he had personally witnessed the earlier formation and regarded it as extraordinary. His later statement is historically important, but it is retrospective testimony rather than a contemporaneous instrument record.

Sources: NUFORC witness reports; Lt. Col. Ed Jones confirmation (2007); Governor Fife Symington testimony (CNN, 2007); Mitch Stanley telescope observation; The Arizona Republic (July 1997); Skeptical Inquirer (2015, 2016); Dr. Lynne Kitei documentation. Evidence types include thousands of eyewitness accounts, photographs, video footage, a sitting governor's testimony, a celebrity pilot's ATC report, and an amateur astronomer's instrumented observation.

⚡ The Two Events

The single most important fact for understanding the Phoenix Lights: this was not one event, but two — occurring ~2 hours apart, caused by different flights. Conflating them is the primary source of confusion.

The Phoenix Lights incident is widely misunderstood because it actually consists of TWO separate, unrelated events occurring ~2 hours apart on March 13, 1997. Both were caused by Air National Guard activities under Operation Snowbird, but they were different flights with different phenomena. Conflating the two is the primary source of confusion in the public debate.

🔷 Event 1: The V-Formation

8:00 – 8:45 PM MST ⚠️ Disputed

A V-shaped or boomerang-shaped formation of lights was seen traveling from Henderson, Nevada, through Paulden and Prescott Valley, Arizona, over Phoenix, and toward Tucson. Witnesses across a ~300 mile path reported seeing a large V-shaped craft with five lights. Some described a massive solid structure blocking out stars. The formation passed over Phoenix between 8:15 and 8:45 PM.

Official explanation: Five A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft from Operation Snowbird flying in formation at high altitude under visual flight rules. Military aircraft are exempt from FAA collision-light requirements, so they displayed steady formation lights, appearing as a single V-shaped object to ground observers. Amateur astronomer Mitch Stanley confirmed through his telescope that these were individual aircraft.

Key Facts

Seen from Nevada through Phoenix to Tucson (~300 miles)
Witnesses describe a V-shape / carpenter's square / boomerang
Tim Ley family reported close pass at 100-150 feet altitude
Mitch Stanley's telescope observation showed individual high-altitude planes
Kurt Russell reported it to ATC while flying
Governor Symington later claimed to have witnessed this event
A-10s landed at Davis-Monthan AFB at ~8:45 PM per skeptical analysis

🔴 Event 2: The Flares

10:00 – 10:30 PM MST ✓ Explained

A row of brilliant stationary or slowly-falling lights appeared over Phoenix at approximately 10:00 PM. Numerous photographs and videos were taken - this is the most widely documented part of the incident and what most people picture when they hear 'Phoenix Lights.' The lights appeared to hover, then 'wink out' one by one.

Official explanation: LUU-2B/B illumination flares dropped by four A-10 aircraft from the Maryland Air National Guard's 104th Fighter Squadron, on a training exercise at the Barry Goldwater Range. Confirmed by Lt. Col. Ed Jones in 2007. The flares appeared to hover due to heat-induced 'balloon effect' on parachutes, and disappeared as they fell behind the Sierra Estrella mountain range.

Key Facts

Most widely photographed/videotaped part of the incident
Maryland ANG 104th Fighter Squadron confirmed responsibility
Lt. Col. Ed Jones confirmed he flew one of the flare-dropping A-10s
Maryland ANG 2000 history publication asserted squadron responsibility
First reported by The Arizona Republic in July 1997
LUU-2B/B flare luminosity at 50-70 miles matches observed brightness
Sierra Estrella mountains caused sequential light disappearance
Local TV later compared known flare drops with Phoenix Lights footage - visually similar

🔀 Why They Get Confused

Most people saw only ONE of the two events but assumed they were the same phenomenon
Media coverage often used footage of the 10 PM flares while discussing the 8 PM V-formation
The 8 PM event had fewer photographs (most famous photos/videos are of the 10 PM flares)
Governor Symington's testimony about a 'massive craft' likely refers to Event 1, but is often shown alongside Event 2 footage
Proponent books and documentaries (Kitei) sometimes blend the two events
The fact that both events involved the same military organization (Operation Snowbird) but different aircraft/squadrons adds complexity
Skeptics agree Event 2 was flares; the genuine debate is about Event 1 (the V-formation)

02 / EVENT A

The reports moved south.

~20:16
PAULDEN

First NUFORC call

A former police officer and family report red-orange lights, with several leading lights appearing V-like and another trailing behind.

EARLY · MOVING · NORTHERN ARIZONA

~20:17
PRESCOTT

Bright white lights

Calls from Prescott and Prescott Valley describe four or five bright lights passing overhead; some observers form a triangular impression.

FORMATION REPORTS CONTINUE SOUTH

~20:30–21:00
PHOENIX

The city sees something pass

Witnesses across the valley report moving lights or a formation. Descriptions vary substantially in number, colour, apparent size and whether the lights belonged to one body.

MASS TESTIMONY · VARIABLE GEOMETRY

LATER
SOUTH

Reports continue toward Tucson

The broad chronology places related moving-light reports farther south after the Phoenix-area sequence, though exact track reconstruction remains incomplete.

REGIONAL EVENT · NOT ONE FIXED VIEWPOINT

This is the part people still argue about.

Aircraft flying in formation at night can generate an apparent V and can produce very large size estimates when distance is unknown. But the surviving witness corpus is too variable and incompletely timestamped to reduce every early report to one demonstrated flight formation.

⏱️ Timeline

From the first sighting in Nevada at 7:55 PM through the flare confirmation, the governor's reversal, and Kurt Russell's revelation — twenty key moments across two decades.

March 13, 1997, ~7:55 PM MST

First sighting: A witness in Henderson, Nevada, reports seeing a large V-shaped object traveling southeast.

March 13, 1997, ~8:15 PM MST

Unidentified former police officer in Paulden, Arizona, reports cluster of reddish-orange lights over the southern horizon. Lights then reported over Prescott Valley, Arizona.

March 13, 1997, ~8:15-8:30 PM MST

Tim Ley and family in Phoenix observe the V-shaped formation approaching from ~65 miles away, then passing overhead at reported 100-150 feet. They describe a 60-degree carpenter's square shape with five embedded lights.

March 13, 1997, ~8:30-8:45 PM MST

Witnesses in Glendale (suburb NW of Phoenix) see the formation pass overhead at high altitude, obscured by thin clouds. Amateur astronomer Mitch Stanley in Scottsdale observes the lights through his telescope and identifies them as individual high-altitude airplanes in formation. Actor Kurt Russell, piloting a private plane, reports the lights to Phoenix Sky Harbor ATC.

March 13, 1997, ~8:45 PM MST

The V-formation continues south toward Tucson. The A-10 formation lands at Davis-Monthan AFB (per skeptical analysis).

March 13, 1997, ~10:00 PM MST

EVENT 2: A row of brilliant stationary/slowly-falling lights appears over Phoenix. Numerous photographs and videos are taken. This is the most widely documented part of the incident.

March 13, 1997, ~10:00-10:30 PM MST

The 10 PM lights appear to 'wink out' one by one as they descend behind the Sierra Estrella mountain range southwest of Phoenix.

Days after March 13, 1997

Media coverage begins. Local TV stations and The Arizona Republic run stories. USA Today publishes a drawing of the V-shaped object on June 18, 1997. CNN covers the story on June 19, 1997.

Spring 1997

Governor Fife Symington holds a press conference mocking the event, presenting an aide in an alien costume saying 'they found who was responsible.'

July 1997

The Arizona Republic first reports that the Maryland Air National Guard's 104th Fighter Squadron was responsible for the 10 PM flare drop.

1997-2000

Phoenix City Councilwoman Frances Barwood interviews over 700 witnesses and pushes for investigation at city, state, and federal levels - receives no official response.

2000

Maryland Air National Guard publishes an official history (by Ronald Ball) asserting the 104th Fighter Squadron was responsible for the Phoenix Lights incident.

2004

Dr. Lynne Kitei publishes 'The Phoenix Lights: A Skeptic's Discovery That We Are Not Alone.'

2005

Documentary film 'The Phoenix Lights...We Are Not Alone' is released, produced by Dr. Lynne Kitei and Steve Lantz, featuring astronaut Edgar Mitchell and Governor Fife Symington.

March 2007

Governor Fife Symington publicly admits he witnessed the lights on March 13, 1997, calling them 'otherworldly.' Lt. Col. Ed Jones confirms he flew one of the A-10s that dropped flares that night.

February 6, 2007

New lights reported over Phoenix and recorded by local Fox News station - attributed to F-16 flares from Luke AFB training.

April 21, 2008

More lights reported over Phoenix - later confirmed to be flares attached to helium balloons released by a civilian from his backyard, confirmed by police helicopter.

2010

Leslie Kean publishes 'UFOs: Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials Go on the Record,' including Phoenix Lights coverage and Symington's testimony.

2015-2017

Multiple films released: 'The Phoenix Incident' (2015, sci-fi), 'The Phoenix Tapes 97' (2016), 'Phoenix Forgotten' (2017). Donald Prothero and Timothy Callahan publish skeptical analysis in 'UFOs, Chemtrails, and Aliens: What Science Says' (2017).

March 2017

20th anniversary coverage. Kurt Russell publicly reveals he was the pilot who reported the lights to ATC in 1997.

👁️ Key Witnesses

Eight witnesses including a sitting governor, a Hollywood actor, an amateur astronomer, a physician, a city councilwoman, a military pilot, and a family who reported a close pass. Each with a credibility assessment.

Fife Symington III

🏛️ Governor Witness

Governor of Arizona (1991-1997)

Witnessed the V-shaped formation on March 13, 1997. As a former Air Force pilot, he stated the object was 'bigger than anything I have ever seen.' Initially mocked the event with an alien-costume press conference, but in 2007 admitted he had personally witnessed the lights.

Credibility: Very high - sitting governor and former Air Force officer. His 2007 reversal added significant credibility to the case. However, skeptics note his 1997 press conference may have been an attempt to prevent public panic.

Lynne D. Kitei, M.D.

Physician (chief wellness officer, Banner Health) and health educator

Photographed and videotaped the lights from her home in Phoenix. She documented the phenomenon extensively over years, published a book, and produced an award-winning documentary. She reported seeing the lights multiple times, not just on March 13.

Credibility: High - medical professional with scientific training. However, skeptics argue her sustained involvement transformed her from neutral witness to advocate, potentially biasing her interpretation.

Mitch Stanley

🔬 Key Skeptical Witness

Amateur astronomer (Scottsdale, Arizona)

Observed the 8:15 PM V-formation through his telescope. He reported seeing individual airplanes flying in formation at high altitude, NOT a single solid craft. His observation is one of the key pieces of skeptical evidence.

Credibility: High - he used a telescope (10-inch reflector) to directly observe the lights, providing the most instrumented observation of the V-formation. Skeptics consider this the most important single observation. Proponents argue his observation does not disprove other witnesses' accounts of a solid craft at different altitudes/times.

Frances Barwood

Phoenix City Council member (1995-2000)

Barwood did not personally witness the lights but became the only public official to formally investigate. She personally interviewed over 700 witnesses and pushed for city, state, and federal inquiries. She reported being stonewalled by all levels of government.

Credibility: Very high - elected official who systematically collected witness testimony. Her account of government stonewalling is itself significant. She reported that witnesses described a massive structured craft, not just lights.

Tim Ley (and family: wife Bobbi, son Hal, grandson Damien Turnidge)

Private citizens, Phoenix area

First saw the lights approximately 65 miles away. They reported seeing five separate lights in an arc that gradually formed an upside-down V shape. As the object passed overhead (100-150 feet above them), they described seeing a 60-degree carpenter's square shape with five embedded lights. The object moved slowly and silently.

Credibility: Moderate-high - multiple family members corroborated each other's accounts. Their detailed description of the close-pass (very low altitude) is among the most dramatic claims. Skeptics argue the close-distance/low-altitude perception is unreliable without instrumentation.

Kurt Russell

⭐ Celebrity Witness

Actor and amateur pilot

Was piloting a private aircraft approaching Phoenix on March 13, 1997. He and his flight companion saw the V-shaped lights and Russell reported them to air traffic control (Phoenix Sky Harbor). His report was one of the first official logs of the phenomenon.

Credibility: High - he reported it to ATC at the time, creating an official record. He did not publicize his involvement until 2017, suggesting no motive for self-promotion at the time.

Unidentified former police officer (Paulden, Arizona)

Former law enforcement, Paulden, AZ

At 8:15 PM, reported seeing a cluster of reddish-orange lights disappear over the southern horizon from Paulden, Arizona - one of the earliest reported sightings along the path of the V-formation.

Credibility: Moderate-high - law enforcement background, but name not publicly confirmed in all sources.

Lt. Col. Ed Jones

✈️ Military Confirmation

Maryland Air National Guard pilot, 104th Fighter Squadron

Confirmed in March 2007 that he flew one of the A-10 aircraft that dropped flares on the night of March 13, 1997, during Operation Snowbird training at the Barry Goldwater Range. His confirmation established the military origin of the 10 PM lights.

Credibility: Very high - military pilot with official records. His confirmation is the primary evidence for Event 2 being flares.

05 / INCIDENT MEDIA

Use the cameras from that night — not invented imagery.

The visual record is imperfect, but it exists. The images below are identified in an early archive as still frames from amateur video recorded on 13 March 1997. They are shown as event evidence, not as proof that a single solid craft is visible in every frame.

Chuck Rearden amateur video still, Phoenix Lights, 13 March 1997 — **CHUCK REARDEN · 13 MARCH 1997**Still frame identified by an early case archive as witness Chuck Rearden's amateur video from Apache Junction.

Mike Krysten amateur video still, Phoenix Lights, 13 March 1997 — **MIKE KRYSTEN · 13 MARCH 1997**Still frame identified as Mike Krysten's amateur video looking toward Phoenix. Associated with the later light sequence.

Dr X amateur video still, Phoenix Lights, 13 March 1997 — **DR. “X” · 13 MARCH 1997**More distant video still identified in the same archive as material from Village Labs.

IMAGE RULE FOR THIS PAGE: no AI images, no synthetic V-shaped craft, and no modern cityscape presented as evidence. Where an image is a video still, reconstruction, or contextual comparison, the caption says so explicitly.

Still frame from Chuck Rearden amateur video, Phoenix Lights, 13 March 1997

THE GEOGRAPHY MATTERS

What the cameras actually recorded.

The surviving visual record is dominated by points of light rather than a clean daylight craft image. That limitation is important: the videos are genuine evidence of lights in the sky, but they do not by themselves establish the size, distance or physical structure described by some witnesses.

INCIDENT MEDIA · Still frame identified in an early archive as Chuck Rearden's amateur video from Apache Junction on 13 March 1997. Not AI or a reconstruction.

03 / THE PEOPLE

A mass sighting produces hundreds of different cameras: human ones.

HOTLINE WITNESSES

NUFORC callers

Real-time and near-real-time telephone reports are the most useful way to recover the early chronology because they were made before the case became a national legend.

CITY HALL

Frances Barwood

The Phoenix city council member publicly pushed for answers after hearing from constituents and became one of the political faces of the case.

GOVERNOR

Fife Symington

As governor, he initially mocked the event publicly with an alien-costume press gag. Years later he said he had personally witnessed an enormous unidentified craft-like object.

MILITARY

Air National Guard crews

A-10 training activity over the Barry Goldwater Range became central to the explanation of the later lights. That military event must not be back-projected onto every earlier sighting.

EVENT A · THE AIRCRAFT QUESTION

The strongest conventional challenge to the earlier V is not the flare explanation.

For the earlier moving formation, the serious alternative is a high-altitude aircraft formation. Skeptical reconstructions associated with analyst Tim Printy place a possible formation at roughly 35,000–40,000 ft and around 300–450 mph; those figures are an analytical model, not a contemporaneous measured track. The most important witness in that argument is amateur astronomer Mitch Stanley, who said he viewed the formation through a 10-inch Dobsonian telescope at roughly 60× and saw separate aircraft lights rather than one solid object.

That observation deserves more weight than a generic “planes” explanation because it was made through an optical instrument during the event. It is still one witness account, not a surviving photograph or instrument recording.

Video associated with Terry Proctor is also important because analysts argue that individual lights change relative position after roughly 43 seconds — behaviour more compatible with separate aircraft than fixed lights on one rigid structure. The surviving public copies and exact provenance, however, are not clean enough to turn that argument into a closed identification.

The aircraft hypothesis must still account for reports of a very large dark silhouette, apparent low altitude, silence and slow passage. Those details vary sharply from witness to witness and should not be merged into one perfect craft.

What would close Event A?

A convincing solution needs a named aircraft formation, route, timing and geometry that matches the early north-to-south reports — not merely the fact that military aircraft were operating in Arizona that night.

THE GAP BETWEEN THE EVENTS

Roughly two hours separate the moving formation from the famous flare footage.

~20:00–20:45

Event A moves south

Reports progress from Nevada / northern Arizona through Paulden, Prescott and the Phoenix area toward southern Arizona.

~20:45–22:00

No single continuous filmed object bridges the gap

The public evidential record does not show one tracked craft continuously linking the earlier moving formation to the later lights.

~22:00

Event B is filmed

The famous stationary row appears south-west of Phoenix and is strongly matched to illumination flares over the Barry Goldwater Range.

04 / EVENT B

The later lights have a much stronger answer.

A-10 aircraft releasing flares — **REAL AIR NATIONAL GUARD IMAGE · A-10 FLARES** Public-domain military photograph showing how bright flare points can appear separated from the aircraft that released them. This is contextual imagery, not the 1997 drop.

~22:00 · SOUTH-WEST OF PHOENIX

Illumination flares descend behind the mountains.

Military training placed A-10 aircraft from the Maryland Air National Guard’s 104th Fighter Squadron over the Barry Goldwater Range south-west of Phoenix during Operation Snowbird. LUU-2 illumination flares descend under parachutes, burn intensely and can appear to hover from a distant city viewpoint.

Terrain is crucial. Multi-video comparisons place the later lights above the training-range direction, and as individual flares descend behind the Sierra Estrella / Estrella Mountains they disappear one by one — behaviour that gives the 10 p.m. flare explanation unusually strong geometric support.

This does not explain the earlier moving formation because the timing and geography are different.

THE LATER VIDEO IS NOT EVIDENCE FOR THE EARLIER V.

Diagram of a typical LUU-2B illumination flare

ILLUMINATION FLARE MECHANISM. A typical air-dropped flare descends under parachute while producing intense light. The diagram is public-domain contextual material; it is not a reconstruction of the exact 1997 load.

📂 Official Responses

Nine government and official responses — from Luke AFB's initial denial to the Maryland ANG's flare confirmation, the governor's alien costume press conference, and his 2007 admission that he witnessed the lights himself.

📋

Luke AFB official response (March 1997)

Luke Air Force Base public affairs

Luke AFB initially stated there was no U.S. Air Force activity in the area that could account for the lights. They did not claim responsibility for the 10 PM lights - the flare drop was actually from Maryland Air National Guard A-10s operating out of Davis-Monthan AFB, not Luke.

📋

Maryland Air National Guard flare drop confirmation (July 1997 / March 2007)

Maryland Air National Guard / The Arizona Republic

In July 1997, The Arizona Republic first reported that the Maryland ANG's 104th Fighter Squadron was responsible for the flare drop. Lt. Col. Ed Jones, a Maryland ANG pilot, confirmed in a March 2007 media query that he flew one of the A-10s that dropped flares on the night of March 13, 1997. A 2000 Maryland ANG history publication asserted the squadron was responsible for the incident.

View source →

📋

U.S. Air Force explanation: LUU-2B/B illumination flares

U.S. Air Force

The Air Force explained that the 10 PM lights were LUU-2B/B illumination flares dropped by a flight of four A-10 aircraft on a training exercise at the Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range in western Pima County, Arizona. The flares appeared to hover due to a 'balloon effect' on their parachutes from rising heat, and appeared to wink out as they fell behind the Sierra Estrella mountain range.

📋

Senator John McCain - request for information

Office of Senator John McCain (R-AZ)

Arizona Senator John McCain was reported to have been contacted by constituents about the lights and sought information from military authorities. McCain's office received inquiries but the senator did not formally call for a congressional investigation; the military's flare explanation was provided through normal channels.

📋

Phoenix City Council inquiry - Frances Barwood

Phoenix City Council

Phoenix City Councilwoman Frances Barwood was the only public official to formally push for an investigation. She personally interviewed over 700 witnesses and requested inquiries at the city, state, and federal levels. She was met with silence from military and federal authorities. Barwood stated that no government agency ever provided her with a satisfactory explanation.

📋

Governor Fife Symington - 1997 press conference (alien costume)

Office of the Governor of Arizona

Shortly after the incident, Governor Symington held a press conference mocking the event. He announced 'they found who was responsible' and had an aide dressed in an alien costume step forward. This was widely seen as defusing public concern through humor, but critics argued it belittled serious witnesses.

📋

Governor Fife Symington - 2007 admission he witnessed the lights

Fife Symington (interviews with CNN, MSNBC, Arizona Daily Star)

In March 2007, Symington told UFO investigators and media that he had personally witnessed the lights on March 13, 1997. He stated: 'I'm a pilot and I know just about every machine that flies. It was bigger than anything that I've ever seen. It remains a great mystery. Other people saw it, responsible people... I don't know why people would ridicule it.' He said he remained silent at the time because 'he didn't want to panic the populace.'

View source →

📋

FAA records - no anomalous radar returns publicly acknowledged

Federal Aviation Administration

The FAA did not publicly release radar data showing an anomalous craft. FAA rules concerning private and commercial aircraft do not apply to military aircraft, so the A-10 formation displayed steady formation lights rather than blinking collision lights, which may explain why they appeared unusual to observers. No formal FAA investigation was publicly documented.

📋

National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC) - Phoenix Lights special report

National UFO Reporting Center (Peter Davenport)

Peter Davenport of NUFORC collected and catalogued hundreds of witness reports from March 13, 1997. The special report archive preserved witness testimony and helped establish the scale of the mass sighting.

View source →

⚖️ Skeptical Analysis

Every serious investigation must address the skeptical arguments. These are presented fairly — with the evidence cited, including Mitch Stanley's crucial telescope observation. Understanding both sides is essential to judging the case.

Luke AFB flares / Maryland ANG flare drop (Event 2 explanation)

Proposed by: U.S. Air Force, Maryland Air National Guard, Robert Sheaffer (Skeptical Inquirer), James McGaha (astronomer, retired Air Force pilot)

Lt. Col. Ed Jones confirmed he flew one of the A-10s that dropped LUU-2B/B illumination flares on the night of March 13, 1997, during Operation Snowbird training at the Barry Goldwater Range. The flares appeared to hover due to a 'balloon effect' on parachutes from rising heat, and appeared to wink out as they fell behind the Sierra Estrella mountains. Luminosity analysis confirmed LUU-2B/B flares at 50-70 miles range would match the observed brightness. Local TV stations later compared known military flare drops with the Phoenix Lights footage, showing visual similarities.

Mitch Stanley's telescope observation (Event 1 explanation)

Proposed by: Mitch Stanley (amateur astronomer), Donald Prothero, Timothy Callahan

Amateur astronomer Mitch Stanley observed the 8:15 PM V-formation through a 10-inch reflecting telescope from Scottsdale. He reported seeing individual airplanes flying in formation at high altitude - not a single solid craft. This is the only known instrumented observation of the V-formation. Skeptics argue this directly contradicts the 'massive craft' interpretation. Proponents argue Stanley may have observed a different part of the formation or at a different time than other witnesses.

A-10 formation flight (Event 1 alternative explanation)

Proposed by: Robert Sheaffer, James McGaha

The V-formation at 8:00 PM was five A-10 jets from Operation Snowbird following an assigned air traffic corridor under visual flight rules (VFR). FAA rules requiring blinking collision lights do not apply to military aircraft, so the A-10s displayed steady formation lights, making them appear as a single V-shaped object. The formation flew over Phoenix to Tucson and landed at Davis-Monthan AFB at ~8:45 PM.

The two-events theory

Proposed by: Robert Sheaffer, James McGaha, Brian Dunning (Skeptoid), Tony Ortega (Phoenix New Times)

The 'Phoenix Lights' incident consists of two unrelated events caused by the same organization (Operation Snowbird): (1) the 8 PM V-formation of A-10s flying in formation, and (2) the 10 PM flare drop by different A-10s. The confusion arises because people conflate the two events. The 10 PM flares are well-explained; the 8 PM formation is explained by Mitch Stanley's telescope observation and the A-10 flight corridor. Proponents of a single 'massive craft' are confusing the two separate phenomena.

Optical illusion of a solid craft

Proposed by: James McGaha, Joe Nickell (Skeptical Inquirer), Tim Callahan

Witnesses perceived a solid craft blocking out stars, but skeptics argue this was an optical illusion. The brightness of the individual lights made it difficult to see dim background stars in the areas between lights, creating the impression of a solid structure. McGaha and Nickell published this analysis in Skeptical Inquirer (March/April 2015), arguing the same perceptual effect occurred at Stephenville and other UFO 'mass sightings.'

Mountain occlusion creating sequential light disappearance

Proposed by: Skeptical Inquirer analysis

The 10 PM lights appeared to turn off one by one, which some witnesses interpreted as the craft moving behind a solid structure. Skeptics showed that the Sierra Estrella mountain range, not visible at night, partially obstructed the view of the descending flares - creating the illusion of lights sequentially disappearing. The regular interval of appearance/disappearance matched the flare drop pattern and mountain silhouette.

05 / THE VISUAL EVIDENCE

There is footage. The important question is: which event does it show?

The original build was too cautious here. Several videos and still-photo sequences are associated with 13 March 1997. The evidential challenge is not the absence of cameras; it is provenance, timing and event separation.

The most famous footage is still the later ~10 p.m. sequence. But earlier/pre-10 p.m. material also exists or is claimed to exist, including footage associated with Lynne Kitei, Steve Blonder and Terry Proctor. Those items deserve to be seen — with their source claims visible rather than silently treated as settled fact.

EVENT A · earlier / pre-10 p.m.

RARER · MORE IMPORTANT · PROVENANCE MUST STAY VISIBLE

LYNNE KITEI · SOURCE PRESENTATION

Pre-10 p.m. footage is claimed here.

The Phoenix Lights Network says Kitei recorded three end-points of a V/triangle-type light formation before 10 p.m. on 13 March. The linked programme includes her 1997 footage beginning around the 13-minute mark. This is witness-controlled material, so the page presents the claim and source rather than independently certifying the interpretation.

VIEW KITEI PHOTO ARCHIVE →

EARLY V / FORMATION FOOTAGE · SECONDARY HOST

A rare look at the earlier phase.

This widely circulated clip is presented as footage of the earlier V-shaped/formation event. The current public copy is a secondary-hosted version rather than a clean original master, so it is useful visually but not treated here as a fully established chain-of-custody artefact.

COMPARE WITH WITNESS/GEOSPATIAL MATERIAL →

STEVE BLONDER

Arrowhead-array footage.

The Phoenix Lights Network specifically states that witness Steve Blonder filmed an arrowhead array before 10 p.m. and distinguishes it from the later boomerang/flare footage. The network is an advocacy source, so this is included as a documented media claim, not as an independent authentication.

OPEN BLONDER / GAP MATERIAL →

TERRY PROCTOR · ~20:30 CLAIM

Another early video trail.

Research discussions identify a grainy Terry Proctor recording from around the 8:30 p.m. period. It is far less famous than the 10 p.m. videos and public copies are often compilations. It belongs in the evidence inventory precisely because it may relate to Event A.

VIEW VIDEO INVENTORY DISCUSSION →

EVENT B · ~10 p.m. later lights

ABUNDANT VIDEO · STRONG FLARE FIT

LATER LIGHTS · ~22:00

The footage most people know.

The later row of amber lights was recorded from multiple locations. Mike Krzyston's Moon Valley recording became one of the most widely broadcast versions. This is the sequence most strongly associated with illumination flares over the Barry Goldwater Range.

SEE EVIDENCE-GALLERY CONTEXT →

MULTIPLE CAMERAS

Not one video — several viewpoints.

Investigators have compared multiple ~10 p.m. recordings made from different Phoenix-area viewpoints. The number and visibility of lights changes with viewpoint and terrain, which is exactly what makes this later phase analytically useful.

READ MULTI-VIDEO / TERRAIN ANALYSIS →

Ranking-critical distinction: most of the iconic Phoenix footage belongs to the later flare event. A visitor searching “Phoenix Lights video” should never leave this page thinking the famous row of lights is direct visual evidence of the earlier V-shaped formation.

Why this matters: the site should never show a generic “Phoenix Lights video” without telling the visitor whether it is Event A or Event B. The later footage is visually richer; the earlier footage is evidentially more important to the unresolved part of the case.

06 / WHAT SURVIVES

One event is visually strong. The other is witness strong.

EVENT A · EARLY FORMATION

What survives

Numerous witness reports across a large north-to-south corridor.
Near-contemporary NUFORC telephone reporting.
Descriptions of V, boomerang, triangle and grouped lights.
Later testimony from prominent witnesses including Fife Symington.
A rough geographical progression that can be mapped.
No single dataset that fixes altitude, size and track with precision.

EVENT B · LATER LIGHTS

What survives

Multiple amateur videos of a line of lights south-west of Phoenix.
Known military training activity in the relevant region and period.
A physically plausible illumination-flare mechanism.
Terrain analysis consistent with lights disappearing behind mountains.
Strong reason to treat the later event as largely resolved.
No reason to use that resolution to erase the earlier reports.

Phoenix is not a good case because the flare explanation fails. It is a good case because the flare explanation works — and still leaves a different earlier event to explain.

💔 Human Impact

The Phoenix Lights changed lives — from a doctor who gave up her practice to a governor who reversed his public stance.

Lynne Kitei

Physician, witness, documentarian

A physician who saw the lights, photographed them, and then gave up her medical practice to dedicate her life to documenting the case. She made a documentary, wrote a book, and spent 20+ years lobbying for investigation.

Fife Symington

Governor of Arizona (1991–1997)

Mocked the lights with an alien costume at a press conference, then admitted 10 years later: "I saw it. It was enormous. It changed my life." He went from ridiculing witnesses to becoming one.

Frances Barwood

Phoenix City Council member

Pushed for an investigation. She was mocked and marginalized by her colleagues. She lost her political standing but never stopped pushing for answers.

The witnesses

Thousands of Arizona residents

Thousands of people saw something. Many reported feeling awe, fear, or spiritual transformation. Some changed careers. Some moved. The event became a defining moment in Phoenix's cultural identity.

💡 Things You Didn't Know

Surprising facts about the Phoenix Lights that most coverage misses.

Kurt Russell was flying his private plane into Phoenix that night. He radioed air traffic control about the lights. He didn't come forward for 20 years.
Governor Symington held a press conference mocking the lights with a staffer in an alien costume. Ten years later he admitted: "I saw it. It was enormous. It changed my life."
The V-formation was seen from Nevada through Arizona to Tucson — a 300-mile corridor. Military flares don't travel 300 miles.
Mitch Stanley, a 21-year-old amateur astronomer, photographed the V-formation through his telescope and saw individual lights at high altitude — suggesting planes, not a solid craft. Most believers have never heard of his photo.
The event happened during the same week that comet Hale-Bopp was visible — leading some to conflate the two.
The Maryland Air National Guard didn't confirm the flare drop until months later — they initially denied it.
The lights were seen on two separate occasions: March 13 AND a smaller event on March 8, 1997.

📚 Books

Five books covering the incident — from Dr. Kitei's proponent account to the primary scholarly skeptical analysis. Links support The UAP Map via Amazon Associates.

The Phoenix Lights: A Skeptic's Discovery That We Are Not Alone

Lynne D. Kitei, M.D. · 2004 (updated edition 2010) · Hampton Roads Publishing

The definitive book on the Phoenix Lights by Dr. Lynne Kitei, a physician and primary witness who photographed and videotaped the lights. Despite the title's reference to 'skeptic,' Kitei ultimately concluded the phenomenon was unexplained and possibly otherworldly. The book documents her years of investigation, witness interviews, and analysis.

View on Amazon →

UFOs and the National Security State: The Cover-Up Exposed, 1973-1991

Richard M. Dolan · 2009 · Hampton Roads Publishing

Dolan's second volume of his UFO history series covers the modern era including the Phoenix Lights. While focused on government secrecy, it places the Phoenix Lights in the context of alleged U.S. government UFO suppression.

View on Amazon →

UFOs: Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials Go on the Record

Leslie Kean · 2010 · Crown Publishing Group / Harmony Books

Leslie Kean's landmark book includes discussion of the Phoenix Lights, particularly Governor Fife Symington's testimony. The book features government officials and military witnesses, lending credibility to cases like Phoenix Lights where a sitting governor was a witness.

View on Amazon →

UFOs, Chemtrails, and Aliens: What Science Says

Donald R. Prothero and Timothy D. Callahan · 2017 · Indiana University Press

Skeptical scientific analysis of UFO phenomena including the Phoenix Lights. Prothero and Callahan detail the Tim Ley family witness account and the Mitch Stanley telescope observation, arguing the V-formation was high-altitude aircraft. This is the primary scholarly skeptical source.

View on Amazon →

The Reliability of UFO Witness Testimony (chapter: The Phoenix Lights: The Fallibility of Human Perception and Memory)

Tim Callahan (chapter) / V.J. Ballester-Olmos and Richard W. Heiden (editors) · 2023 · UPIAR, Turin, Italy

Academic essay analyzing the Phoenix Lights as a case study in the fallibility of human perception and memory. Argues that witness accounts were shaped by expectation, suggestion, and perceptual errors.

View on Amazon →

WITNESS METHODOLOGY

“Thousands of witnesses” does not mean thousands of independent measurements.

Phoenix is rightly described as a mass-sighting case, but raw witness count can exaggerate evidential independence. Families, neighbours, crowds and callers in the same locality often observed the same lights from similar geometry and influenced one another’s interpretation.

The strongest witness reports are therefore the ones with recoverable time, location, direction, duration, elevation and instrument use. Group testimony remains valuable, but it should not be treated as if every observer supplied a separate calibrated sensor reading.

🎬 Documentaries & Videos

Original footage, investigative documentaries, Kurt Russell's account of reporting the lights to ATC, and the award-winning documentary featuring astronaut Edgar Mitchell and Governor Symington.

▶

Video of Phoenix Lights (original news footage)

Referenced from Wikipedia (original source unclear)

Original video footage of the Phoenix Lights 10 PM event, widely circulated. This is the video linked from the Wikipedia article on the Phoenix Lights.

▶

Phoenix Lights and UFO Sightings Investigative Documentary

Various (investigative)

Investigative documentary covering the Phoenix Lights and related UFO sightings, featuring witness interviews and analysis.

▶

1997 The Phoenix Lights Caught On Camera! | UFO Witness

UFO Witness (Ben Hansen)

Ben Hansen dives deep into the 1997 Phoenix Lights sighting in this episode of UFO Witness, featuring witness interviews and analysis.

▶

Kurt Russell Shares UFO 'Phoenix Lights' Experience

Various (interview clip)

Actor Kurt Russell, an amateur pilot, reveals he was the pilot who reported the Phoenix Lights to air traffic control on March 13, 1997. He describes seeing the V-shaped formation while flying into Phoenix.

🎬

The Phoenix Lights...We Are Not Alone (documentary film)

Steve Lantz / Lynne D. Kitei, M.D. (executive producer) · 2005

Documentary film based on Dr. Lynne Kitei's book, featuring astronaut Edgar Mitchell and former Governor Fife Symington. The film won multiple awards at film festivals and is the primary proponent documentary on the case.

07 / THE SIZE PROBLEM

“Mile-wide” is a perception claim, not a measurement.

Some witnesses described an enormous object spanning a large portion of the sky, sometimes with stars reportedly blocked between the lights. Those accounts are among the most compelling parts of the legend.

But night-sky size estimates are unusually fragile. Without known distance, widely separated aircraft lights can appear to form the outline of one close body. Conversely, a truly large dark object would also be difficult to photograph against a black sky.

The correct evidence question is therefore not whether witnesses were sincere. It is whether the early geometry can be reconstructed from independent locations and timestamps tightly enough to distinguish one enormous body from multiple lights or aircraft.

That reconstruction is still incomplete.

The UAP Map research flags exact track, report independence, timestamp reconciliation and size/altitude estimates as unresolved. Those are the next useful tasks.

08 / WHY THE CASE ENDURES

Because the explanation became too simple.

“They were flares” is correct for an important part of the night. It becomes misleading when it is used as a universal answer.

“A gigantic craft flew over Arizona” has the opposite problem. It turns varied reports of moving lights into a single physical vehicle without a measurement establishing the body.

The disciplined middle is stronger: at least two distinct episodes occurred. The later one is well explained. The earlier one contains enough testimony and geographical structure to remain worth reconstructing.

HELP IMPROVE THIS CASE

We need timestamps more than stories.

Phoenix can still improve dramatically if old video, photographs and written reports can be tied to exact places and times.

THE UAP MAP ASSESSMENT

Two events. One legend.

The Phoenix Lights are most famous as a row of glowing points hanging over a city. That image is real, but it belongs to the later part of the night — the part with the strongest conventional explanation.

Military illumination flares over the Barry Goldwater Range convincingly account for the later line of lights filmed south-west of Phoenix. Their apparent hovering, slow descent and sequential disappearance are consistent with flare behaviour and terrain.

The earlier event is different. Beginning in northern Arizona around 8:16 p.m., witnesses reported lights or a formation moving south. Some described a V or triangle. Some inferred a single enormous object. Others described separate lights. Aircraft in formation remain a serious explanation, but the surviving public record does not reconstruct every early report tightly enough to demonstrate one complete solution.

That separation is the case.

The later footage should not be used to prove the earlier V. The later flare explanation should not be used to erase it either.

Phoenix endures because one famous night contained both a solved mystery and an unresolved one — and for decades, almost everyone talked about them as though they were the same thing.

SOURCES

Richard Dolan — 'UFOs and the National Security State Vol. 2' (2009) · Governor Fife Symington — public testimony (2007) · Phoenix Police Department records (1997) · NUFORC telephone reports — 13 March 1997 · Air National Guard / Luke AFB — Operation Snowbird flare statement (May 1997) · Mike Krzyston — Moon Valley recording of the later lights (~10 p.m.) · The Phoenix Lights Network — witness footage archive (Kitei, Blonder, Proctor) · Project Unredacted — Phoenix Lights 1997 evidence gallery · The UFO Chronicles — Phoenix Lights multi-video / terrain analysis · UFO Waves — Phoenix video inventory discussion

Incident-media note: displayed stills are identified by an early Phoenix Lights archive as amateur-video frames from 13 March 1997. No AI-generated or synthetic craft imagery is used.

Reference / Media: Phoenix Lights 1997 model (Wikimedia) · Phoenix Lights (Wikipedia)

Current comparative reading: UAP Globe · UAPRAD witness analysis · UAP Times 2026 reconstruction. These are secondary comparison sources; the page’s evidential centre remains near-contemporary witness reports, military flare documentation and identifiable media.