Phoenix Lights - UFO incident

The Phoenix Lights were a well-known anomaly, where thousands of people claimed to have seen a UFO depicted by numerous lights over the Phoenix area. There were actually 2 events that were lights, which was described as a triangle, and a separate bunch of lights that were stationary. The second batch of lights was attributed to the category of flares that were dropped during the exercise. The V-shaped object was described as being the size of numerous football fields and lights that constantly appeared in front of it and disappeared behind it.

Phoenix is the first city in Arizona to report unknown light sources. They were initially spotted over the "Mountains of Superstition", east of the city, at about 19:30 local time on March 13, 1997. The first message pointed to an object with six glowing dots. They were immediately followed by a report of eight connected lights with a separate ninth that moved in unison with the eight. This formation of lights was again seen over the Gila River, shortly before 22:00. In a few minutes, a huge illuminated object flew over the southern part of the city of Phoenix. At this time, literally, thousands of people witnessed this object or objects. It was at this time that the first photos and videos were taken.

The last nocturnal evidence of the lights was already in Rainbow Valley. Witnesses reported a very distinct "V" formation. This happened at about 2 a.m. on March 14, 1997. It is important to note that there are different descriptions of lights from the Nevada border throughout Arizona. Some witnesses described a very clear " V " shape. One particular object can be seen from different angles. Moreover, the angle of the object reflects only a part of its light system, depending on atmospheric or weather conditions. Or the very way the witness looks at the object can make that difference. It is very possible that two witnesses can see the same object at the same time, and give two completely different reports.

The main witness

No sound was heard, and the object had about five lights or engines that emitted light. One of the witnesses was the governor of the period, Fife Symington. Although he had previously been opposed to thinking about UFOs and extraterrestrials, many years later he called the phenomenon " otherworldly." 

Phoenix is the state capital, and the governor has found himself at the center of the controversy. Thousands of people called the authorities, trying to find out something about what happened. But Symington and his colleagues were silent.

You can't act like an ordinary person as governor. You need to be very careful about any public statements or actions. A public figure is a legitimate target for attack: anything you say or do will be used by the press and opponents against you. When I got home, I told my wife what had happened. Ann listened carefully to my story. We thought for a long time whether to admit that I saw it. Finally, we decided that I should not open my mouth — at least for now, since it would most likely cause ridicule in the press, distract me and the entire administration from the work for which we were chosen

Later, he explained his behavior in this way:

 

We called Luke Air Force Base, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the general of the National Guard. No one had an explanation. People just said they didn't know what it was. The Air National Guard eventually claimed responsibility, claiming that their pilots were dropping lighting bombs at the time. The explanation was counterintuitive, since bombs don't fly in formation. I have never been satisfied with such a stupid explanation…

Symington never found out what flew over Phoenix:

Media about UFOs over Phoenix

After these events, the leading newspaper of the United States ("USA Today") published an article that was devoted to the appearance of a UFO in the sky of Phoenix and occupied an entire page.

After the publication, Governor Symington announced to reporters that a press conference had been called. When they came to listen to the governor's explanation, they were shocked to see that his assistant came to the conference in handcuffs, and his body was dressed in an alien costume...

After the publication of the article in "USA Today", the panic mood and public response reached the limit. Thanks to his trick, the governor wanted to calm people down, demonstrate the calmness of the authorities and make it clear that everything is under control and the authorities can afford to make a joke on this topic since he is completely in control of the situation.

Then, more than 15 years ago — Symington, using clowning, clearly lied to the soul. After all, he himself adhered to the alien version.

What I and many others saw between 8: 00 and 8: 30 was completely different — a giant mysterious ship.

the official recalled.

Other observers

It was reported that these strange lights swept from Henderson-Las Vegas, Nevada, to Arizona. And they seemed to slow down when a giant UFO entered Arizona. Initial reports described somewhere between 5 and 7 points of light, and eventually 8 with a tail point of nine. The huge UFO was extremely low, and illuminated mountain areas could be seen behind this ship. Therefore, the photographic experts calculated the scale of this object.

 

This allowed us to estimate the vessel, more than 1.5 kilometers in diameter. The color of its lights was described as blue-white, yellow-white, and amber. During the period of rapid movement of the UFO, it approximately moved at a speed of 2,500-3,500 kilometers per hour. When he slowed down, as if posing for a picture, the speed dropped to about 15 to 20 kilometers per hour. As reported, the UFO hovered for several minutes. Also, that the object changed shape, speed, and color as it moved across the Arizona sky.

Between 21: 00 and 21: 30 on March 13, one extraordinary description was made by a family in Mesa. They said that a huge ship with a distinctive structure flew over their territory. They described an object of triangular shape with lights at three corners and another large light in the center. Surprisingly, they could clearly see the panels on the ship, which were a mesh structure.

Around the same time, there were several reports of two round objects. Which seemed to have separated from the larger " V " - shaped UFO to later join the mother ship. One witness described a " V " - shaped mothership splitting into two separate ships as it moved toward the city of Tucson.

Another dramatic description of the mother ship was made by a group of real estate agents. Who worked with real estate, in the northern part of the city of Phoenix. In addition, they were able to see the giant disk up close.

They estimated that the ship was flying at a low altitude near Phoenix. It was about two kilometers wide. They saw dozens of bright lights on the front edges, as well as a row of windows with "silhouettes of people". It also seems highly likely that for some reason the giant ship was turning off its lights. As the observers could only see the windows with what appeared to be people shaded in the glow inside. Another family also received a brightly lit view of an unknown UFO. And described its color as "blue-black, like the color of a shotgun barrel."

Among the most reliable witnesses on that first night were two pilots, one of whom later resigned from the airline. Although they saw the object at different times and in different places.  Both pilots described UFOs of "enormous size", up to one and a half kilometers long. The plane's captain could also see the city lights of Phoenix reflecting off the bottom of the massive UFO while it blocked out the stars. One of the pilots also filmed a UFO. But it was confiscated during his meeting with the"men in black".

In a completely separate case, a group of witnesses reported a huge disc-shaped UFO. Which was bigger than the Sun Devil Stadium at Arizona State University. This object hovered above the treetops. At the west end of the Sky Harbor Airport runway. Between two and three o'clock, about two weeks before March 13, 1997.

Military involvement in the Phoenix lights incident

It was almost inevitable that the USAF would be involved in an event of this magnitude. And the mystery of the Phoenix Lights was no exception. When the truck driver was driving on the I-17 freeway from Camp Verde. For two whole hours, he saw two amber UFOs moving ahead of him to the south. His target was a material manufacturing plant near USAF Base Luke.

Upon arriving there, he saw that two UFOs were hovering nearby. While his truck was being loaded, the driver climbed onto a pile of materials to get a better look at the two UFOs. He made out two identical "amber balls" with a white glow. A band of red lights pulsed across the ships as they hovered over the runway at Luke Air Force Base.

Suddenly, two F-16 planes with afterburners turned on took off from the base. A third plane soon followed, and the three of them headed straight for the hovering UFOs. When the first two jets approached the UFO, the unknown objects soared up and disappeared in an instant. Two jet planes flew just in the place where the UFOs used to be. Later, a member of the USAF base "Luke" confirmed that the driver's story was true. He also stated that upon returning to the runway, one of the pilots needed help to get out of the cockpit. He was clearly shaken by what had just happened.

According to Peter Davenport of the National UFO Reporting Center. One of the most intriguing reports was presented by a young man, who claimed to be a pilot stationed at Luke Air Force Base, located west of Phoenix in Litchfield Park. He called the National UFO Reporting Center at 3: 20 a.m. on Friday. About eight hours after the UFO was seen last night. And he said that two USAF F-15c fighters were alerted at the Luke base and intercepted one of the objects. Although the presence of the "F-15c" could never be confirmed. The pilot provided detailed information, which turned out to be very accurate. Later, this information was confirmed by other eyewitnesses.

Two days after the first phone call, the pilot called him and reported that the commander had just informed him that he was being transferred to a mission in Greenland. No one has heard from him since. This won't be the end of the Phoenix Lights. UFO sightings over the Phoenix area continue to this day. This is confirmed by eyewitness accounts, photos, and videos.

The investigation is being conducted by scientists

After learning that the governor personally observed the object, experts at the University of Arizona undertook their own investigation. To begin with, R. Darling and his colleagues created a computer model of the area where the UFO flew, using GPS navigation and laser scanning of the terrain.

They interviewed witnesses at the observation sites, tying the size of the object to various points on the ground. People who did not know each other indicated the same values — the UFO was 460 meters wide. Almost half a kilometer! Professor Pavlos Mikellides calculated that if such a hulk were built from ordinary aviation materials like duralumin and titanium, its weight would be 1.6 million tons.

No modern engine would even move an object from its place. We're talking about some unknown technology

the professor said.

Perhaps in the future, we will be able to understand what it is. Scientists have found out: UFOs were observed throughout a strip of 480 kilometers long-from the border with Nevada to the city of Tucson. All the witnesses, including the pilots of the planes in the air, told the same story. Like, a UFO in the shape of the letter V with five burning lights flew from north to south. It hovered in the sky low above the ground, then accelerated to a great speed and quickly disappeared over the horizon.

However, air traffic controller Michael Pearson from Sky Harbor Airport could not detect the object on the radar screen, although he saw it perfectly with the naked eye. Employees of the National Geographic Society also doubted that the lights that Phoenix residents saw after 22.00 over the Goldwater training ground were lighting bombs. In the documentary "Mystery 360", expert Jim Dilettoso compared the light characteristics of the lights captured on video by the townspeople with the video footage of the bombs.

The analysis showed that the bombs ignited and faded, creating a zigzag graph, and the lights above the mountains glowed evenly, drawing a straight line. If something was actually dropped from planes at the test site, it wasn't the usual lighting bombs.

It is argued that while the flares could explain some of the observations, the video and photographic evidence, which was not of very high quality, could neither prove nor disprove these theories in any way. Since the movement of the Phoenix lights followed the direction of the wind, it is possible that these were flashes, as well as the fact that the lights disappeared after a while.

It is said that the V-shaped lights may have been separate lights that the human eye connected due to an illusion. Although there are many theories that have been put forward to explain the Phoenix Lights

None of the explanations offered by the skeptics could withstand a collision with reality: the object flying over Arizona remained unidentified. It looks like it will be a stumbling block for those who want to believe that we are alone in the universe for a long time.

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About author:

Serg Toporkov Ufologist, Ph.D., blogger, I go on my own expeditions for UFOs. I use scientific methods to investigate the UAP phenomenon. Write to me

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Phoenix Lights  ufo incident  ufo  1997  sightings  Arizona