The Phoenix Lights Case - In Depth

THE PHOENIX LIGHTS – March 13, 1997


Video Link: www.cnn.com...

Like many, I was fascinated with this case back in 1997 soon after it occurred and I first saw the story on CNN and USA Today. Here was a major UFO sighting on a massive scale, captured on video, and showed on major media outlets! Wow!

There is no question that mysterious lights appeared in the sky…they were seen by thousands, even videoed by numerous witnesses.

But, soon my elation turned to disappointment after seeing the flares explanation marvelously illustrated on television documentaries, etc. So, like many others, I filed this case into the neat, but explained category. Little did I know how much, much more there was to the story…

First and most importantly, after looking more deeply into this case, the lights in the videos (yes, there were many videos of the lights) were neither the first nor the only sightings that evening. Sightings began hours earlier, were reported through official channels at the time, and have remarkable similarities. While this doesn’t prove much, I did find it intriguing enough to delve a bit deeper into the case.

Secondly, while the flare explanation and the lights disappearing behind the mountain wowed many of us, this same explanation fails to explain the accounts and video (yes, video) of the first sighting hours earlier…so what was seen then?

Between 7:30pm and 10:30pm MST, lights of varying descriptions were seen by thousands of witnesses over a path of around 300 miles long… For the flares explanation to be valid for all sightings, this would have had to have been a massive exercise and multiple flare drops, and so far, no such claim has been made by the military, beyond Operation Snowbird and the one event flares seen over Phoenix.

Was this a case of an actual unidentified craft (whether spaceship or top secret design), or was this all just a massive flare exercise? Was it both, with a craft initially, and then a cover-up by dropping flares? Was it a combination of planes and flares? Hopefully, the thorough investigation that follows will provide enough information to allow people to decide for themselves.

I’ll caution that like some of my other threads such as Roswell, the Hill Case, the Kinross Incident, Rendlesham, etc., this will be a long read, but hopefully you will find the information worth it. I’ll present the timeline of events, compiled from numerous sources, and strive to present as much information about each sighting as possible.

FIRST EVENT

6:55 PM Thursday, March 13, 1997
There’s no place to start like the beginning, so with that we’ll begin with the first commonly regarded sighting. A young man in Henderson, NV (in a report to NUFORC, the National UFO Reporting Center) witnessed what he described as a V-shaped object with 6 large lights on its leading edge, approach from the northwest and pass overhead. He described it as large, about the “size of a (Boeing) 747” and said it sounded like “rushing wind”. It continued in a southeasterly direction and then vanished (Peter Davenport, Director of NUFORC)
Source: www.ufoevidence.org...
From the actual report itself, I’m assuming the witness was younger than a “young man”, but one can decide for themselves by seeing the original report here:


7:30 PM
Initial sightings over Superstitious Mountains, east of Phoenix.
ufos.about.com...

8:15 PM
A former police officer in Paulden, AZ left his home and was driving north when he saw a cluster of 5 reddish or orange lights. 4 of the lights were together, with the 5th trailing the other 4. Each individual light appeared to consist of two separate point sources of orange light. He heard no noise.
Source: www.nuforc.org...



The witness returned home, grabbed his binoculars, and then observed the lights for another two minutes, before out of his sight.
(Peter Davenport, Director of NUFORC)
www.ufoevidence.org...

Video of first event!




These stills are from the only video I found of the first event (i.e. it takes place prior to the 10pm sightings). Unfortunately, this was from a documentary on the Travel Channel, that I cannot seem to find a reference to (and it has since deleted from my DVR). I believe it was simply called “The Phoenix Lights” and aired in Feb. of this year. The stills are from screenshots I took then of the documentary. On the 2nd, I drew in the lines to see the dots in question (which were much more evident on the video, and moving fast across the sky, about jet speed, though difficult to tell as few references in the vid.) It’s an excellent special, if you ever see it, or it makes its way to YouTube.

8:30 PM
A Mr. Kelley and his wife witness the sighting from the west end of the valley in Glendale, AZ.

“They saw a perfect V-shaped formation of 7 lights, a lead light with 3 trailing lights on each side of the V formation. He pulled the car off of 67th and shut off his motor so that they could exit the car and watch the formation more closely. It was difficult for Kelley to determine whether they were watching one object or a flight of smaller objects. They watched the event for several minutes. Kelley and his wife are both ex-Air Force and were well acquainted with aircraft and their characteristics. There were no navigation lights visible and no engine sounds detectable.”

www.ufoevidence.org...

Prescott Valley sightings
(unidentified witness)

[He was] standing outside with his wife and sons in Prescott Valley, when they noticed a cluster of lights to in the west-northwest of their position. The lights formed a triangular pattern, but all of them appeared to be red, with the exception of the light at the nose of the object, which was distinctly white. The object, or objects, which had been observed for approximately 2-3 minutes with binoculars, then passed directly overhead the observers, they were seen to "bank to the right," and they then disappeared in the night sky to the southeast of Prescott Valley

www.spartechsoftware.com...

Among the witnesses, Dr. X (at first an unidentified doctor, but later identified as Dr. Lynne Kitei) is one who has put her reputation on the line by talking about her views on what the lights were or weren’t.



Dr. Kitei’s bio can be found here (for those wanting her credentials): www.psitalk.com... amongst many other sources. She’s a medical doctor, health educator, and specialist in disease prevention.

She has stated (and photographed, videoed) seeing strange lights both before and after the event with very similar properties, and has authored a book on the Phoenix Lights case.
Video link: www.youtube.com...

Dewey, AZ sightings

Five adults and a youth were driving north on Highway 69 to an appointment in Prescott, when they witnessed a very large cluster of lights, which formed a "V" shape in the sky. The driver pulled off the road into a grocery store parking lot, and all the occupants got out of their car in order to get a better look at the object. By this time, the object was directly above them, where it appeared to hover for several minutes.

www.spartechsoftware.com...

Blocked Out the Stars: Among the most reliable witnesses of the craft's movements that first night were two airplane pilots, one retired from an airline, and another from Vietnam, who was also a U. S. Marshall. Though seeing the object at different times and places, both men described a craft of "immense size," measuring up to a mile long. The Marshall could also see the city lights of Phoenix reflecting from the bottom of the massive object, while it "blocked out the stars."

ufos.about.com...

Bill Greiner

I'll never be the same. Before this, if anybody had told me they saw a UFO, I would've said, 'Yeah, and I believe in the tooth fairy'. Now I've got a whole new view. I may be just a dumb truck driver, but I've seen something that don't belong here."

www.spartechsoftware.com...



Shortly after 8:00 PM, no exact time given Ley Family sighting in Phoenix







Artist Conception of Ley description.


Source:www.cnn.com...

Link to audio of Tim Ley: www.cnn.com...

Much longer account of the Ley family sighting: www.ufoevidence.org...

Just before 10:00 PM
Sightings in the Gila River area, object of six to eight lights with another light following the formation, and moving in unison.
Source: ufos.about.com...

Fairly thorough listing of the FIRST EVENT sightings witnesses (including names where applicable, and reported sighting, note, many are anonymous):
members.aol.com...

THE SECOND EVENT (Likely Flare Solution?)

10:00 PM
The second event was the one most often featured. This is where we get the videos, and largest number of witnesses due to its proximity to Phoenix. The videos include those taken by the following:


Mike Krysten’s video still.


Chuck Rairden’s video still.

Chuck Rairden

There are at least two other main videos of the event given to researchers for analysis, and all are from different vantage points, allowing for a fairly decent triangulating of the objects and comprehensive analysis. As this occurred near Phoenix, there are almost too many sightings of this event to count, but the NUFORC registry (and those at or after 22:00) could be checked if one wanted to see a sampling of the reports. As numerous video footage of this event exists however, it isn’t necessary to duplicate the accounts here.


Another vantage point video


And another

Jim Dilettoso, a name familiar to most researchers analyzed the footage and concluded the objects shown were over Phoenix, not the mountains, and that the signature did not match that of a flare. However, other researchers and labs have refuted this claim through their own research.



An interesting discussion of his analysis methods can be found here:
members.aol.com...

Lenny Rudin of Cognitech concluded that the flares in the videos are behind the mountain. In the now infamous footage done for the Discovery Channel (and the one I mentioned in my intro), you can clearly see the flares disappear behind the mountain one-by-one, when superimposing daylight footage with the nighttime flare footage.



Flares footage to compare to Phoenix Lights footage:


A local news station took the above footage (still photo from a video shown on various Phoenix Lights specials) of a flare exercise and also noted the similarity in how long the spheres lasted, in addition to the appearance.

Bruce Maccabee’s Analysis
Bruce Maccabee also examined the various footage taken, and also concluded the flares were behind the mountain range. The link below contains a VERY lengthy analysis of this, for those interested in the scientific analysis. But, otherwise, his conclusion was as follows:

The preceding analysis shows that, at the very least, the triangulation data suggest flares at high altitude and great distance. These cannot be ruled out as likely sources for the lights unless there are some very convincing data of some other sort not available to this author. In fact, the most pars ominous explanation for these lights is that they were flares (as so stated for the March 13, 1997 lights by the Maryland National Guard). This analysis is therefore consistent with that of the Cognitech Corporation (Dr. Leonid Rudin) done for the Discovery Channel documentary (November, 1997). It is also consistent with the analysis of Dr. Paul Scowen, professor of astronomy at ASU, as reported by author Tony Ortega in the Phoenix "New Times" newspaper, March 5-11, 1998, which showed that the lights were farther away than the mountain peaks in the K video. In that newspaper article the author also reported that an "Arizona National Guard public information officer, Captain Eileen Benz, had determined that the flares had been dropped at 10 P.M. over the North Tac Range 30 miles southwest of Phoenix at an unusually high altitude of 15,000 ft." Except for the stated distance, which should be more like 60 miles (and up to 100 miles away) this statement is consistent with the analysis presented here.

brumac.8k.com...

ANSWERS FROM THE MILITARY

Meanwhile, as usually seems to be the case in these types of unusual airborne events, conflicting information initially arrived from the local Air Force authorities. Witnesses who called the Luke Air Force Base with reports noted that the female operator stated that they were being flooded with calls. A day later, on March 14, 1997, the same Luke Air Force personnel were quoted as stating they had received no calls concerning the matter. Mr. Davenport of NUFORC produced phone records showing that he himself had called the base to report the lights on more than one occasion that night straightforwardly disproved these statements.



Peter Davenport - NUFORC

Phone records showing call to the base and duration

The National UFO Reporting Center also noted that reports were pouring in from the Phoenix area, and in fact many callers claimed they too called the Air Force base.

For NUFORC reports, see following link, for 3/13/1997 prior to 22:00 (as that time or later would be the second event).
www.nuforc.org...

FIGHTERS SCRAMBLED?

One man, who claimed he was a airman at the Luke Air Force Base, stated (in a NUFORC report) that the US Air Force had launched 2 F-15C fighters (later clarified by Luke AFB as F-16s, so this claim is somewhat suspect as coming from an airman…more likely (imho) a witness trying to add credibility to their statement) and that one of the fighters had intercepted the object over Phoenix.

This account was further collaborated by a truck driver (identified as the formerly mentioned Bill Greiner) who was delivering materials to a plant near the Luke base. He stated that he had watched the UFOs intently as he drove down Interstate 17. Upon arriving at his destination, he climbed on top of a pile of materials while the crew unloaded his truck. He stated that he was observing the strange amber lights when suddenly 2 F-16s followed by a third "blasted out of Luke with their afterburners on full". He detailed how the planes banked sharply and headed straight towards the UFO which then shot straight upward and disappeared in an instant. He noted that the aircraft passed right through the spot where the object had been.

Greiner's story was somewhat collaborated by a UFO researcher's Freedom of Information Act request (FOIA) to the US Air Force. The Air Force admitted that they had indeed dispatched F-16s at that time but noted that the aircraft were on a "routine training mission" and had no involvement with the strange lights being reported all over the area. This claim is entirely possible, as the flares were dropped by the visiting National Guard, not the Air Force.
www.spartechsoftware.com...

There are other reports of scrambled aircraft also, provided here for the reader.
ufologie.net...

OPERATION SNOWBIRD

After denying that they had heard of the incident, the Air Force released their official explanation of the sightings - military flares. They stated that military flares had been released from a USAF A-10 over the Gila Bend Bombing Range (located 60-80 miles southwest of Phoenix, on the other side of the bordering mountain range). They explained that the A-10 had released the flares at about 6,000 feet and that the flares had ignited at around 3,000 feet. They completely burnt out at around 500 feet.

The Air Force stated that the A-10s were on a special training mission.
They left David-Monthan AFB in Tucson at 8:15pm and returned near 10:30pm. They were authorized to use the Goldwater/North Tac range which is near Gila Bend. After their flare exercise they were returning when they realized they had more flares on board. Base regulations forbid plans from landing with flares so the were jettisoned as the planes approached the base.
www.spartechsoftware.com...


A-10 Warthog and same type of plane dropping flares.

NorthTac Range

“The LUU-2 has a burn time of approximately 5 minutes while suspended from a parachute. The pyrotechnic candle consumes the flare housing, reducing flare weight which in turn slows the rate of fall during the last 2 minutes of burn time. At candle burnout an explosive bolt is fired, releasing one parachute support cable which causes the parachute to collapse. While unburned flares falling from high altitude could be dangerous, burned flares are much less dangerous since they are designed to burn up during the fall (even the aluminum casing is burned).”

More details about the LUU-2 flares dropped during Operation Snowbird: www.fas.org...
One can note that the flares typically burn for 5 minutes and often can have an amber color due to the flare consuming the aluminum container.

Capt. Eileen Bienz of the Arizona National Guard is credited with discovering that Operation Snowbird may be the cause of the 10pm sighting.

“She learned that on March 13, when area authorities were inundated by
callers questioning the origin of a boomerang formation of lights over
the Phoenix valley, the Maryland Air National Guard was running an
exercise called Operation Snowbird along the Barry Goldwater Gunnery
Range to the southwest.=20

She also learned that the Maryland force flew eight A-10s and dropped
high-intensity flares on the way back to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base
at Tucson.=20

Arizona military bases had said they had nothing in the air that would
have caused the lights. They found otherwise when, under urging by
Bienz, they checked into visiting aircraft.=20

Operation Snowbird brings aircraft from bases in the northern United
States into Arizona from November to April.=20

A Davis-Monthan flight schedule shows a squadron of Operation Snowbird
planes left at 8:15 p.m. on March 13 and returned at 10:30 p.m.=20

A spokesman for Luke Air Force Base confirmed that the Maryland planes
were authorized to use the Goldwater range from 9:30 to 10 that night.=20”

Source: www.virtuallystrange.net...

“But Snowbird planes might account for the lights seen near 10 p.m. in
the west, the sightings that provided most of the videotape and
photographs.=20

"Our guys did create, while they were up there, an event that this one
colonel told me could be perceived as a hell of a light show," said
Capt. Drew Sullins of the Maryland Guard.=20

Sullins said the planes were probably in a formation, then peeled off
one or two at a time to perform runs during which they would drop
high-intensity flares, called Luu-2, made of either magnesium or
cesium.=20

The flares are suspended by a tiny parachute, may be visible for over a
hundred miles and take a long time to drop, Sullins and others said.=20

When the planes had completed their required runs, they still had a
bunch of flares left, and Davis-Monthan doesn't allow planes to land
with flares aboard -- so they jettisoned the remaining flares as they
left the range.=20”

(Same source as previous)


The above was further corroborated by Lt. Col. Tanaka (above) of the Maryland National Guard.

GOVERNOR’S JOKE

As the citizens demanded answers about the event, Arizona governor Fife Symington stated he ordered an investigation.




But, he then later called reporters to his office to say there had been a break in the case and that they had discovered the source of the lights, and arrested the guilty party. Needless to say, while amusing to many, to those who honestly seek explanations for what they saw, it was not very amusing at all when they led in Symington’s aide, wearing a silver suit and alien head mask…




Source: www.esva.net...

CONCLUSIONS

From the witness reports, it would seem that at least two major events took place on March 13, 1997 in the skies of Arizona. The second event, the one captured on numerous video cameras, photos, etc. seems adequately explained by the flares dropped during Operation Snowbird. The burn times are consistent with the observed duration, video analysis shows the flares going behind the mountains, and subsequent footage of flares appears identical to the observed phenomenon.

However, what was the first event? The jury is still out on that one. Personally, I feel it is more likely a combination of untrained observers seeing the jet formation (that later dropped the flares) and earlier dropped flares (as the military reports two flare drops, the initial use, and then the dumping of flares). However, the witnesses’ reports cannot be dismissed so easily out of hand. Unfortunately, for the first sighting event, that is about all we have to go on aside from one very unclear video that is nearly undistinguishable from a jet formation.

The first sighting may remain an enigma, unless more data is obtained perhaps regarding the exact flight path of the A-10s, and the exact times and formations flown and flares dropped to either explain, or rule out the A-10s role (if any) in the first sighting. Additionally, many of the times and witness names are not included in the earlier sightings’ reports, making them extremely difficult to include in the analysis (or even assign to the correct event), as they cannot be corroborated and verified. I’m sure I have not included EVERYTHING here in this initial post, and look forward to additions, including following up with some of my own further research. My goal here (in this post) was more to include a general, but thorough overview of the events, and allow the readers to examine the evidence for themselves.



EDITTED to correct broken pic links.





[edit on 29-12-2006 by Gazrok]

Incredible job, Gazrok! Haven't had time to fully digest this, but what a fantastic compendium of the event.

Interesting "sidebar": Those who have read Dr. Steven Greer's book "Hidden Truth, Forbidden Knowledge" may recall that he takes credit for the Phoenix Lights (i.e., he prayed for a large sighting). I forget the whole anecdote but can find it if anyone's interested.

I have looked into this case in past. Have you ever seen any video of the crafts seen earlier in the night?

Just the one that I mentioned, and showed stills from.
It's pretty grainy, but it is prior to the 10pm sighting.

Great post Gazrock, hopefully this sort of research will come thicker and faster on these boards in the near future. I haven't read it all yet, just skimmed through, it's too late at night right now. I promise to look through this tomorrow and give my take on it (for what it's worth).

I watched a movie based on the events of the Phoenix Lights the other day, called Night Sky. It was based around the hypnosis-induced recollections of a local farmer who's car had broken down when the lights came overhead.

According to what he recalled, he and several college students on a roadtrip in a Winebago were abducted and experimented on, resulting in the death of all of the students. The Winebago and students in question were never reported as missing and never found mind you, so it could have all been in this guy's head, but it was an interesting story.

I did of course come across the story, but as an abduction case, it's really on its own, and seemingly singular to the incident. It also seems pretty shaky, evidence-wise, so I wanted to focus more on the sightings, and what facts could be analyzed.

Understood

Just thought i should mention it. Was such a strange coincidence, i just returned the DVD to the rental place, come home and check out the forums and there is a new thread on the lights.

Good fictional movie, either way.

And, as you said, the evidence is very insubstantial. They found the guy's truck, but no sign or any missing persons reports etc etc related to the teenagers. He also claimed he had fired shots at one of the aliens, but no gun or bullet casings were found. I'd say it was more of a 'cash in on the lights in the sky' rather than an actual abduction.

Is there a way to verify that the reports of the first sighting ( the ones early in the night way before Snowbird) were called in as reports BEFORE the second snowbird lights appeared?

Can NUFORC verify a time?

The only reason I mention it is once a large sighting like the snowbird one is experienced by a large group, others then recollect earlier events and tie them into the former.

Its kind of like "There were these strange lights at 10:30 and gee, now I remember that at like 8:30 I saw something funny too."

If there is documented proof of reports coming in before the 10:30 then that adds a great deal more of credibility to the first sighting.

I also recall watching several shows regarding this case and on one there was a older couple (possibly the ones you mention who were former air force) that work or had worked in some sort of Psy-Ops program that had to do with reasearch in technology designed to trick the enemy into seeing things that werent really there. Kind of a "mirage projector" or something like that.

Do you recall seeing that program as well? If so, can you elaborate?

Good stuff Gazrok! I enjoy reading your investigative threads very much.

I was doing some reading on another thread and found the following John Lear post. Can, or should I say, has this ever been verified?

quote: Also do you know anything about the U.S. saucer program (i.e. man-made ufo's)


Started in 1953. Has been going on for 53 years. Is very advanced. Most of the saucers and triangles people see are ours. A lot of the presentations are just to **** with peoples minds. The Phoenix lights flew in a missing man formation and was obviously a tribute to some fallen comrade or event.

The first sighting may remain an enigma, unless more data is obtained perhaps regarding the exact flight path of the A-10s, and the exact times and formations flown and flares dropped to either explain, or rule out the A-10s role (if any) in the first sighting.

But wouldnt A-10s be kind of loud? Especially if they where flying low as indicated by some of the witnesses to the first sighting.

did they talk to comercial air traff controllers

Well done, well done indeed. I'm still undecided as to what actually happened that night. But what I do know, it was NOT the result of flares.

Originally posted by merka

But wouldnt A-10s be kind of loud? Especially if they where flying low as indicated by some of the witnesses to the first sighting.

Surprisingly to many, who see them for the first time, the A-10 is a relatively quiet machine, up until the time it decides to get busy on ground targets.

As to the flight altitude, this is stated by the Arizona National Guard spokeswoman.

Is there a way to verify that the reports of the first sighting ( the ones early in the night way before Snowbird) were called in as reports BEFORE the second snowbird lights appeared?

Can NUFORC verify a time?

The only reason I mention it is once a large sighting like the snowbird one is experienced by a large group, others then recollect earlier events and tie them into the former.

I provided links to the NUFORC site page for reports on March 13, 1997 in the post. They will show that reports came in prior to the 10pm event, yes. Even the most skeptical do not deny that there were earlier sightings.

As for flares, to state my personal opinion, the second (10pm) event definitely seems to be substantiated by the flare explanation. The first sightings are really the mystery (imho), but given the location and coverage of the second event, it does make me wonder why the first event wasn't captured so well....especially when many witnesses describe the object/s as being lower, hanging around longer, etc. It may be a case of misinterpreting the time, seeing the A-10s earlier, and/or a host of other possibilities. As a researcher, I'd like to see non-anonymous reports, including times, durations, etc. from the first witnesses, to really have more to go on, including more exact info from the military regarding times and flight paths. Without that, we're still in the unknown category for the first event...though the flares for the second do point to a more terrestrial origin for the first.

Impressive Gazrok! Very impressive...

I'm one of the people who are convinced that they were only flares, at least the second major sighting.

Wonderful job of analysis, Gazrok! I wasn't aware of some of the followups (such as the aide in the "alien" suit.)

Originally posted by Grimnal
did they talk to comercial air traff controllers

Unfortunately, it appears that no one thought to request the radar tapes from the FAA, according to this website by Tim Printy.

Tony Ortega addressed the problem again in the March 5-11, 1998 edition of the Phoenix News Times,

"The media have widely circulated reports that the 8:30 and 10 p.m. lights were mysteriously invisible to radar.

But a formation of a craft or crafts traveling at high altitude over Phoenix would have been monitored by FAA radar operators in Albuquerque, not at Sky Harbor Airport, says air traffic controller Bill Grava, who was on duty at Sky Harbor that night and witnessed the later, 10 p.m. lights. Grava says that if five planes in a vee passed over Phoenix at 8:30 p.m., they would have been represented by a sole asterisk on consoles at Sky Harbor -- not something that would have raised the curiosity of operators. As for the 10 p.m. event, Grava acknowledges that the North Tac range is beyond Sky Harbor's radar; if planes dropped flares over the range, it's no mystery why they would not have appeared on consoles at the airport.

Luke Air Force base has more powerful radar systems. But Luke's Captain Stacey Cotton says that radar operators at the base were asked if they had seen anything unusual that night, and answered no. She says that a formation of five planes -- traveling at high altitude above Sky Harbor's and outside of Luke's restricted air spaces -- would not have been considered unusual. Neither would a flare drop over the gunnery range.

Whether the 8:30 vee formation did register on the FAA's radar monitored in Albuquerque will apparently never be known. Despite the fervent activities of UFO investigators in the days following the sightings, no one bothered to make a formal request with the Federal Aviation Administration's regional office for radar tapes of the Phoenix area for March 13. If anyone had made such a request by March 28, there would be a permanent record for the public to examine, says the FAA's Gary Perrin." (Ortega Hack)

There's some good info on the page once you dig through the analysis.

groingrinder is a witness to Phoenix lights and he clearly states that those were not flares.

here is his explanation:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Obviously the lights in this picture can't be part of a solid object,otherwise the stars would be blocked out!



[edit on 31/12/06 by Barn]