Phoenix Lights
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Evidence quality · 6 components
Behavioral anomalousness · 4 components
TL;DR
Two distinct events on March 13, 1997: a massive silent V-formation witnessed by thousands across a 300-mile corridor including Arizona Governor Fife Symington (who reversed his public mockery a decade later), and a separate stationary light arc over Phoenix confirmed as A-10 flare training at Barry Goldwater Range.
Confirmed
- ✓Maryland Air National Guard confirmed A-10 aircraft dropped illumination flares at Barry M. Goldwater Range at approximately 10 PM on March 13, 1997 - explaining the stationary light arc in widely distributed video
- ✓Governor Fife Symington publicly stated in 2007 that he personally witnessed the V-formation and described it as 'otherworldly'
- ✓Phoenix 911 dispatch received hundreds of calls about lights on March 13, 1997
- ✓The V-formation was independently reported by witnesses from Nevada through Arizona from approximately 7:55-8:45 PM with consistent timing
Unresolved
- ?Identity of the V-formation - which lacks radar confirmation and has not been attributed to any known aircraft program
- ?Whether the V-formation was a single rigid physical structure or multiple aircraft in loose formation
- ?Why FAA radar showed no corresponding track for an object of the reported scale
- ?Why no specific military or civilian flight operation has been publicly attributed to the V-formation event
Strongest mundane explanation
The V-formation may have been a loose formation of military aircraft on night exercises whose individual lights created the impression of a connected rigid structure in darkness, and FAA radar may have shown them as separate returns rather than a single large object - but no specific formation matching the time, route, and consistent witness reports of a silent solid structure has ever been publicly identified.
On the evening of March 13, 1997, thousands of people across approximately 300 miles of the American Southwest witnessed two distinct phenomena: a massive V-shaped formation of lights moving silently overhead, followed by a stationary arc of bright orbs over Phoenix that eventually disappeared simultaneously. The event was captured on home video by numerous residents. Arizona Governor Fife Symington held a press conference the following day mocking the incident, then reversed course a decade later, publicly admitting he had personally witnessed the V formation and found it inexplicable. The Air Force attributed the second set of lights to A-10 Warthog aircraft conducting flare training at Barry Goldwater Range, an explanation disputed by witnesses and timing analysis of the events.
Key Facts
- ›Date: March 13, 1997, beginning approximately 7:30 PM MST
- ›Two distinct events: a V-shaped formation sighted from Henderson, NV south through Phoenix; and a stationary arc of lights over Phoenix later in the evening
- ›The V formation was observed by thousands across a 300-mile corridor; witnesses included police officers, pilots, and a former governor
- ›The V formation moved slowly and silently, estimated at between 1 and 2 miles wide by many witnesses
- ›Governor Fife Symington held a press conference March 14, 1997 making light of the incident, presenting a staffer dressed in alien costume
- ›In 2007, Symington reversed his statement in CNN interview: 'It was enormous and it traversed the entire sky silently and majestically. I'm saying it was otherworldly.'
- ›The Air Force attributed the second set of lights (the stationary orbs) to A-10 Warthog aircraft dropping LUU-2B/B illumination flares at the Barry Goldwater Range at approximately 10:00 PM
- ›Multiple witnesses and researchers argue the flare explanation does not account for the V formation sighted hours earlier
- ›Councilwoman Frances Emma Barwood became the first Phoenix official to call for a government investigation; she later reported receiving 700+ witness calls
- ›The event is considered the most-witnessed UAP event in American history