The Phoenix Lights

What Happened

On the evening of March 13, 1997, thousands of people across the state of Arizona reported seeing unusual lights in the sky. The sightings have become one of the most widely witnessed UFO events in American history, but investigators have identified two distinct phenomena that occurred that night—a fact that often gets lost in popular retellings.

The First Event (approximately 7:30-8:30 p.m.): Witnesses across a 300-mile corridor from Henderson, Nevada, through Phoenix to Tucson reported seeing a V-shaped or boomerang-shaped formation of lights moving slowly and silently across the sky. Observers described the formation as enormous—some estimated it blocked out stars across a span they compared to multiple football fields. Reports came from civilians, police officers, and pilots. The object or objects moved generally from northwest to southeast over the course of approximately an hour.

The Second Event (approximately 10:00 p.m.): A second series of lights appeared in the sky south of Phoenix, near the Estrella Mountains. These lights appeared stationary or slowly descending in a horizontal line before disappearing. This second event was widely photographed and videotaped, and the footage has been repeatedly broadcast in connection with the incident.

The night was clear and pleasant, with good visibility. Many residents were already outdoors observing the Hale-Bopp comet, which was visible during this period, making them more likely to notice unusual aerial phenomena.

Witnesses and Evidence

Estimates of the total number of witnesses range from hundreds to thousands. The Arizona Republic newspaper received hundreds of calls the following day. Witnesses included:

• Civilians across multiple cities and towns
• Phoenix city councilwoman Frances Barwood, who later advocated for an investigation
• Police officers in multiple jurisdictions
• Pilots who observed the phenomena from aircraft
• Then-Governor Fife Symington (though he did not publicly acknowledge this until 2007)

Video footage exists primarily of the second event—the 10 p.m. lights near the Estrella Mountains. This footage shows a line of bright lights that appear and disappear. No clear video or photographic evidence of the earlier V-shaped formation has been conclusively documented.

Ten years later, in 2007, former Governor Fife Symington reversed his earlier dismissive stance. In interviews, 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." Symington claimed he had personally witnessed an enormous triangular craft during the earlier event but had kept quiet to avoid public panic.

Official Investigations

The U.S. Air Force and Arizona National Guard provided explanations for both events, though they initially declined to comment.

Regarding the second event (the 10 p.m. lights), the Maryland Air National Guard confirmed that A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft were conducting training exercises at the Barry Goldwater Range in southwest Arizona that night. The aircraft dropped long-burning LUU-2B/B illumination flares, which can remain visible for several minutes as they slowly descend on parachutes. The timing and location matched the second set of sightings.

Regarding the first event (the V-formation), investigators traced this to a separate flight of A-10 aircraft returning to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson. Both events were attributed to Operation Snowbird, a pilot training program operated during winter months by the Air National Guard.

Tucson astronomer James McGaha, a retired Air Force pilot, investigated both sightings. He reported speaking with an amateur astronomer who observed the A-10s through a telescope and with National Guard personnel who confirmed the flights. McGaha concluded: "It was clearly aircraft in formation, flying at two different times and then dropping flares."

Arizona Governor Fife Symington initially appeared to mock the incident. On June 19, 1997, he called a press conference announcing a "break" in the case. He then revealed his chief of staff, Jay Heiler, dressed in an alien costume. The stunt drew criticism from residents who felt their sightings were being dismissed.

Proposed Explanations

Military Aircraft and Flares (Official Explanation): The Air Force and Arizona National Guard identified both phenomena as military activities: A-10 aircraft flying in formation (first event) and illumination flares dropped during training (second event). The flare explanation for the 10 p.m. lights is supported by video analysis showing the lights descending and disappearing behind the mountain ridge—consistent with flares dropping below the line of sight.

Problems with the Official Explanation: Many witnesses dispute that what they saw could have been conventional aircraft. They emphasize:

• The complete silence of the first object, despite its apparent size and proximity
• The apparent solid structure blocking out stars (though this could be an optical illusion caused by lights in formation)
• The estimated size—far larger than any known aircraft
• Governor Symington's 2007 statement that what he saw was "enormous" and "couldn't have been flares because it was too symmetrical"

Conflation of Two Events: Much confusion stems from mixing the two separate events. The 10 p.m. lights—the ones captured on video—are widely accepted as flares, even by many UFO researchers. The 8 p.m. V-formation remains more controversial, as it lacks video documentation and witnesses describe something distinctly different from the later lights.

Observational Errors: Skeptics note that aircraft in formation at high altitude can appear as a single massive object, especially at night when only the aircraft lights are visible. The apparent blocking of stars could be an illusion created by the brightness of the lights overwhelming nearby stars in the observer's field of view.

Current Status

The Phoenix Lights incident is generally considered explained by military investigators and skeptics, who attribute both phenomena to documented A-10 training activities. The flare explanation for the 10 p.m. event is particularly well-supported by video evidence and military records.

However, the case remains iconic in UFO culture, largely because of the sheer number of witnesses and the dramatic nature of their descriptions. Governor Symington's 2007 reversal—in which he claimed to have witnessed an otherworldly craft—revived interest in the case, though critics note he offered no explanation for why he waited a decade to come forward or why he mocked witnesses at his 1997 press conference.

The incident has not been reviewed by AARO or included in recent government UAP assessments, as it predates modern reporting systems and has been considered resolved by the Air Force. The Phoenix Lights remain a case study in how large-scale witness events can persist in public memory despite official explanations, and how the conflation of separate incidents can create enduring mysteries.