Phoenix Lights

One of the largest UFO mass sightings in history experienced by thousands.

Name	Phoenix Lights
Occurred on	March 13, 1997
Seen by	Thousands of Arizonans
Investigated by	No official investigations

On March 13, 1997, the calmness of the people in Arizona was replaced by confusion and awe due to the appearance of glowing orbs in the skies of Phoenix.

This event placed Phoenix at the center of headlines worldwide. It made the city a popular name within the UFO community, associated with the then-largest UFO sighting shared by thousands of people. For years, local news outlets have remained intrigued by the incident, debating possible explanations for it.

To this day, people have yet to reach a consensus about what occurred, and the rationale behind the Phoenix Lights incident remains a mystery.

What Is the Phoenix Lights About?

The Phoenix Lights is one of the most well-known and referenced mass UFO sightings in history. It sparked an uproar that evolved into a worldwide curiosity. However, it has remained just that—a curiosity—due to the lack of official investigations, despite at least 10% of Arizonans who witnessed it clamoring for answers.

What aided the crowd in observing the same incident was the coincidental visibility of Comet Hale-Bopp in March 1997. Thousands were already watching the skies for the comet, but instead, saw something inexplicable.

The Phoenix Lights is described as two separate incidents of UFO formations that happened on the same night, March 13, 1997.

The First Incident

The first UFO formation consisted of six to ten glowing lights that flew from southwest Nevada, the Metro Phoenix area, and parts of Tucson between 7:55 PM and 8:40 PM.

Although multiple orbs were seen, witnesses alleged that they came from a single craft due to the uniformity of the lights’ movement. Some described it as a V-shaped or boomerang-like object silently gliding over the area, which was unlike any typical aircraft. A witness claimed, “We don’t have anything that big. It was totally silent. I’ve never seen anything even close to the colors from the exhaust that propelled that thing. It completely blocked out the stars.”

The Second Incident

The second formation happened between 9:15 PM and 9:35 PM. The lights were seen over the Sierra Estrella mountain range and formed a straight line, slowly fading out.

A former Arizona police officer described it as a series of stationary red and orange lights. Others described it as an arc that appeared one by one before fading out. The lights appeared as if they were canisters, while the craft’s underbelly seemed to be looking through water.

Corroborations and Witnesses

The Phoenix Lights incident was witnessed by thousands across Arizona and gathered hundreds of reports. This included numerous notable key witnesses such as:

• Fife Symington, the then-governor of Arizona
• Kurt Russell, an actor and licensed pilot
• Dr. Lynne Kitei, a family doctor
• Bill Grava, an air traffic controller
• And more

Governor Fife Symington

The governor’s history with the Phoenix Lights incident was a peculiar one.

Fife started out joking about the situation during a news conference in 1997. He announced that an alien had been captured, then brought out his aide, dressed in an alien costume, to make light of the frenzy surrounding the event.

However, in 2007, a decade after the incident, Fife claimed that he had seen the Phoenix Lights himself and believed they were of extraterrestrial origin.

He told the Arizona Daily Star, “I’m a pilot, and I know every machine that flies. It’s bigger than anything that I’ve seen. It remains a great mystery. Other people saw it too, responsible people. I don’t know why people would ridicule it.“
Years later, Fife shared another statement with CNN, in which he further described how he witnessed the incident. He detailed that he ditched his security that night and joined skywatchers at Piestewa Peak, where he saw the lights.

Kurt Russell

Another notable witness of the Phoenix Lights was actor and licensed pilot Kurt Russell.

In 2017, Kurt Russell was interviewed by the BBC’s The One Show, during which he shared his UFO experience. Kurt claimed that he was flying his stepson, Oliver Hudson, to see his girlfriend, and they were about to land in Phoenix Sky Harbor when they both saw the lights.

Dr. Lynne Kitei

Dr. Kitei was a respected family doctor with a significant reputation in the medical field. She claimed to have witnessed the lights from her house and described them as an otherworldly and massive craft. This sparked her interest in the event, which led her to study it further.

Decades later, Dr. Kitei has set aside her medical career to study the phenomenon in an attempt to find a logical explanation for what happened.

Bill Grava

Bill Grava was among the air traffic controllers working on the night of the Phoenix Lights at Sky Harbor International Airport. He reported having seen the lights, but when he checked his radar screen, nothing was reflected on it, describing his experience as “weird, inexplicable.”

Sue Krzyston

“They were very bright, very large—amber or orange—colored. They almost looked flamelike, although it wasn’t the shape of a flame.”

These were the words of Sue when asked about what she saw. The night of the Phoenix Lights incident, she heard her husband call about strange lights in the sky. Sue claimed that odd lights weren’t a new thing from their house in Phoenix, but what they saw that night was different.

Dana Valentine

Dana, 31, was sitting in his yard when he saw the lights heading his way. His account included a detailed description of the craft, stating that it resembled a gray distortion in the sky and appeared wavy. He couldn’t pinpoint what the craft was, but he was sure the technology wasn’t something that the public had seen or heard of.

Ross Nickle

Ross shared that it was 8:10 PM when he and his family were on Highway 89 and spotted the lights. He described the lights as manifesting in a small pattern, resembling several dim stars in a tight formation. They appeared as white stars but turned red when they were nearby. As they flew over the family’s car, no sound could be heard.

Ozma Linderman

It was 8:30 PM when Ozma saw the light formation, which she thought was formed by a single craft, as the lights were perfectly spaced apart. She saw the object slow down or hover for a few seconds, and that’s when she saw its appearance, describing it as a red oval object before it shot straight up and disappeared.

The Lack of Investigations About the Phoenix Lights

When the event occurred, a growing hysteria developed around it. Hundreds of people called the office of then-Governor Fife Symington to express their concerns.

While no official investigations were conducted, this doesn’t mean Fife took no action for the worried Arizonans. He still made a move to reassure them through the press conference, where his aide dressed up as an alien to make light of the situation.

Fife also made inquiries about the event to the Air Force, who took responsibility and attributed the lights to flares they claimed they were dropping that night.

However, Fife wasn’t satisfied with that explanation. It was reasonable, but it didn’t explain how thousands of Arizona residents saw it. He ended up calling the government out for perpetuating the myth that UFOs could be explained through conventional terms.

Aside from Fife Symington, then-Vice Mayor and Phoenix City Councilwoman Frances Emma Barwood also demanded an official investigation. However, this led to her losing her seat and dropping out of politics due to the humiliation she received from this demand.

Explanations for this UFO Event

The lack of any formal investigations didn’t stop the skeptics from arguing that the Phoenix Lights wasn’t of extraterrestrial origin. Instead, the incident was a result of Operation Snowbird, a training program by the Air National Guard.

The first incident was attributed to A-10 jets flying under visual flight rules. This allegedly explains the light formation that the people saw. UFOs didn’t cause them. Instead, the Phoenix Lights formation occurred because the jets didn’t have their blinking collision lights but rather formation lights.

The second incident was attributed to a flare drop still under Operation Snowbird, which was conducted by a different group of A-10 jets from the Maryland Air National Guard.

Air National Guard Capt. Drew Sullins backed up these explanations. He stated that the Maryland Air National Guard’s 175th Wing was training in the vicinity. They were dropping flares over Luke Air Force Base’s north tactical range, and these were what people mistook for the mysterious lights.

The Argument Against These Explanations

These explanations seemed plausible and were the most likely source of the Phoenix Lights. However, there was a loophole in them.

The military mentioned that the flares were dropped between 9:00 PM and 10:00 PM, but the witnesses’ accounts detailed that they saw the lights between 8:00 PM and 9:00 PM. This suggests that the Phoenix Lights incident occurred before the specified military activity.

Similar Incidents After the 1997 Phoenix Lights

What’s peculiar about the Phoenix Lights incident is that it isn’t an isolated event. Years after it, Phoenix would still receive strange reports from its citizens.

The Valley Incident

A month after the Phoenix Lights’ 11th anniversary, another similar sighting was observed.

Valley residents claimed to have spotted four red lights on one Monday night. While a man took responsibility for the event, stating that he had taken balloons, filled them with helium, and released them, witnesses claim otherwise.

• A police department helicopter pilot described the objects as similar to flares.
• Other witnesses said the lights appeared and changed formations before disappearing.

The MUFON Incident

Another inexplicable incident involving strange lights was observed in Phoenix in 2011. The report was logged into the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) on September 30.

The individual detailed that they were at a friend’s party when one of the children saw unusual green lights in the sky.¹³ At first, they brushed it off as a plane, but as soon as they noticed how the lights formed a perfect triangle and pulsated a few times, they knew it was more than that.

These reports may not necessarily establish a connection with the Phoenix Lights incident. However, their existence adds a level of credibility to what the believers claimed as extraterrestrial way back.

The Phoenix Lights’ Significance in Ufology

While the event wasn’t investigated, which gives the impression that it wasn’t taken seriously, the Phoenix Lights incident remains a pivotal case for the UFO community.

Thousands witnessed it, and among those were skeptics who became believers. The event was backed by credible people—those who had careers that a simple claim of seeing UFOs could ruin. However, they chose to risk it, relying on their belief in what they saw.

Curious to explore more incredible sightings like this? Dive deeper into the world of the unexplained on UFO Connect and uncover more UFO cases that continue to challenge what we think we know.

FAQs

Did anyone record the Phoenix Lights on video?

Yes, the incident was widely recorded, with some witnesses capturing it on their devices. However, the videos were of low quality.

Did the Governor of Arizona see the lights?

Although then-Governor Fife Symington seemingly joked about the incident, he later shared that he was among the witnesses on Piestewa Peak who saw the lights.

Why is the Phoenix Lights sighting so famous?

The incident is famous because it’s a large-scale UFO sighting. Thousands of people witnessed the event, making it a credible incident.

Why did so many people see it?

The Phoenix Lights incident coincided with the visibility of Comet Hale-Bopp. Many people were already watching the skies when it happened.