Information AgeIdeas & Belief
Phoenix Lights
1997NotableContested
On 13 March 1997 thousands of people report lights over Arizona. The military later says the second set of lights were flares dropped during a training exercise.
Contested history
Consensus: There were two events: a V-shaped pattern of lights moving across the state around 8:30 p.m., and stationary lights near Phoenix around 10 p.m. The military says the later lights were flares dropped by A-10 aircraft during a training exercise.
The 10 p.m. lights were flaresEstablished
Air National Guard pilots confirmed dropping flares, and the timing matches the footage.
The V pattern was planes flying in formationDebated
Some witnesses and amateur astronomers saw separate aircraft. Others describe one huge solid craft.
An alien craftUnsupported
The evidence is eyewitness accounts only.
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